Raven Black: Shetland, Book 1 (Audiobook) – Ann Cleeves – 12.05.24 White Nights: Shetland Book 2 (Audiobook) – Ann Cleeves – 14.05.24

I loved binge watching Shetland recently from the beginning, having somehow never watched it before, and some of my book group friends recommended the books on which the series is based so I gave them a go. The setting of Shetland is great – with it’s very northern aspect meaning it has periods of little daylight as well as periods of little darkness and the effects this can have on people who live in the communities. The bleak and unforgiving landscape as well as small communities where everyone knows everyone also add lots of atmosphere and I loved the Viking re-enactment ceremony that took part as well. I will look out for other books in the series coming up in any audible sales.

The Dark Forest (The Three-Body Problem Book 2) – Cixin Liu, Joel Martinsen – 15.05.24

This is the second book in the Three Body Problem trilogy and has quite a different feel. The first book deals with first contact with aliens in the ‘real world’ as we know it. In this book, set after the first, humanity knows that very advanced aliens bent on their destruction are heading towards Earth and will arrive in about 400 years. The aliens have sent super fast sort of nano particle robot things to both sabotage science experiments to halt human technological development, and to eavesdrop on all conversations so they know what humans are planning. This is quite a bleak situation and different responses are discussed about how humanity could possibly either hide from, escape from or successfully fight off (or even negotiate with) the aliens.

Again this is a very intelligent book and all the scenarios are thought out with sound scientific and philosophical arguments. It’s quite depressing though.

The Dark Forest theory of the title is basically that the universe is like a dark forest full of dangerous creatures and the only way to survive them is by hiding and as soon as the creatures (ie any intelligent life in the universe) knows where you are, you are doomed. Not as jolly as Star Trek’s view of the universe!

Lisey’s Story (Audiobook) – Stephen King – 09.05.24

I’m a big fan of Stephen King’s writing (especially his more recent works) (much to the bemused horror of my book group friends who all think that Stephen King books are all too scary and graphic for nice ladies like us to enjoy!). I think he is a true master storyteller – characters are real and stories build in complexity and emotional heft to well realised endings. I was very excited to read this book, and a bit gutted that I didn’t instantly warm to it.

Yes, I found the beginning a little slow, but I persevered, and boy and I glad I did! Gradually the book began to get under my skin until I was totally gripped. To begin with, it’s a semi-autobiographical story about a middle to older age very successful horror writer, Scott, and his wife, Lisey. How they met as young people and how their relationship developed over the years – often with the wife having to stand in the background at functions and events where her husband is the star (this reminded me of Anna Kendrick’s role in one of my favourite films: The Last Five Years).

There is darkness – we learn in little pieces about Scott’s abusive childhood and the issues in his family with mental health (or is it supernatural influence?). I liked how the supernatural/horror elements in the novel were all metaphors for real life experiences like grief and trauma – reminded me of another of my favourite movies, the horror film The Babadook where the monster is very much a personification of grief and the resolve is not to destroy grief but to learn to live with it in a controlled way.

In Lisey’s story, after Scott’s death, Lisey has to find her own strength to deal with dangers and family crises drawing on her once hidden memories of what Scott told her about the otherworldly place his visited throughout his whole life which had the potential to both heal and destroy him.

I thought is was a very good book.

Looking Glass Sound – (Audiobook) – Catriona Ward – 29.04.24

This is a bit of a mindbender of a book.

It starts off feeling like a run of the mill, American teenager coming of age, summer of sexual awakening etc with three friends kicking about the coastal town during the summer holidays – there are love triangles, experiments with alcohol, disillusionment with parents and so on.

Then it gets darker with a serial murder mystery to solve.

Then the characters grow up and it gets a bit freaky and I’m like, wait, what? Is this whole book a fiction written by one of the characters, or is it a fiction about a fiction written by one of the other characters, and why do people keep changing names and genders and what is going on????!!!

This goes on for a while, but then the ending does kind of explain things in a way that made me say, oh, okay, I guess that makes sense after all then.

Overall it was a fun read (I think?).

Hagstone (Audiobook) – Sinéad Gleeson – 23.04.24

This is a dark and atmospheric literary novel set on a wild secluded Irish island.

