What I'm reading ...

I have started reading The Secret War: Spies, Codes and Guerrillas 1939–1945 by Max Hastings, my next book club book.  A good time for some meaty non-fiction, I think, and this should fit the bill.  Here’s the blurb:

In ‘The Secret War’, Max Hastings examines the espionage and intelligence machines of all sides in World War II, and the impact of spies, code-breakers and partisan operations on events. Written on a global scale, the book brings together accounts from British, American, German, Russian and Japanese sources to tell the story of a secret war waged unceasingly by men and women often far from the battlefields but whose actions profoundly influenced the outcome.
Returning to the Second World War for the first time since his best-selling ‘All Hell Let Loose’, Hastings weaves into a ‘big picture’ framework, the human stories of spies and intelligence officers who served their respective masters. Told through a series of snapshots of key moments, the book looks closely at Soviet espionage operations which dwarfed those of every other belligerent in scale, as well as the code-breaking operation at Bletchley Park – the greatest intelligence achievement of the conflict – with many more surprising and unfamiliar tales of treachery, deception, betrayal and incompetence by spies of Axis, Allied or indeterminate loyalty.

The Standing Chandelier - by Lionel Shriver

This book is described as a novella and it is, indeed, quite a short book, even though the story covers quite a long timer period. It is not so much a story about events, but more an exploration into a number of people’s response to those events and the feelings engendered. I guess I might say that it is a study of emotional intelligence. The key issue is whether a man and a woman can be truly platonic friends. The author does not attempt to give a definitive answer, but does a good job of pushing around the subject for thought and discussion.

What I'm reading ...

I have started The Standing Chandelier by Lionel Shriver. I wanted a quick read while I am travelling and this is described as a novella [just 129 pages]. This author always impresses me. Here’s the blurb:

When Weston Babansky receives an extravagant engagement present from his best friend (and old flame) Jillian Frisk, he doesn’t quite know what to make of it – or how to get it past his fiancée. Especially as it’s a massive, handmade, intensely personal sculpture that they’d have to live with forever.
As the argument rages about whether Jillian’s gift was an act of pure platonic generosity or something more insidious, battle lines are drawn…
Can men and women ever be friends? Just friends?

Dead Tomorrow - by Peter James

As usual with this author’s work, I enjoyed the ride. It was just what I needed for a long aeroplane flight. The story had the complexity that I have come to expect, but there was no real, unexpected twist at the end. Two things linger with me: Early in the book a guy has a motorbike accident and is later declared dead. We are just left to assume that he is the potential liver donor that is mentioned towards the end. The backstory about Sandy progressed by a small step; does each book add just a tiny bit more?