Books & Reading Thread 2025
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threespires
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The Axeman's Jazz 8/10
Using the story of a real life New Orleans serial killer, Ray Celestin does a really good job of evoking a time and a place in this book. Initially you are sucked in by the (real life) transcript of a bizarre letter send to the New Orleans newspapers supposedly from the Axeman, in which he offers the people of New Orleans an unusual way of avoiding his axe. Thereafter Ray Celestin creates a book that is mostly crime thriller, but also part history and part musicology with the latter two never getting in the way of the core story and most of the time enhancing it. There's the occasional cliché here and there but nothing that can't be forgiven in the scheme of things as the writing is pretty solid overall.
For me it combined some of my favourite things and it's a book that's intelligent and informative as well as being entertaining. Happily it's the first of a quartet of books and the second seems to be living up to the same standard. Thanks for the recommendation @RobMCFC, definitely a series for anyone who enjoys a good crime novel.
Using the story of a real life New Orleans serial killer, Ray Celestin does a really good job of evoking a time and a place in this book. Initially you are sucked in by the (real life) transcript of a bizarre letter send to the New Orleans newspapers supposedly from the Axeman, in which he offers the people of New Orleans an unusual way of avoiding his axe. Thereafter Ray Celestin creates a book that is mostly crime thriller, but also part history and part musicology with the latter two never getting in the way of the core story and most of the time enhancing it. There's the occasional cliché here and there but nothing that can't be forgiven in the scheme of things as the writing is pretty solid overall.
For me it combined some of my favourite things and it's a book that's intelligent and informative as well as being entertaining. Happily it's the first of a quartet of books and the second seems to be living up to the same standard. Thanks for the recommendation @RobMCFC, definitely a series for anyone who enjoys a good crime novel.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Glad you enjoyed it and you're already onto book 2!
I like to leave a bit of time between books in a series, and I'll be reading book 3 early next year.
1. Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch. 7/10.
2. The Racketeer - John Grisham. 5/10.
3. Orphan X - Gregg Hurwitz. 9/10.
4. The Longest Kill - Craig Harrison. 8/10.
5. Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka. 8/10.
6. The Satsuma Complex - Bob Mortimer. 7/10.
7. The Garderobe of Death - Howard of Warwick - 6/10.
8. A Village in the Third Reich - Julia Boyd, Angelina Patel - 9/10.
9. Three Days in June - James O'Connell - 9/10.
10. The Guv'nor - Lenny McLean - 10/10.
11. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - 7/10.
12. The Rescue - Andy McNab - 7/10.
13. Hunting the Hangman - Howard Linskey - 8/10.
14. The Easy Day was Yesterday: The extreme life of an SAS soldier - Paul Jordan - 4/10.
15. The Visitor - Lee Child - 7/10.
16. Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier - 8/10.
17. The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Charles Dickens - 6/10.
As with all Dickens novels, this was serialised and intended to be published in twelve parts. The author only managed to write six of these parts before he died, in 1870. Dickens didn't leave any notes about how the story would continue, so the mystery will always remain just that.
Shame really, as the characters had been nicely drawn by the half way point, and the remainder of the book promised to be an intriguing story.
Drood breaks his relationship with Rosa, then disappears. Some of his belongings are found beside a river, and there is speculation as to whether he has been murdered, but his body isn't found.
There are a number of suspects with motives to kill Drood, but Drood had also expressed a desire to travel. Suspicion falls upon John Jasper, Drood's uncle, yet only a few years his senior. Jasper, a choir master with a secret addiction to opium, and Neville Landless, whom Drood fights with, both love Drood's former fiancé, Rosa.
So that's the scene set, and that's as far as it goes, unfortunately. But despite the disappointment of not being able to know the ending, it's a worthwhile read, with plenty of supporting cast, brilliantly characterised by Dickens. I've resolved to read all Dickens' novels before I die, and I'm pleased to chalk this one off. The only reason I downgrade my rating is because it is incomplete.
2. The Racketeer - John Grisham. 5/10.
3. Orphan X - Gregg Hurwitz. 9/10.
4. The Longest Kill - Craig Harrison. 8/10.
5. Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka. 8/10.
