The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple #1) by Agatha Christie

I picked up a small box set of Marple books at the local tip the other week (they now have a recycling bookshelf where you can take whatever you fancy...I will be going back!) and as I sat down to read the first one I wondered if it was possible that I haven't actually read all the Marples?  I grew up watching the brilliant Joan Hickson, so I sort of felt like I knew Marple, but as I started this book I was fairly sure I hadn't actually read it.  

I was surprised, initially, that it's not really about Miss Marple!  She's there, obviously, and she figures everything out, obviously.  But the story is told from the vicar's point of view.  So I was immediately caught up, wondering how Miss Marple would become embroiled in it all, and it was such a good read that I finished it all off in one day because I didn't want to put it down!

I love the humour, the social observation, and the fact that every time I thought I might have figured out who had done it I was fairly sure that I wasn't correct!

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

I realised as I read this that my knowledge of the Vietnam war was based almost entirely of fuzzy memories of 'Mash' being on TV as a child, meaning I really didn't know very much about the country or the people at all.  This is a huge (in scope) story, spanning several decades and giving us the stories of Grandma Tran Dieu Lan and her granddaughter Huong.  It is violent, brutal, shocking, moving and brave.  At some points I wasn't sure I could keep reading as it was so sad, but I really wanted to see where the story would go.  The two strong female characters are brave, and I was fully committed to their stories, even when I didn't always like their actions.  I'm really glad my friend chose this for our book group to read.

Pocket book of pocket poems by A F Harrold

 

A great little book of funny poems.  I enjoy the way AF Harrold doesn't talk down to kids, and writes suitably bonkers poems that make you smile or make you think.  I had read some of his postcard poems previously, having ordered some for my son's birthday once, and we all enjoyed seeing the short little poems that arrived on interesting postcards each week.  So this was right up my street, and interesting to see one or two we recognised!  A lovely collection, with some fun illustrations too.  Very easy to dip in and out of, and with topics covering everything from snakes, squirrels, packed lunches, climate change and pet slugs!

With thanks to the publishers and Net Galley for my review copy.

All the other mothers hate me by Sarah Harman

I'm a little surprised by how many people found this to be a funny book.  For me it felt like an uncomfortable 'journey' story...and Flo is a hot mess.  It is no wonder the other mothers hate her.  I hated her.  What the hell was up with her?  Yes, she'd crashed out of her girl band.  Yes, her boyfriend was very bad.  But when we meet her in the book her son is 10 years old and she is still barely functioning as a human being, let alone a mother.  She loves her son, but she doesn't seem to understand him at all.  How have social services not been involved?  I didn't find her funny, she was infuriating!

I ended up having to read this only in the daytime, because it felt like some kind of horror thriller to me, and reading it before bed made me so anxious!  Without giving any spoilers, Flo acts in ways that are not just morally fluid, they are downright illegal, and I didn't like her enough to forgive her.

All of this is not to say I wasn't caught up in the story, because I was, and I still wanted to know what would happen!  I liked her new friend Jenny, and I could have done with a bit more Jenny, a bit less Flo to be honest.  I had guessed part of what was going on, but not what had happened to Alfie.  I sort of suspended belief by the end, because it all wraps up in a bit of a mad way (really?! I kept saying in my head as I read) and had Flo actually learned anything from her journey?  I don't know.  It was certainly a rollercoaster read!

With thanks to Net Galley & the publishers for my copy.