The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this book of Dan Brown’s to be just as fascinating and compulsive as the three others of his that I’ve read, including The Da Vinci Code – probably his biggest hit. Once again the main character is Robert Langdon a highly esteemed expert in ancient symbols. A new science to me called Noetics was the first thing that I had to look up and, surprise, surprise I found out that it really does exist. No spoilers here other readers will have to look it up as well.

In this book Langdon is chasing around once more, trying to save either his own life or that of someone precious to him. This time it is the Capitol Building, Washington DC that he becomes desperately involved with. The various hidden passages and Masonic secrets are slowly revealed through his escapades, and the confusion for the reader reaches such heights you begin to think that Langdon is never going to solve the numerous enigmas that continuously face him. Of course there is a ‘madman’ behind a lot of the seemingly ruthless plot to ruin the world as we know it!

I enjoyed the book because of the intriguing ideas and endless twists and turns. But I thought that there was far too much detail about too many religious symbols and philosophical ideas about them. I was unsure about Brown’s interpretation of Abraham’s attempt to sacrifice his own son as described in the Bible. Not being a believer I was unwilling to research that further. Despite these ideas and some of the more questionable science, even maybe science fiction rather than ‘factual’ points, I still enjoyed the fast pace and Langdon’s chasing around the Capitol Building with other victims of the shadowy criminal behind it all.


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Nini and the Lost Panda: A Forest Adventure by Di Jiao
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The illustrations in Nini and the Lost Panda are fantastic and a delight for parents and grandparents to see every time they turn the pages when reading it with, or to, a young child. I am not sure what age it is aimed at but early readers will find most of the words simple enough. The messages about kindness and compassion will be well understood I think. It is obviously a starter book for the series and most children will want to know what happens next to the cute Panda. A nice touch!

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Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book which I’ve had on my book shelves for years but never got round to reading. But what was I missing? It is such a fascinating, and incredibly engaging story! Julian Barnes’ telling of the miscarriage of justice about a crime that George did not commit, but for which he was eventually wrongly imprisoned, is akin to an exciting thriller. It all happened 100 years ago, early in the 20th century. The narrative shifts easily between Arthur and George; and the characters of the two men remain so different in the fictional telling by Barnes, that it displayed for me so much skill on the part of the author.

While I found the events that surrounded George almost unbelievable, the descriptions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his beliefs and behaviour were so surprising that it seemed too fantastical to be true. I kept telling myself, ‘Who’d have thought it?’ about the highly regarded writer of all those famous thrillers involving Sherlock Holmes. The book includes a lot of insinuation about a man called Anson and his prejudices, which I felt obliged to accept as true. He was the Chief Constable in the story and it was quite disturbing to find out that much of Anson’s authoritative opinions had such an enormous effect upon the case and the investigation that lead to George’s eventual conviction.

A very unusual book that anyone interested in British law and order should find time to read.


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The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Simon Winchester’s remarkable book about a remarkable man was so fascinating I found it difficult to put it down. William Smith was definitely the man during the 18th century who provided the fundamental investigation techniques that led to the science of geology. While other individuals, often described as dilettantes by earnest scientists, were collecting fossils for their pretty appearance or their curious shapes, Smith was interested in their origin and their relative position within the earth’s sedimentary crust. He wanted to know what this information could tell us about how landscapes formed.

It appears from Winchester’s text that Smith’s studies contributed to Charles Darwin’s work. This point alone was enough to keep me reading. William Smith used the term ‘stratigraphical order’ to describe how he and, therefore, other interested scientists would be able to predict other land formations across England, and eventually all Britain. The geological time zones for these formations also gave Smith the spur to produce his famous iconic geological map. This hypothesis would, like Darwin’s work, challenge the contemporary belief about the age of life on Earth, leading of course to much controversy during the early 19th century.

There is a lot about the position of William Smith within the social class of those times and how the contemporary mores and snobbery affected his acceptance by those who considered themselves to be ‘superior’ to him and his lower class birth. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the history of science and technology.

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The Missing by E.K. Frances
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took me a short while to understand what this book was about. I thought it was going to be about children being stolen off the streets on their way home or going to school, and so on. I was sure I was reading a thriller/detective story and the boy called Connor would be hidden somewhere. The kidnappers would demand a ransom or else he would be unfortunately sold to a gang of slavers etc. I was totally wrong and I was surprised to find it was a fantasy story aimed at teenage readers. So I attempted to read it with a view to telling my grandchildren about it later.

The main character, Connor, was quite likeable and obviously suffering from the recent loss of his mother. The way in which he entered into a fantasy world involving dragons and strange cannibalistic, Zombie-like men came across as unreal and difficult to believe. Not very surprising I suppose. Straight away I thought it was another story of the type where the central character awakes at the end wondering ‘was it real or just another dream?’ To a certain extent this meant for me it felt unoriginal for quite a way into the tale.

Its saving grace was that the story was fast moving and had enough twists and turns to keep the reader’s attention. Apart from Connor few of the other characters had much depth to them. Luckily Connor is in possession of a magic key given to him by his grandfather. This helps him to save the day and other children he finds in this strange fantasy world. It means we can find reasons to root for ‘the hero’ of the story. It was fairly scary for an early teenager I think, so I might recommend it to them in the end.


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Defining Me by L.M. Berthiaume
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I do not read contemporary romance novels usually, other than for reviews as in this case. I think it is because I most often find the characters too self-indulgent, too self-absorbed, even smug and totally unaware of less privileged people in the world. So it was when I read this book and I could not wait to finish it. I found most of it trite and unsurprising – not unexpected I suppose given the book’s title.

There were no characters with whom I could identify and sympathise apart from Isabelle’s children who seemed to be more of an irritation than a loveable gift to her present day self. My thoughts throughout most of the book were usually of the type that says: ‘Oh, get over yourself!’ and ‘Why don’t you just count your blessings and get on with life!’ The level of material comfort and self-satisfaction amongst all of the characters was almost sickening to me.

The time spent in the book about Isabelle’s younger life with Alex, and all of the angst that can often accompany burgeoning love, when one’s highs and lows seem to oscillate around a particular person, was well done. However, it was not enough to make me enjoy the story. All that it did was make me feel sorry once more for Chris and their children.

The inclusion of the awful Covid 19 isolation situations, for everyone in the world, felt cynical and a deliberate device used to attract the attention of the reader. Among other problems for me as a UK reader in their seventh decade, was the frequent use of bad language (such as the f… and mother-f….. words) in the dialogue. While I understand the use of phrases and idioms in speech can help in the cause of authenticity, the inclusion of strong expletives in the conversations of privileged and educated adults seems to me to be most unfortunate. I know it is often a reality in some circles but its use in literature can perpetuate the habit as a norm. Another niggle for me was the number of USA products named in the novel that are not found in other countries. It felt like deliberate ‘product placement’ at times. I am probably wrong about that but it was irritating; for example what on earth is a ‘Gummy’ and why should non-drinkers automatically know the names of so many mixers, cocktails and martinis?


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