Arresting Mason by Amber Daulton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I first read the blurb for this book, I felt there were so many spoilers about the plot in it that there was hardly any reason to read the actual story. But I was wrong of course and rapidly covered the first six chapters of this fast paced, so called, ‘steamy romance.’ I then found there was very little left to the imagination when it came to the descriptions of their sexual behaviour. It is not so much a steamy romance as a very raunchy one; even erotic enough as to be accurately included in that genre.

Page after page contained so many titillating descriptions that it became tedious for this aging reader. I am now a grandfather, who was around as a teenager when the unexpurgated version of Lady Chatterly’s Lover caused such a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic, with its ‘obscenities and profanities.’ Thus I was not easily shocked in this novel so much as bored by its repetitive use of contemporary explicit adjectives to describe sexuality; the act, their behaviour, as well as intimate parts of the human body. Such common language feels not so much profane as puerile, when there are so many subtle and wonderful ways of expressing loving and emotional exposition in a novel.

The background of the main two characters, Mason and Mia, is well written and interesting. However, some of the scenarios felt predictable and not as thrilling as was hinted at in the blurb. On the other hand some of the doubts and fears that Mason reveals are also well done, but there was not enough time spent on the plot about Mason’s Onyx gangland connections. The romantic side of their relationship, and the way he mellows at end of the book does leave you wanting more. This is important of course but obvious, as it is the first in a series and not a stand-alone novel.

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And a Voice to Sing With by Joan Baez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was one of the best biographies I have ever read – auto-bio, memoir or otherwise. It is the first book I have read in a very long time where once I had finished it, I felt eager to read it once again, straightaway. It was so well written, intriguing, exciting, poignant and of course quite lyrical in so many sections throughout. The narrative is often touching and captivating but when she recollects her harrowing moments, as an ambassador for non-violence and peace, there is a sense of doggedness despite any danger there may be towards her.

The first section of the book about Joan Baez’s family and schooling is particularly interesting when you learn some of the earlier influences that had an effect upon her attitude to the less fortunate people of the world. She was very close to her sisters, Pauline and Mimi; in awe of her father and very fond of her mother.

I have been a fan of Joan Baez for over 50 years and her rendition of ‘Plaisir d’amour’ has always been a particular favourite. It is not surprising to see how popular she has been since her first LP in the 1960s. And yet her involvement in politics and various protest movements has continued. She has known several Nobel Prize winners, including Lech Walesa and Martin Luther King. Her affair with Bob Dylan obviously left its mark and was compelling reading for me. Her love and self-doubts about motherhood are revealed to a small extent, with touches of obvious regret, but her love and devotion towards Gabe, her son, are heart-warming and unsurprisingly tender.

The edition of ‘And a Voice to Sing With’ I have recently read was published in 1988 and I am left wondering what Joan Baez thinks today about the state of the world of the 21st century.


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Billionaire's Forbidden Nanny Romance by Sass Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The title of this book indicates it is going to be a romance novel and for most of the story it felt quite predictable. It came across to me as a typical ‘rags to riches’ kind of tale, with rich guy Hunter Stone attracting poor little, struggling musician, Lexi Hart, into a loving relationship with him that will solve all her future problems. There were some editing issues, as well as an annoying, constant, changing in the point-of-view of the exposition of the story, which affected my overall rating.

The initial introduction of Lexi and Hunter when she assists in calming down his little daughter, Ava, during the child’s tantrum is well written. It came across as most believable, as did the majority of the situations and conversations throughout the book. The author has a particular knack for creating understandable scenarios and dialogue. The slowly developing attraction between the older man and the much younger woman is done with skill and patience. However, I found the repeated descriptions of the various physical attributes of most of the characters a bit tedious after a while. The inner disquiet that Lexi and Hunter each feel about their attraction, due of course to the age and class difference, is a sensitive part of the exposition. But I thought this clashed dramatically and harshly with the final dozen or so pages. That section was definitely there to eroticise readers and I found it too distasteful to accept as part of a ‘romantic genre’ tale. For me it was obviously puerile titillation, spoiling much of the interesting subtlety created throughout the bulk of the tale up to that point.