6. The Satsuma Complex - Bob Mortimer. 7/10.
7. The Garderobe of Death - Howard of Warwick - 6/10.
8. A Village in the Third Reich - Julia Boyd, Angelina Patel - 9/10.
9. Three Days in June - James O'Connell - 9/10.
10. The Guv'nor - Lenny McLean - 10/10.
11. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - 7/10.
12. The Rescue - Andy McNab - 7/10.
13. Hunting the Hangman - Howard Linskey - 8/10.
14. The Easy Day was Yesterday: The extreme life of an SAS soldier - Paul Jordan - 4/10.
15. The Visitor - Lee Child - 7/10.
16. Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier - 8/10.
17. The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Charles Dickens - 6/10.
As with all Dickens novels, this was serialised and intended to be published in twelve parts. The author only managed to write six of these parts before he died, in 1870. Dickens didn't leave any notes about how the story would continue, so the mystery will always remain just that.
Shame really, as the characters had been nicely drawn by the half way point, and the remainder of the book promised to be an intriguing story.
Drood breaks his relationship with Rosa, then disappears. Some of his belongings are found beside a river, and there is speculation as to whether he has been murdered, but his body isn't found.
There are a number of suspects with motives to kill Drood, but Drood had also expressed a desire to travel. Suspicion falls upon John Jasper, Drood's uncle, yet only a few years his senior. Jasper, a choir master with a secret addiction to opium, and Neville Landless, whom Drood fights with, both love Drood's former fiancé, Rosa.
So that's the scene set, and that's as far as it goes, unfortunately. But despite the disappointment of not being able to know the ending, it's a worthwhile read, with plenty of supporting cast, brilliantly characterised by Dickens. I've resolved to read all Dickens' novels before I die, and I'm pleased to chalk this one off. The only reason I downgrade my rating is because it is incomplete.
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
26/23 A Creak on the Stairs - Eva Björg Ægisdóttir
&
27/23 Girls Who Lie - Eva Björg Ægisdóttir
After reading a few Aussie noir books this year, I decided to head for colder climes.
These are the first two books (of 5) in the Forbidden Iceland series. The author uses the same approach in both books of having two narratives, the first set in the present day (or near enough) and the second some time in the past. The second narrative in each story moves forward in time towards the present, generally revealing more about the individual at the heart of the crime.
The secondary narrative in both books is italicised, for why I’m not sure.
In the first book it soon becomes clear whom the secondary narrative concerns but in the second it quite cleverly deceives you into thinking it’s another party.
The first book involves a murder in the small port town of Akranes which is about 25m from the capital, Reykjavik. The victim is a woman who had lived in the town up to the age of 8 and had never returned to the area until recently.
The central character in the investigation is a detective who has also returned to the area following the end of a relationship (the nature of this becomes clearer throughout the book).
The second book concerns the discovery of a body of a woman who had gone missing some 6 months earlier. Initially suicide is suspected but it soon becomes apparent that it is a murder. The police investigative team are the same as in the first book with the same detective as the main focus.
Overall a couple of good but not great thrillers.
&
27/23 Girls Who Lie - Eva Björg Ægisdóttir
After reading a few Aussie noir books this year, I decided to head for colder climes.
These are the first two books (of 5) in the Forbidden Iceland series. The author uses the same approach in both books of having two narratives, the first set in the present day (or near enough) and the second some time in the past. The second narrative in each story moves forward in time towards the present, generally revealing more about the individual at the heart of the crime.
The secondary narrative in both books is italicised, for why I’m not sure.
In the first book it soon becomes clear whom the secondary narrative concerns but in the second it quite cleverly deceives you into thinking it’s another party.
The first book involves a murder in the small port town of Akranes which is about 25m from the capital, Reykjavik. The victim is a woman who had lived in the town up to the age of 8 and had never returned to the area until recently.
The central character in the investigation is a detective who has also returned to the area following the end of a relationship (the nature of this becomes clearer throughout the book).
The second book concerns the discovery of a body of a woman who had gone missing some 6 months earlier. Initially suicide is suspected but it soon becomes apparent that it is a murder. The police investigative team are the same as in the first book with the same detective as the main focus.
