February has been a month of excellent reads: all of them, even the difficult South African novel by Mark Winkler.
Two stunning novels : The Book of Form and Emptiness (reviewed on 17 February 2022, https://wordpress.com/post/thebooksmithblog.wordpress.com/1386 ) and then:
The Anomaly by Herve le Tellier, translated by Adriana Hunter. Winner of the 2020 Prix Goncourt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prix_Goncourt. Described, accurately, as … an existential thriller …. it was a mind-blowing, one-session read. The wildly original basic premise is that flight Air France 006 enters a huge storm, en route to New York, and the plane and its passengers are duplicated. #1 question is: how did this happen? Why? And now what? In search of answers the novel dives into science, religion and philosophy, plus psychology, human relationships, individual stories of (some) of the pilots and passengers. What a read! And the ending was hair-raising – shocking, actually. Not to be missed.
Go to https://youmightaswellread.com/2021/12/28/buckle-your-seat-belts-for-herve-le-telliers-the-anomaly/ for a comprehensive review.
FICTION
The Book of Form and Emptiness – Ruth Ozeki. See my review , link above.
The Anomaly by Herve le Tellier, translated by Adriana Hunter. Gallic wit, sophisticated thriller and brilliant translation
Human Croquet – Kate Atkinson. Magical realism reveals dark underbelly of middle-class English surburbia
A Promise of Ankles – Alexander McCall Smith: Scottish serial novel, #14 in series; charming & gentle
How to Stop Time – Matt Haig: Historical Fantasy; magical and inventive
The Mystics of Mile End – Sigal Samuel. Coming of age in a Jewish neighbourhood of Montreal, exploring the mysteries of Jewish Kabbalah. Esoteric & fascinating.
The Graveyard Shift – D M Guay: Comedy horror; fun, trashy, escapist
Due South of Copenhagen – Mark Winkler. The bad, sad years of South Africa’s Border War in the 1980s. Futile, haunting & disturbing.
A Town Called Solace – Mary Lawson. Small town drama in 1970’s Canada’s Northern Ontario. Difficult, fractured, child /parent relationships. Grief, remorse and love play out.
THE BOOKSMITH 
I have reserved the Anomaly at the library. There are 4 people ahead of me so hope I can get to it when it arrives. Sounds fascinating. You have had a wonderful time of books. The Ozeki book sounds intriguing too. Too many books!!! Aggghhh ! All the best. 😃💕
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Oh, I know. Too many books … too little time !
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I must hang my head in shame. I am reading but not managing to complete any one of the 5 books I’ve started. I’m busy doing research too. The days are too short!! It doesn’t seem humanly possible to read that many books in such a short space of time. You are exceptional. XXX
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Oh relax! we’re all different. I don’t want to tell you how many unfinished craft projects are languishing in my ho9use – why? because I’m reading! can’t do everything, so choices are made.
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