The Sirens Sang of Murder by Sarah Caudwell

The latest attempt at Book 60, The Sirens Sang of Murder, ended up on the reject pile, I hated the style of the first few pages. It is proving very hard to find anything worth reading on this bookcase, which is the last outstanding crime bookcase.

I'll come back again at a future date but for now I move to on "Quick Pick", which is Bookcase 62, and sits in between the Crime section and the A-Z fiction which I still haven't even started (many people would regard this untouched area as "The Library" I suspect). I presume "Quick Pick" are books which the library themselves are recommending. Who, what, or how this selection process takes place I do not know. Nevertheless, it was a mixed bag of fiction books from which I selected this one:

I've heard of Gustave Flaubert before of course, but I don't think I had ever read anything by him before, otherwise - under my own rules - I wouldn't be allowed to read this book. I always imagined though that I would be able to try a few "new" (to me) Classics writers during this project, and this will be the first one I believe. I've read a fair few classics in my time but there are probably hundreds if not thousands of "probably should read" books that I haven't read. It'll also be the first short story collection that I've read. They aren't my favourite genre. It always takes me a while to get into a book and with this sort of thing by the time it has your full attention it's finished! But let's see - anything has to beat mass murder crime thrillers.

The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango

Book 61, The Truth and Other Lies, at its heart is quite a simple idea.

A bestselling author actually writes none of his books, his wife does, and he kills her by mistake when he is intending to kill his mistress. What let's it down is the sub-plots of a man driven to expose the writer as a fake, and the police detective investigating the case. For me they are just a distraction and just get in the way of the main storyline. I think this book is one you'd categorise as having elements of magic realism, as things happen which can't possibility take place in real life, but are portrayed as reality.

Yes I know I am always complaining about fiction which adheres to a strict formula, and now I am moaning about the opposite, but this didn't quite do it for me. It's been translated from German, so maybe something is lost in the process.

I have returned to Bookcase 60 for another crime book, there seems to be a dearth of anything decent on this bookcase, but I have managed to find this, my second attempt to navigate this case:

It's set in the legal profession, as we my first ever book in this challenge: Errors of Judgement by Caro Fraser. One this bookcase is out the way then Crime and Thrillers is completed.

The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri

Book 60, The Patience of the Spider, is one of those "atmospheric" crime novels where some foreign detective (Montalbano) investigates yet another murder in an exotic location. I tossed it aside after 10 pages, I have to confess. I struggled to grasp the plot but somehow knew I wouldn't like it.

So I will return to Bookcase 60 when I have located another crime book I can stomach from it. In the meantime I have a more promising book from bookcase 61 which is The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango

This is a book about plagiarism, not murder. That's a good sign (at least to me) because the best fiction book I have read so far (The Last Chapter by Edmund Power) was also a crime novel about plagiarism. I just hope they haven't nicked one another's stories.

The Pocket Wife by Susan Crawford

Book 59, The Pocket Wife, saw me return to Crime, the section in the library where it all started. It's a Dostoevskian tale of a woman who thinks she has murdered her neighbour in alcoholic blackout, and the effect on her of the subsequent guilt. The police detective investigating the case also has a direct interest in it, as his estranged son turns out to also been involved with the neighbour (unlikely as that might seem as he doesn't live in the area at all). Guilt in turn affects the detective in a different way.

I actually didn't like the book at all. I couldn't get interested in any of the characters and felt the plot was a bit light for the length of book. Nothing really happens in large parts of it. Two individuals, tortured by guilt, plod along, until some sort of climax and all is revealed. Dostoevsky could definitely do a better job, and Susan Crawford scored just 3 out of 10.

It's one of those books that is vaguely inspirational but you instantly forget. There were a few things I got from it that I hope will stay with me for a bit. Firstly, it's better to spend money on experiences than things, and secondly that money will never make you happy for very long. Other than that it's all a bit vague and gets 5 out of 10.

Next up for Book 60 is another crime book which looks a bit different from the formula fiction I hate so much. I have gone for The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri.

Let's hope it doesn't tax my patience!

The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

I read book 59, The Happiness Hypothesis, over quite a long period so to me it's all a bit of a blur. It's OK in patches but I'm honestly not sure what it's actually about even though I have read the whole book!

It's one of those books that is vaguely inspirational but you instantly forget. There were a few things I got from it that I hope will stay with me for a bit. Firstly, it's better to spend money on experiences than things, and secondly that money will never make you happy for very long. Other than that it's all a bit vague and gets 5 out of 10.

Next up I return past the door and start my second loop of the library. That will see me return to crime to complete the section where I started.

Hopefully I've managed to get something not full of cliches and stereotypes like so many books on the crime shelves.

The Persian Boy by Mary Renault

I finished The Persian Boy a couple of week ago, and a very annoying book it was. It didn't start too badly and then deteriorated, which is the worst way round because by that stage it's too late to ditch it and I was forced to plough through the last 200 pages with no enjoyment or interest.

The Persian Boy is a historical novel set in the time of Alexander the Great and told from the perspective of a eunuch who attaches himself (no pun intended) to Alexander. They go on lots of campaigns and endless wars. There are lots of characters with names I could never recall and stopped trying to remember who they all were. Eventually Alexander dies, sort of mid-campaign, and it ends. His eunuch is a pathetic creature who adores Alexander and doesn't regard his life as worth living without him.

Next up is a work of psychology in the style of The Road Less Travelled (I presume) called The Happiness Hypothesis

I am guessing this is one on those vaguely inspirational self-help books which really make you question your life and then promptly forget. I did like The Road Less Travelled and even read it twice, but it no longer has any sort of role in my existence.

I'm taking the Library Challenge a bit slower this year as I have a few other books to catch up on, some also from the library, but they are books I want to read rather than ones I stumble across. Once I have got them all out the way it will be full steam ahead again, but at the moment I am reading about six different books.

Shadowman by Della Galton

Shadowman was my first ever Mills and Boon book. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and it certainly wasn't the worst book I have read, fiction of non-fiction, during my journey around Dorking Library so far.

I was surprised the book wasn't about romance at all really. I was expecting a boy meets girl, swept off her feet and sail off into the sunset sort of book, but it was none of that. It was a book about relationships, where a jealous former lover tries to get in between a husband and wife. Shadowman wasn't the most sophisticated story ever, but was easy enough to read and held my interest. Shadowman gets 4 out of 10.

That concludes Large Print and I now move back into the world of normal typefaces. My next book is from a completely unnamed bookcase in Dorking Library which just seems to contain historical novels, mainly by one author, so I picked one of them.

The Persian Boy is "one of the greatest historical novels ever written" according to Sarah Waters on the front cover. I have enjoyed Sarah Waters's books in the past so if she thinks that there is a chance I might agree!