Overall a couple of good but not great thrillers.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
- Cunning Folk – Adam L.G. Nevill - 8/10
- Bad Apples – Will Dean – 7/10
- The Winter Road – Adrian Selby – 6/10
- The Dark Place – Damian Vargas – 9/10
- Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris – 7/10
- The Tyranny of Faith – Richard Swan – 7/10
- The Game – Micah Richards – 8/10
- The Ticket Collector from Belarus – Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson – 8/10
- The Satsuma Complex – Bob Mortimer – 6/10
- Notes on an Execution – Danya Kukafka – 9/10
- And Away … – Bob Mortimer – 7/10
- Dead Man's Blues - Ray Celestin – 8/10
- On Wings of Eagles – Ken Follett – 8/10
- Priest of Gallows – Peter McLean – 8/10
- Quantum Radio – A.G.Riddle – 3/10
- The Maleficent Seven – Cameron Johnston – 6/10
- The Second Sleep – Robert Harris – 8/10
- Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes – 7/10
In many ways, this is a straightforward book: a man starts out with a “problem”, he gets the chance to change things, and then he ends up more or less where he started.
A bit annoying that the foreward basically told you what was going to happen. This book was written in the 50s as a short story, and expanded to a novel in the 60s, and it is considered a classic. Still, most people buying it are those, like me, who won’t have read it and maybe know little about it. So why spoil it? Put the analysis at the end or warn the reader so they can skip forward.
Anyway, this minor quibble aside, it was an fascinating read. The character of Charlie was well developed as we get to see his journey through his eyes as he changes. Everybody else in the book feels like a minor character with little development. I usually recoil from books that intentionally include wrong spellings and bad grammar, but there is a very good reason here, and I think the approach works well.
It was a fairly predictable plot arc and nothing surprising happened, but I enjoyed the read, nonetheless. I didn’t find it life-changing, it didn’t move me to tears as some reviewers have said, but I found Charlie’s journey interesting. And I did find the final line poignant.
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
I think one or two of us have read Scrublands by Chris Hammer...an Aussie thriller.
Just noticed that it's been serialised and part 1 is on BBC4 tonight.
Just noticed that it's been serialised and part 1 is on BBC4 tonight.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Good spot. I enjoyed Scrublands so I’ll be watching this on the iPlayer.
journolud
Well-Known Member
Been reading more than usual recently as I’m restricted from my usual activities following a knee replacement. I’ve read the three novels by Sunjeev Sahita, being The Year of the Runaways which brings together the stories of four Indian immigrants in the UK ie their back stories plus how their fortunes, ir otherwise, connect in the UK. It’s a great read which I actually read while on my holiday to India recently.
Subsequently read the China Room and most recently Ours Are the Streets which tells the story from the first person of how a UK based Pakistani man becomes radicalised.
I was looking for something else to read and was going to check out the Booker nominations when I remembered this thread, one I ducked out of early this year, or was it last? Anyway just downloaded Flowers for Algernon, not my usual fare but will give it a go
Subsequently read the China Room and most recently Ours Are the Streets which tells the story from the first person of how a UK based Pakistani man becomes radicalised.
I was looking for something else to read and was going to check out the Booker nominations when I remembered this thread, one I ducked out of early this year, or was it last? Anyway just downloaded Flowers for Algernon, not my usual fare but will give it a go
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
28/23 The Axeman's Jazz - Ray Celestin
I bought this book several years ago but for some reason never got round to reading it. I wasn’t even sure that I still had it but when @RobMCFC and @threespires were discussing it recently I went looking for it and found it tucked away on a bookshelf.
I have nothing much to add to what has been said previously; it evokes the place and period brilliantly and I will certainly look to continue the remainder of series.
For those that have read and enjoyed this book I can recommend "Harlem Shuffle" by Colson Whitehead.
I bought this book several years ago but for some reason never got round to reading it. I wasn’t even sure that I still had it but when @RobMCFC and @threespires were discussing it recently I went looking for it and found it tucked away on a bookshelf.
I have nothing much to add to what has been said previously; it evokes the place and period brilliantly and I will certainly look to continue the remainder of series.
For those that have read and enjoyed this book I can recommend "Harlem Shuffle" by Colson Whitehead.