Nell is an artist, trying to make a living while staying true to her art and she is approached by a woman from a mysterious all female community that live in an old remote nunnery on the island. She is asked to make a book about the community as well as some pieces of art. To do this she has to spend time with them and learns some of the women’s stories.

It’s a bit about how it’s hard to draw the line between a community and a cult, and how leadership can go from wanting the best for the collective to something darker. Also, the book explores relationships both in the all female group and in the wider community. It manages to be both beautiful and also gripping.

The Three-body Problem – Cixin Liu – 22.04.24

I remember trying this book in the past, after hearing it lauded as one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever, and giving up quite early on because it was too heavy for me. Then I started watching and loving the Netflix adaptation and so I went back to the book and this time found myself engaging with it more.

Unlike the tv adaptation, this book is set entirely in China and the majority of the characters are Chinese. There are a lot of cultural and historical references which are pretty much lost on me, although there are footnotes giving some context and explanation.

Several cutting edge scientists start dying in mysterious circumstances, some academics are invited into a vast virtual reality role playing game based in a world with three suns whose orbits are regularly thrown into chaos causing devastating effects on the worlds climate and the life of it’s inhabitants, and one physicist starts seeing numbers counting down in his field of vision.

How are these things connected and what do they mean for the future of planet Earth?

I like the policeman character, and in my mind see him as the actor who played the equivalent role in the tv show. I also like the real, intelligent, sciency way they explore the theories about what’s happening and the options for responding.

As I’m writing this, I’m still slogging through book two in the series so trying not to give spoilers about what’s coming!

Noise Floor: The Vinyl Detective Mysteries, Book 7 (Audiobook) – Andrew Cartmel – 20.04024

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After dipping my toes in the icy waters of the first book in Andrew Cartmel’s Paperback Sleuth series, reading this was like sinking into a comforting warm bath. Back to the lovely mix of characters that are the unnamed Vinyl detective, his girlfriend, Nevada and their friends Tinkler and Clean Head.

Once again they are thrown into danger and mystery in the seedy underworld of classic records with lots of nostalgia in this instalment around eighties raves.

As always there are fun foody facts and cat shenanigans aplenty. I do really like this series.

Death in Fine Condition (Audiobook) – Andrew Cartmel – 15.04.24

I really love Andrew Cartmel’s Vinyl Detective series, and when looking at reviews of his latest (Noise Floor) I saw people mentioning this new spin off series about the Paperback Sleuth. Like many of the reviewers, I really didn’t know what to make of this new series. There is a character in the Vinyl Detective series (Tinkler) who is constantly stoned and randy and a bit of a comic foil for the main characters. If you imagine a female version of Tinkler, you get the main character of this new series, Cordelia. Instead of tracking down rare vinyl records, Cordelia deals in expensive rare paperbacks and is not above dodgy or even downright illegal tactics to get them. Her path crosses with our Vinyl Detective heroes at events that sell both old books and old records, which is quite fun. I’m not sure I like Cordelia enough to feel invested in the series yet, but perhaps she will go on a redemptive journey and I’ll warm to her more.

All the Murmuring Bones (Audiobook) – A.G. Slatter – 12.04.24

I enjoyed this book – a gothic, spooky, Irish folklore fairy tale with a strong and powerful heroine who has to fight controlling men (and women) family curses and angry creatures to save herself and right her family’s wrongs from the past.

I think I’ll look out for more novels from this author now. (I just added Vigil to my audible wish list – the first in Angela Slatter’s urban fantasy detective series!)

Quantum Radio – A.G. Riddle – 11.04.24

I bought this because I loved A.G. Riddle’s Lost in Time, and because I am fascinated by the world of quantum mechanics (at least, what little I can understand of it) which always seems very sci-fi even in the real world.

I didn’t love this one as much. I liked how is started out, and I quite liked the ending, but the middle was too actiony for my taste – like a sci-fi James Bond movie.

When academic Ty Klein spots a pattern in data from the large hadron collider in CERN he is thrown into a dangerous world of cat and mouse chases across the world and even across parallel worlds. There is some nice story development and some nice character and relationship development, but, like I said, too much action for me.