WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand @AynRandOrg

5 GOLD stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I watched a documentary about Ms Rand, after which I knew I had to read this.

In a Nutshell: A love story set in the Communist USSR of the 1920s, first published in 1936.  Rand says it is not a book about the Russian Revolution; this is just the setting.  However, from a reader's point of view, it is indeed a novel about just that, expressed through the eyes, lives and minds of the characters.

This is one of the best books I've ever read.  Kept feeling excited about going back to it.  The main character is Kira, from Petrograd (formerly St Petersburg) who, as a child, migrated to the Crimea with her wealthy family when the revolution took hold.  Some years later, when the Red Army reached the Crimea, the family returned to Petrograd (which became Leningrad after Lenin's death), to find everything they had owned and known gone, under the new regime.  Like everyone else in the city, they were forced to live a meagre, dangerous life, frequently with not enough to eat.

Kira falls in love with Leo, also of the former bourgeoisie; their attraction is instant and intense.  The story follows their lives and the paths they and their families and friends choose in order to survive under the punishing Communist regime.

Many of the 'white' Russians who fled their homeland, like Kira's parents, considered the situation temporary, and thought their former lives would soon be restored.

The novel is widely considered part-autobiographical; it was written once Rand had managed to escape to America.  She writes about life in Russia as she experienced it, of the increasing threat to anyone who did not want to accept the new order.  Aside from being a warning to the world about the evils of Communism, however, it's a masterfully written story about love, sacrifice, survival, tragedy, about the good, the bad and the ugly of human nature, about fear and courage, those brave enough to suffer for what they know is right, and good versus evil.  It's neither preachy nor black and white; the basically brave and courageous can make bad choices.

I've read around the Revolution since finishing it, and discovered that the widely purported idea that it was an uprising of the downtrodden masses against the tyranny of the hated ruling classes is a myth.  It was actually crafted and funded by wealthy financiers from Germany, Britain and the US. Quelle surprise.

FIFTEEN FIRST TIMES by D G Kaye @pokercubster

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Twitter

In a Nutshell: Memoir; the author looks back at early life experiences, in the form of short essays.

I so enjoyed reading these snapshots of D. G. Kaye's life, growing up in the 1960s, 70s and 80s - partly because I discovered that she is just two months older than me, so it's a world I know about ... mostly!*

I love the conversational aspect of the essays; the way Kaye writes is so readable, so down-to earth that it's like she's talking just to you, from the first kiss to the first love, to the first car and apartment, and, more seriously, the first bereavement of someone her own age.  This one was so heartrending that I found myself missing Alba too, a woman I know only from this one short story.

I think the piece that made me smile and nod the most was the 'first diet' - years of yo-yo dieting and obsession with what is put in one's mouth, the bane of many a young (and not so young) woman's life.  The daft things you try to lose weight.  

It's definitely a generational thing; I remember my mother (born in the 1920s) telling me that when she was a young woman, you were just the shape you were, and you didn't give it a great deal of thought.  In the late 1940s and 1950s most people were slim anyway, before advertising got serious and the world was filled with junk food - and when self-control was considered virtuous.  I grew up with the idea that to eat too much is greedy, as Debby must also have done.  Unlike these days, when young women are encouraged to indulge in 'guilty pleasures', with celebrity role models flaunting excess weight.

Back to the book!  It's great, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone, from those who can relate to Debby's experiences and younger women who want to know what life was like in mum and/grandma's day!  It's not that long; you could probably read it in a couple of afternoons.  Ideal for a nice bit of holiday reading, too :)

*

*Although I found it all so relatable, there are many cultural differences that I thought about while I was reading.  Who'd have thought that growing up in a middle class home in the English East Midlands could be so different from a middle class home in Toronto?  

For instance ... the beginning of the dreaded 'monthlies'.  I knew all about it because my mother sat me down with a book called 'Where do babies come from?' when I was nine, and I think we were taught about it at school.  My first kiss was later, my first adult relationship earlier.

