AN ICE-CREAM WAR - William Boyd

1914. In a hotel room in German East Africa, American farmer Walter Smith dreams of Theodore  Roosevelt.  As he sleeps,  a railway passenger swats at flies, regretting her decision to return to the Dark Continent- and to her husband. On a faraway English riverbank, a jealous Felix Cobb watches his brother swim, and curses his sister-in-law to be.  And in the background of the world's chatter: rumours of an Anglo-German conflict, the likes of which no one has ever seen.

This is a slow burn of a novel, starts very very slowly with several unlikable characters and then  ends up full of surprises towards the end. 

I did not realise there was even a theatre of war in Africa during the 1st World War where the land appears to have killed more than live rounds.

A good historical novel which in my opinion may have been better if it had one less major character but it is still enjoyable.  Boyd is inconsistent, when hes good hes very readable when he's off i.e Stars and Bars  you resent the time wasted.

THE LITTLE SISTER - Raymond Chandler

Not the strongest of Chandlers seven novels but still a cut above most crime fiction.

The plot gets so convoluted its very hard to keep track of what is occurring which is what I think happened for the author as well.

THE PURSUIT OF LOVE - Nancy Mitford

The story of two cousins, Linda and Fanny.  Fanny is the narrator and recounts the life of Linda and her pursuit of love.

This is the first of Mitford's two really good books.  The humour is much more subtle than Love in A Cold Climate which is genuinely laugh out loud, but this has its moments, but is 'nicer'.

This is very autobiographical containing a huge insight into how the Mitford's were raised, which for the time was very different.

The ending while sad is upbeat and I understand why it was such a huge seller,  making Mitford as an author after her two or three previous ordinary efforts.  Good fun and good satire on the rich  and famous.

BUDDENBROOKS - Thomas Mann

The Buddenbrook clan is everything you'd expect of a nineteenth-century German family - wealthy, esteemed, established.  Four generations later, a tide of twentieth-century modernism has gradually disintegrated the bourgeois values on which the Buddenbrooks built their success.  In this, Mann's first novel, his astounding, semi-autobiographical family epic, he portrays the transition of genteel Germanic stability to a very modern uncertainty.

This is an amazing read, detailing family life with all its troubles, wins , good moves and bad moves.  I found it unputdownable.

Nothing major happens just family stuff, weddings, deaths, feasts but it flows and brings the four main characters to life.

If Middlemarch is 10/10 this is a solid 8. Mann wrote this at 25 years of age, a true feat.

DEATH IN VENICE & OTHER STORIES - Thomas Mann

This is a collection of short stories and novellas that I read prior to attempting  his novels. Fantastic, brilliant writing.  Don't expect to wander out on the town with a smile on your face after reading them but you can see  while he is rated as he is.

THE LOST CONTINENT - Bill Bryson

If you want to laugh out loud and learn a bit on the journey read Bill Bryson.  Never disappoints.

TURNING BACK THE CLOCK - Umberto Eco

Sub-titled " Hot Wars and Populism" this is another collection of essays by Eco who is far to clever for me to understand what he writes about in one or several reads.  But, even with one read I am left in awe by the scope of his vision.  Superb.

THE HUMAN FACTOR - Graham Greene

A espionage story set inside the African Department of MI6.  Its a late Greene whose left leaning sympathies are as overt here as in any of his writing. 

The end was always going to end in tears but despite our "hero's" reasons for a his treason he is a very unsympathetic character who deserves his fate.

The more Greene I read and re-read the more I come to appreciate him and now firmly believe he is one of the most under rated  writers of the 20th century.

WAR OF THE WORLDS - H G Wells

The invasion from Mars.  I assume most know the story.  This is very enjoyable with a clever conclusion

THE MOVING TOY SHOP - Edmund Crispin

This is a re-read and it was read mainly because of the rather lovely Folio Society edition I found.  It is a good fun read.  Crispen at his best was very good later when the booze got him properly he was rubbish. 

LORD PETER - Dorothy L. Sayers

A collection of the Wimsey short stories. Quality varies but a good collection for reading in the bath or when you know you are going to be interrupted  often.

THE FATHER BROWN STORIES - G K Chesterton

A double volume collection of the Father Brown stories.  Like all collections the standard varies but all are very readable.  Chesterton can be a bit of a god botherer, throwing his religion in a bit too often but its high quality detective fiction in the end.

PRESUMPTION OF DEATH- Jill Paton Walsh & Dorothy L. Sayers

A Lord Peter Wimsey story written after Sayers death.   A good read, as good a Sayers actually.

CASINO ROYALE - Ian Fleming

Again, ignore the snobs, read these for a relax.

BRAVE NEW WORLD -Aldous Huxley

First re-read for many years.  This is a scary read when you look at our society today where we have so many wanting to take away individual rights and form us into a flock of sheep.

People need read this more , '1984" has its moments but this is where we are heading.

THE LADY IN THE LAKE - Raymond Chandler

My favourite of the Marlowe stories

FAREWELL MY LOVELY -Raymond Chandler

Marlowe, the best going around in the noir PI genre.  A re-read but always worth it.

THE HIGH WINDOW - Raymond Chandler

Philip Marlowe gets the job done.  So moral which can be hard work but great stories superbly written.

MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA - Agatha Christie

Always time for a rainy day read. Ignore the snobs. 

POINT COUNTER POINT - Aldous Huxley

I first read this ten years ago, the insight and subject matter, conservation etc is still relevant today but whereas I found the characters amusing then , this time around I found them to be rather horrible shallow people.

Still worth a read but perceptions change over time