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Just One Goodbye: Poems from the Heart by Balroop Singh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Balroop Singh’s collection of poems about the loss of her husband is unremitting in its poignancy for the first dozen or so poems. For about twenty pages I was reduced to tears with so many beautifully expressed feelings in so many verses. You are so aware of Balroop’s need to say goodbye to him after her unexpected loss. The melancholy is dripping off each of those pages, maybe too cloying at times, but when she finds strength in her muse in the second half of the collection we can try to understand the solace from her pain that she sometimes finds there. In fact in the poem, “Learning to Live Without You” Singh realises that her muse will kick her “out of her mourning!” And she begins to recognise that her muse is her “prized protector.”

From other collections of her poems I was aware of Balroop Singh’s love of nature and in the poem here, “A Reverie,” I was not surprised to read that when she sought freedom from the gloom of grief, she found light and sweetness and beauty once more in flowers, butterflies; and she borrowed “light from fireflies/ To ignite my will to live/ To be as spontaneous as ever… To soothe my grieving heart.”

The explanation of her journey through this is shown by so many verses, from lines like, “Shocked beyond words,” and “Hope flew away with you,” to some of those in the poem titled “Nostalgia” when she finds precious uplifting memories. There are words here that help to remind her to carry on with life as best she can. Using her memories of her lost husband she says:
“Your smiles shine around me
Calling upon me to be myself.”

The later poems give a small but important break from Balroop’s grief when she recalls fond times with her soulmate, through winter snows and nature walks around their home:
“I am swept off by the north wind,
Grappling to find a foothold,
Wishing you could hold me
Just for a while.”
This is a lovely, but heart-breaking collection, and worth all the empathy one can find.


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Threads: A Daydream on the Birth of the Universe and the History of Human Thought by Clay Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For a while I felt as though I was reading the script for this theatre production. There was even a character list, and three pages about a workshop, a reading, and a first performance at the beginning of the book. At the end of the book I still had that strong impression because of the way each Act was presented on the page. The references to Tarot cards at the start of the Act and as certain characters did help to accept it as a fresh kind of novel in the end.

The choice of lead character names like ‘Ex’ and ‘Wye’ was brilliant and the general philosophy as the plot developed became all too obvious within the first Act. There were indications of considerable research and ideas from all kinds of religions as well as tenets and theories from science and other faiths. By the time I got to the end I felt that there were a lot of significant and interesting points made in it and I was pleased to have read it. It illustrated the many delights and varied difficulties during the stages of most human lives. I found some of the language and terminology a bit too crude and contemporary for my liking, but I expect I'm too 'old fashioned' about politeness in ‘company’ I suppose! However, I would love to watch the actual play if it should ever come to the UK.
Recommended, as I’m sure the book and the play provide an almost unique experience for anyone.



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The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Paul Brickhill’s book is full of information about the methods of building their tunnels and producing false documentation as well as the experiences of the prisoners of war. Two of the main pleasures about reading The Great Escape was comparing it to the film, which, like so many others I’ve watched at least twice, and knowing that it is a true story. Some of the details are upsetting when you see how many times all of their efforts to escape came to nothing.

Disappointing would not cover it and the fortitude, strength of purpose and hope of the POW’s is incredible to read about. When I stopped to think how many hundreds of men were imprisoned at the compound, and how much fear, despair and anger there would have been on hearing that so many had been shot after they had been recaptured, I was full of admiration at how they kept up their spirits, still determined to continue with their escape plans. The ingenuity of the prisoners making civilian clothing, false passports, hiding tunnel entrances, and shoring up the tunnels to ensure they were safe was just so amazing.

The ending of the book was both sad and happy. Sad because of all the escapees who lost their lives on Hitler’s orders, but happy when you know the remaining prisoners were delighted to hear how much trouble their efforts had caused the Gestapo and German military authorities.
Highly recommended.