My generation in England tended to move out of home as soon as we were able to support ourselves, renting tatty furnished flats that we found in newspaper adverts, that inevitably had no heating or a dodgy old electric fire.  I left in 1978 and shared a house with a friend.  It cost £11 per week; I earned £31.  It was rare that anyone my age had a car - learning to drive at 17 (16 in Toronto) was only for the school goody-goodies!

Ah, the 1970s, when everyone smoked ... I didn't grow up in a smoking household, but started tentatively when I was 14 and properly when I was 16.  It was just something you did, if you were one of the non-straights ('straight' meaning something entirely different back then!).  It went with drinking and rock music and going to see bands - almost everyone I hung around with smoked.  And we all drank underage too, and pubs never asked for any sort of ID.

A MOONLIT PATH OF MADNESS by Catherine McCarthy @serialsemantic

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Twitter; have read and enjoyed others by this author before.

In a Nutshell: Eerie visions in an old family house in Wales, at the turn of the 20th Century.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I read in just a few days.  Grace Morgan from Vermont inherits the old family home in Newport, South Wales and, after the death of her mother, makes the decision to move back there with faithful maid Lilah.  Family mysteries and secrets abound, and Grace begins to have curious visions, as did her mother.

A Moonlit Path of Madness is a quieter work of the supernatural horror genre - I'm not much of a one for ghoulies and ghosties, but this is more about the emotions of the characters than things that go bump in the night.  Those emotions are so well portrayed, the whole story so atmospheric - and who could resist that glorious cover?  The writing flows, and I was completely immersed all the time I was reading it, eager to know what would happen, wrong about most of my predictions, which is always a plus!

I've just tried to write about the ending three times and deleted each time, because it's hard to do so without giving clues, so I'll simply say that it's just right, with an essence of melancholia that fits so well with the rest of the story

My Six In Six : 2023

 

I spotted this meme on Susan Osborne's A Life in Books blog.  She in turn had picked it up from Pyrenees to Pennines blog; it originally came from Jo at The Book Jotter, the meme’s originator. It’s a simple way of arranging some of the books you’ve read so far this year. Jo has lots of headings to choose from but is happy for participants to devise their own. I’ve taken some from these three blogs, and also chosen some of my own.

I've enjoyed and reviewed all books below - they're all genuine recommendations.  I haven't linked them to the reviews, but if you wish to read any of them, you can put the title in the Search feature on the right hand side of the blog, under the cover for Megacity :)

Six Books Set in Six Different Countries Other Than My Own

Six Non-Fiction Books

Six Post-Apocalyptic Books

Six British Historical Fiction Books

Six Favourites Read This Year

Six Books with Yellow Covers

THE SILK CODE by Deborah Swift @swiftstory

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: one of my favourite authors, so I always look out for new releases.

In a Nutshell: Code-breaking and dangerous espionage missions in WW2.

When I started reading this book I thought it might be a bit too 'women's fiction' for me - but I should have known better.  Deborah Swift doesn't write cosy schmaltz, but history so real it's like a window back in time.

The story is set in 1943 and entres around Nancy, a government admin worker solving radio messages from agents in the field, whose life takes a dangerous turn - and Tom, the innovative brain behind some clever coding systems.  Yes, they fall in love, but I wouldn't class this as a romance novel at all.  

During the first part of the book I was struck by how hard life must have been for Londoners during the war; my mother lived there during that time and talked about it sometimes, but this really brought home to me how little any of the people had.  Food, clothes, options...

I enjoyed reading all about the coding systems and the suspicions about who might be working for the Germans, but for me the book really took off in Part 3, which takes places in the Netherlands.  We can't imagine what it must have been like to live under Nazi occupation, but boy, does this book describe it in all its raw horror.  Ms Swift holds nothing back - a lesser author would have saved more lives!  It's gripping, tense, absolutely riveting.  Part 3 alone earns the book its five stars.