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
29/23 Exiles - Jane Harper
This is Jane Harper’s latest offering and it again features Aaron Falk, the financial crime detective from Melbourne.
Here, Falk is visiting friends in South Australian wine country because he has been asked to be godfather to one of their children. The christening was postponed for a year because another in the friends group had disappeared a year earlier. It was at the local annual Cheese and Wine Fair that a young child was discovered in an unattended pram at the end of the evening, with no sign of her mother. Despite frantic searching by her friends and family no trace of her could be found and it was generally assumed that she had fallen in the nearby reservoir.
One year later, her body had still not turned up and the plan was to launch an appeal at this year’s festival to gather evidence which might lead to finding out what had happened to her. The story plays out over a few days with much looking back to the events of the previous year and everyone’s relationship with the missing woman. Falk gets drawn in and into another unsolved case from sometime previously.
Jane Harper is on fine form with this novel and I can recommend it to fans of the genre.
This is Jane Harper’s latest offering and it again features Aaron Falk, the financial crime detective from Melbourne.
Here, Falk is visiting friends in South Australian wine country because he has been asked to be godfather to one of their children. The christening was postponed for a year because another in the friends group had disappeared a year earlier. It was at the local annual Cheese and Wine Fair that a young child was discovered in an unattended pram at the end of the evening, with no sign of her mother. Despite frantic searching by her friends and family no trace of her could be found and it was generally assumed that she had fallen in the nearby reservoir.
One year later, her body had still not turned up and the plan was to launch an appeal at this year’s festival to gather evidence which might lead to finding out what had happened to her. The story plays out over a few days with much looking back to the events of the previous year and everyone’s relationship with the missing woman. Falk gets drawn in and into another unsolved case from sometime previously.
Jane Harper is on fine form with this novel and I can recommend it to fans of the genre.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
This is already on my list so good to know it’s up to the usual standard.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
- Cunning Folk – Adam L.G. Nevill - 8/10
- Bad Apples – Will Dean – 7/10
- The Winter Road – Adrian Selby – 6/10
- The Dark Place – Damian Vargas – 9/10
- Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris – 7/10
- The Tyranny of Faith – Richard Swan – 7/10
- The Game – Micah Richards – 8/10
- The Ticket Collector from Belarus – Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson – 8/10
- The Satsuma Complex – Bob Mortimer – 6/10
- Notes on an Execution – Danya Kukafka – 9/10
- And Away … – Bob Mortimer – 7/10
- Dead Man's Blues - Ray Celestin – 8/10
- On Wings of Eagles – Ken Follett – 8/10
- Priest of Gallows – Peter McLean – 8/10
- Quantum Radio – A.G.Riddle – 3/10
- The Maleficent Seven – Cameron Johnston – 6/10
- The Second Sleep – Robert Harris – 8/10
- Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes – 7/10
- My Effin’ Life – Geddy Lee – 9/10
If you don’t know him, Geddy Lee is the singer/bass player with Canadian rock band, Rush. Ever since this autobiography was announced I’d been looking forward to getting stuck into this and it didn’t disappoint.
Just to set the context – I am a Rush fan, but not a devotee. I bought a couple of their albums in the 80s/90s, but it wasn’t until the release of Snakes & Arrows in 2007 that I really started to listen to their deep back catalogue. Sadly, I never got to see them live.
The first thing to say is that this is not a warts-and-all behind the scenes expose, and that’s because Mr Lee has a far more interesting tale to tell. A shadow hangs over both the start and end of this book. After the usual stories of when the subject of the book was born and their experiences in their formative years, he devotes a long chapter to the story of his parents. They were originally from Poland and suffered four years in various concentration camps including Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Lee has dutifully pieced together their story based on what his mother told him, what his surviving relatives had to say and cross referenced it with the work of Holocaust experts. As you’d expect, it’s a harrowing tale but a fitting testament to his parents and how it has shaped his life.
As Rush fans will undoubtedly know, the shadow at the end of the book is the family tragedies suffered by drummer/lyricist, Neal Peart, and his eventual death from a brain tumour in 2020. Geddy Lee manages to convey the emotions that he and guitarist, Alex Lifeson, went through in the last three years of Peart’s life, including their regular visits to his home in Los Angeles.