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The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I began reading this book aware of its high literary reputation as a fictional portrayal of some of the men suffering the after effects of their battle experience during World War One. I did not realise initially that some real characters like William Owen and Siegfried Sassoon would also feature in it, but not as significantly as they had in books 1 and 2 of the trilogy. Although this can be read as a stand-alone novel I was obviously not aware that The Ghost Road is the third book. However, from the start of the novel I found much of it too stark in its often graphic narrative descriptions of supposed sexual behaviour between the main character, Billy Prior, and prostitutes. The thoughts, fears and doubts of Prior are mostly well done. And his treatment from Dr. Rivers, as well as the doctor’s previous experiences amongst a tribe of head hunters in Melansia, helped a little in understanding some of the extreme and crippling mental effects the patients had to endure. It was intriguing to read about and compare the medical treatment offered by Dr. Rivers and the tribe’s shaman but, for me, not very convincing.

As a historical fiction it was obviously full of the kind of research that the genre fan hopes to find, but as an enjoyable read it was not the book that made me want to read novels 1 and 2. In the end I could not relate to any of the characters and found too many of the conversations and historical characterisations unreal.


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Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story Of Wall-Street by Herman Melville
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What an unusual short story! The narrator is unknown other than the master of the office where Bartleby and two other clerks work. There seems to be many legal documents to be prepared, often with some urgency, but one day Bartleby stops. He stops pretty well everything: moving from his preferred spot, writing, conversing with his fellow workers. Whenever the narrator encourages, or orders him to comply with his demands, he is met with the phrase, "I prefer not, sir," every time. And that is pretty well the whole plot, until the very sad and inexplicable end. I will be bemused and confused by this book for weeks! It is, however, masterfully written as one would expect from a genius like Herman Melville.

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My Sugar in Sugar Land by Dee Osah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was full of twists and turns and I found it quite difficult at times to follow who was speaking, and what was happening. This confusing narrative continued for many of the earlier pages. Although I usually avoid the genre of RomCom, I carried on reading to see who would fall in love. It was well written throughout and most of the characters had a distinct identity but I found Silas, Kay and Tonye were often mixed up in my mind. For me many of the frequent romantic conversations were a little too sickly but I suppose that could be a reflection of my older mind.

The general plotline about Ibelema struggling to become a film maker who is looking for the right man to play the lead in her new movie was quite interesting. And the references to Nigeria and the trouble there that leads to Silas running away to the USA seemed so recently topical and I wanted to know more. I’m unsure about the religious aspects as someone who is a non-believer. The inner conflict between the younger characters faith and the more traditional viewpoint of their parents’ generation was intriguing and quite understandable I suppose. But because I am quite unaware of the Christian theology referred to then, unfortunately, those sections were less interesting to me.

Another problem I had initially was assuming that ‘Sugar Land’ was a fictional place made up by the author. But later I discovered it really is a place in Houston, Texas, USA! So, of course then the movie connections began to make more sense and became very relevant to the story.

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Barnhill: A Novel by Norman Bissell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is described as a novel but it is a semi-fictional insight about George Orwell’s life. In it he is referred to often as George but just as often by his real name, Eric Arthur Blair. Barnhill is where Orwell lived while he attempted to write ‘Nineteen eighty-four,’ his dystopian masterpiece. It is a farmhouse on the Scottish island of Jura, a mountainous bare land covered with large areas of blanket bog. Orwell’s book was mostly written in a dank bedroom on his old typewriter during a very difficult period when he was suffering from TB.

At the same time Orwell was convinced that the British government would eventually be taken over by a ruling autocracy that would be controlling every aspect of the peoples’ lives. His new book would be a warning of this. Norman Bissel’s writing includes this fear of Orwell’s and the fictional conversations with his close friends and colleagues allow you a certain amount of intrigue and suspicion of their authenticity. A long while ago I read the biography of Orwell by Bernard Crick and Bissel’s novel encouraged me to read it again. Having read Crick’s book I can recall being left then with feelings of similar curiosity and intrigue, allowing for the general situation of world politics immediately following World War 2.

I have read and enjoyed all of Orwell’s novels and his polemical works such as The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia. Encouraged by reading Barnhill maybe I will also take yet another look at the works of the great man.

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