Author: whatcathyreadnext

My Five Favourite May Reads

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bookshelfLockdown and social distancing measures continue here in the UK due to the coronavirus, albeit slightly relaxed since Monday 1st June. For example, last week my sister was able to come over and sit in the garden with me and my husband, suitably socially distanced of course. And in week or so’s time, we have the enticing prospect of being once again able to enjoy the simple pleasure of browsing in a bookshop, although it will be a case of look, don’t touch unless you’re going to buy.

Whether it was down to the good weather, the motivation of blog tour deadlines or lack of other distractions, I read fifteen books in May, including some I awarded five stars. Below are my five favourite. Links from the title will take you to my review. (You can find details of all the books I’ve read so far in 2020 here with links to my reviews.)

First up is A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth by Daniel Mason, a collection of short stories subtly linked by recurring themes. I loved his novel The Winter Soldier and I thought this book was just as wonderful. Published by Mantle on 14th May, I described it as “a tour de force of imagination and one of the most absorbing and satisfying short story collections I’ve ever read”.

My next pick is a historical crime mystery, one of my favourite genres. Published on 2nd April by Corvus, The Saracen’s Mark is the third in S.W. Perry’s Jackdaw Mysteries series set in Elizabethan London. With its well-crafted plot, lashings of period detail and colourful cast of characters, it will appeal to fans of C J Sansom’s Shardlake series or Rory Clements’ John Shakespeare series.

Staying with historical fiction but of an entirely different kind is When We Fall by Carolyn Kirby, published by No Exit Press on 7th May to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE Day.  Based on the Katyn Massacre of 1940, the book is a moving story of three lives forever altered by one fatal choice.

Next up is a memoir whose title One Hundred Miracles: Music, Auschwitz, Survival and Love aptly summarises this emotional but inspiring book.  Written by Zuzana Ruzicková with Wendy Holden, it describes how Zuzana survived two Nazi concentration camps and went on to become a renowned harpsichordist.

My last pick is something completely different. An Engineered Injustice by William L. Myers, Jr. is the second book in his Philadelphia Legal series. It’s a fast-paced, suspenseful thriller. I’ve also read the third book in the series, A Killer’s Alibi, and a fourth book, A Criminal Justice, was published recently.

What were your favourite books you read in May? Have you read any of my picks?

 

#6Degrees 6 Degrees of Separation: From Normal People to Chanel’s Riviera

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It’s the first Saturday of the month which means it’s time for 6 Degrees of Separation!

Here’s how it works: a book is chosen as a starting point by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

Kate says: Books can be linked in obvious ways – for example, books by the same authors, from the same era or genre, or books with similar themes or settings. Or, you may choose to link them in more personal or esoteric ways: books you read on the same holiday, books given to you by a particular friend, books that remind you of a particular time in your life, or books you read for an online challenge. Join in by posting your own six degrees chain on your blog and adding the link in the comments section of each month’s post.   You can also check out links to posts on Twitter using the hashtag #6Degrees

9780571334650This month’s starting book is Normal People by Sally Rooney which I’ve not read (I must be the last person in the world not to have done so) but have heard a lot about, not least because of the recent TV adaptation. It’s about two people who meet at Trinity College Dublin.

Shadowplay AudiobookThe mention of Dublin takes me to Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor, shortlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2020. The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. Along the way Stoker encounters a number of famous figures, including Oscar Wilde whom he first meets in Dublin.

The Secrets of Primrose SquareAlso set in the Irish capital is The Secrets of Primrose Square by Claudia Carroll. The book takes the reader inside the lives of a number of characters living in a small square in Dublin.

TheseDividingWallsAnother book which focuses on a community living in close proximity is These Dividing Walls by Fran Cooper. The setting this time is a Paris apartment block during a long hot summer of unrest in the capital.

Paris EchoUnsurprisingly, Paris is also the location for Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks. In the book, one of the main characters has returned to the French capital to research the experiences of women who lived through the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War 2.

CountessA Countess in Limbo: Diaries in War & Revolution by Olga Hendrikoff chronicles her experiences of living in Russia at the outbreak of World War 1 and in occupied Paris during World War 2.

Chanels RivieraFinally, Chanel’s Riviera by Anne de Courcy also depicts the experiences of people in World War 2 but this time those, such as designer Coco Chanel, whose previously privileged and glamorous lives were transformed in an instant following the fall of France.

Paris and Dublin have been our locations this time. Where did your chain take you this month?