In between, he manages to relate the story of Rush and interleaves it with his feeling about his work and personal life at each stage of his career. He’s not afraid to pick at the issues that his choice in career have had on himself and his family, noting that “it’s an unpleasant fact that few musicians, myself included, are prepared to give up their gig to raise a family”. Later on, he notes that being in a band “demands precedence over everything, silently running (and occasionally ruining) your life.”
He also tackles the potentially prickly subject of how critics react to his voice, taking it mostly in good humour.
Occasionally, there’s a little nugget about what it takes to put on and run a show that isn’t immediately obvious to the audience. For example, Lee states that sometimes the crew will tell you in your earphone that there’s trouble in the audience and ask you to stall before the next song. Throughout the book, he’s also incredibly thankful for the amazing job done by the Rush road crew over the years. The fact that some of them were there from the start and were still there at the end speaks volumes of the close-knit bond forged between the band and their touring team.
In addition to the tragic nature of the closing chapters, Lee also tackles the dreaded “R” word and how he felt about it. “R” in this case is retirement. With Neal Peart wanting more time at home and Alex Lifeson suffering medical issues, he is honest enough to admit that events left him frustrated because he didn’t want the show to stop. But with the benefit of hindsight, he has the good grace to admit that Neal Peart was right. He explains that in addition to medical issues and homesickness, Peart had identified, even as early as the demo sessions, that Rush’s final album, Clockwork Angels, was their strongest work. As a relatively latter-day fan, whilst I love their classic material from the mid-70s to early 80s, I have to agree that Clockwork Angels is an immense album and perhaps a fitting way to end a glorious recording career.
The book closes with Geddy Lee’s life now as a contented husband, father and grandfather, and it’s good to see that he now makes his decisions on what fits in for both he and his wife, Nancy. I was also interested to read that they regularly visit the UK for walks in places such as the Lake District. You never know, one of us may bump into them at some point.
On one of the music threads, @threespires asked if this book might be suitable for the general music fan who is not necessarily into Rush. My initial thought was “no” because Rush is such a cult band. But after I finished the book and began to put this review together, I’ve changed my mind. Whilst Rush recorded a lot of albums, and most are covered, Geddy Lee doesn’t spend pages and pages dissecting each one. In fact, for a couple of albums, it was “next we recorded album X and when the tour finished ….” Whilst this may frustrate hardcore fans, I think it helps the flow of the book with not getting bogged down on why they recorded a certain track in a certain way.
What you have is a very well put together and considered piece of writing by a top-class musician who has seen it all from the 1970s to the present day. The book doesn’t lack drama or emotion, and I suspect a lot of what it has to say will resonate with music fans in general.
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
Brilliant write-up. Rush is a band that has largely passed me by and this is not the sort of book that I would normally read but on the back of this I have added it to my list.
threespires
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To echo stone blue that's an excellent and very helpful review. I will probably wait a bit till it drops from it's release price but it has given me an appetite to pick it up at some point.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Maybe you'll both be ready for a Rush nomination in the album thread before too long!
I have to agree with the other two, this is a great review. I'm not really into music biogs, but I might also give this a go, as it overlaps an area of great interest to me - the Holocaust.
An old school mate of mine is in a rock band (Billy Duffy, The Cult), and I've often wondered about the lifestyle of rock artists. I would read Billy's autobiography if ever he writes it.
Finished Flowers For Algernon and although enjoyed it without any spoilers saw the ending coming for a while. Downloaded Exiles as my next read. Thanks for all the nominations and recommendations throughout the year. Certainly read some books I wouldn't have if not for this thread
1961_vintage
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Has anyone read The Year of the Locust? It's still heftily priced for an e-book - just wondering if anyone has and if so what they thought.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
I’m really pleased that my review has got others interested. I’ll look forward to the various reviews from non-Rush fans if and when you all get around to reading it.
As @ob says, I think this thread is working well in terms of people highlighting books that some of us might otherwise have missed. It’s good to have a little bit of crossover in our reading so that we are able to compare notes on our shared titles, so thanks to everybody for their contributions.
Not read it but it does sound good. Looks like a long book but it might be a candidate for a group read next year.