PLANET OF THE HEAD-BREAKERS by Zeb Haradon @ZebHaradon

 5 GOLD stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: one of my favourite authors, so I look out for his new releases.

In a Nutshell: Character-orientated scifi.  Robots.  The future of mankind.

Blurb: 

Centuries after the revolution, the remnants of humanity survive on agricultural communes where they are subjected to mandatory lobotomies before reaching adulthood.

The centuries-old, malfunctioning robots that control them have turned the lobotomy into a coming-of-age ceremony. Most children look forward to it, but not Jim. He dreads the impending surgery and contrives a plan to evade it.

Japeth, a nomadic surgical robot tasked with performing the lobotomies, admires Jim's rebellious spirit and decides to spare him. He promises to return, and makes a bold claim - he was once a man of flesh and blood.

Jim maintains the charade of being lobotomized as he awaits Japeth's promised return, but after years without rescue, he resolves to flee the commune. His quest takes him across a barren, post-apocalyptic landscape in a desperate search for the elusive Japeth.

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I was just talking to someone on Twitter about how hard it is to review books by this writer.  This was how the conversation went:

T: I LOVED it. Just reviewed but couldn't do it justice. The prob with reviewing ZH's books is that you can't explain what they're like; I end up writing a barely sufficient review then saying 'it's brilliant, you have to read this' and that's kind of it.

C: That sums it up. Nobody else I've read does this combination of imaginative originality, characterisation, absurdity and just all round competence like that guy

Here it is, anyway!

There are probably as many different fictional versions of the future of our world as there are people who want to read and/or write them, but Mr Haradon's take on the subject is, as one would expect, a lot more imaginative and entertaining than most I've read.

The first part of the book is about Jim, at ages 6, 11 and 16, as he navigates life in the commune.  I was completely engrossed from page one, but it was the second part, in the POV of Japeth, that made the book really take off for me, as he tells the story of how human became android became robot, and how the world collapsed.  It's BRILLIANT.  So good I wanted to read it again as soon as I'd finished it, even though I suspect I am light years away from the author when it comes to views on political and societal progression.  Didn't matter.  Always good to broaden one's outlook! 😉😆

The last part (back to Jim) is sad, touching, heartbreaking ... but not without a glimmer of light.  I'm still thinking about this excellent novel, and will need a day before I can start anything else.  This guy can write the arse off most authors - I was going to say 'in his genre' but he doesn't really have one.  Highly, highly recommended.

LITTLE BIRD'S LULLABY by Kameo Monsoon #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

 3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Family drama, dangerous adventure.

This is not my usual sort of genre at all, but the nicely written blurb piqued my interest.  Generally, this novel was a bit too 'Hallmark' for me, but that's merely a matter of taste - the book itself was jolly good, and the author can certainly write.  The  characterisation is excellent, the story is well-paced, and I found myself wanting to know what would happen next - which is, of course, what the answer to the question 'is it any good?' hinges upon.

Parents Jen and Blake take their three children - Sydney and Tessa, teenagers, and Max, aged 10 - on a hiking trip in Arizona canyons, an area of wild beauty and potential danger, which I had trouble picturing because of course there is nothing like that in England!  I looked up a couple of Youtube videos of canyon hiking, flash floods, etc, so I could see what I was reading about.  Divisions and underlying tensions are magnified when the family's strengths are pitted against Nature at her most unrelenting.

Sydney is the eldest and is reluctant to go on the trip because she will be missing her boyfriend's party - and she is already concerned about his loyalty.  She was the most interesting character.  I didn't take to Jen much; she seemed rather humourless, and Blake a bit too Great Dad.  

I liked reading all the stuff about hiking and survival - it was clear that the author is well-versed in this but the information was seamlessly woven into the narrative and never felt like too much.  My star rating of 3.5 is a reflection of personal preference, but in the interest of objective reviewing I've rounded it up to 4* on Amazon and Goodreads.