Welcome to this week’s blogpost. Here’s our roundup of your comments and photos from last week.
Let’s start with the pleasures of binge-reading. Incorruptible, the latest in the Çetin Ikmen series by Barbara Nadel has given storm46 the feeling of “meeting up with old friends”:
Over the years, the series has reflected the changes in Turkey and this last one echoes the present darkness in Turkish politics. What fascinates in her books is the sense of history, going back hundreds of years, as it is reflected through the different ethnic and religious groups that make up the melting pot of Constantinople: the varying degrees of Muslim religiosity and how it manifests in the Turks, other Muslim groups such as Kurds, Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Levantine, Syrians … Nadel blends these groups seamlessly into fascinating murder mysteries, and shows different facets of the ethnicities and everyday life of modern Turkey, every page shot through with the consequences of history.
I recommend starting at the beginning so you can revel in the prospect of 20 Inspector Ikmen novels to read. Pour yourself a strong Turkish coffee, arm yourself with some honeyed baklava, and set off for the backstreets of Istanbul.
A revisit to Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City has rewarded HousmansEngland:
I first read the series in the early nineties, and very much enjoyed them. Recently, a friend reminded me of them, and I decided to go back and read them again. Now that I’m older and wizened, sorry, wiser, I’m still enjoying them, and I get more of the references than I did back in my twenties. When I first read them, I’d never even heard of Quaaludes, let alone have any idea of what they were, or how to pronounce the word. I originally read them out of sequence, as I had them from the library, and had to take what they had. Now, I’m reading them in sequence. I enjoyed the first one so much, I’m going straight on to the second, the imaginatively-titled More Tales of the City.
Following a recommendation here on Tips, Links And Suggestions, Judeobscure took up Peter May’s Lewis trilogy:
All three books were riveting, although the first was about such a strange event that it really took the cake. May’s evocation of the islands, descriptions of the landscape and the connections between all the island characters who had known each other since childhood were all really thrilling.
The Hap & Leonard books by Joe R Lansdale are proving binge-worthy for writeronthestorm:
The first, Savage Season, was a rip-snorting thriller. Which, for a very short book, introduced Hap & Leonard and their friendship beautifully. It moved at a hell of a pace, but had humour and tension throughout - a great read. So, I’ve steamed straight into Mucho Mojo.
“So far - brilliant.” Larts is enjoying the brilliantly titled Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones):
It’s melancholy, funny, weird, confessional. I’m even enjoying the astrology stuff. It helps the more philosophical elements of the novel. It’s setting is superbly created, right on the cusp of the frozen, snowbound Poland & Czech Republic (aka Czechia)
Two weeks after finishing Overstory by Richard Powers, BerlinBirdie is still wondering quite what to make of it:
Of course the topic of trees, forests, their significance for the earth is immensely current and appealing and most of the characters come to life - in my opinion the best part of the book is the first section where the characters are introduced with their backgrounds. This part reminded me a bit of a condensed version of Jane Smiley’s US trilogy. As the book went on and the characters’ lives started to merge, I began to find the fantasy elements a bit much - they weakened the book, despite its many qualities and its resonance with a lot of current news reports
Finally, reverendbow has just finished the final book of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series:
I read all four in about four weeks which is pretty good going for me. Although I got a bit annoyed at one point where it seemed like every male character had to declare their undying love for Lila, in general I loved it. It felt like a very real depiction of people and place and didn’t shy away from unresolved or difficult endings. So now I’ve just got that classic end-of-book sadness.
I’m sure many readers of this blog will know that feeling.
Interesting links about books and reading
Marlon James on Desert Island Discs.
Lavinia Greenlaw on Pamela Hansford Johnson, described when she died in 1981 as “one of England’s best-known novelists” and now… well…
Amazon’s problems with books selling health misinformation.
“The emperor Galerius… was said to enliven mealtimes by feeding criminals to his pet bears as he ate.” Roman Emperors definitely had their own style.
“My mother told me not to be too nice. That was a liberating idea. I had been trying too hard to please my characters, I think.” Twenty Questions with Tessa Hadley.
Scathing reviews of classic books from the New York Times archives. (Hard to disagree about Henry James, mind you.)
If you’re on Instagram, now you can share your reads with us: simply tag your posts with the hashtag #GuardianBooks, and we’ll include a selection in this blog. Happy reading!
