january-february 2026 books…

The Christmas Egg (Mary Kelly): One of those ‘Bristish Library Crime Classics’ (or so it says on the book’s cover)… first published in 1958. The action starts in London on 22 December: Chief Inspector Nightingale and Sergeant Beddoes have been called to a gloomy flat off Islington High Street. An elderly woman lies dead on the bed and her trunk has been looted. The woman is Princess Olga Karukhin – an émigré of Civil War Russia – her trunk is missing its glittering treasure. All the action is crammed into a 3-day period leading up to Christmas… there were times when I felt that the pace of developments felt unrealistically swift and straightforward (with the sergeant seemingly able to receive and implement orders/pursue leads FAR quicker than the police do in ‘Midsomer Murders’ – even without the internet, mobile phones and the like!). An intriguing, well-written, easy-read, get-away-from-the-world-of-Mr-Trump, typical crime novel.
Journey Into Cyprus (Colin Thubron): Apparently, this is the first Thubron book I’ve read (well, it’s the only one since I started my blog 20 years ago… but I feel sure there have been others before that!). First published in 1975, the book is Thubron’s account of his 600-mile trek (in 1972) around the island of Cyprus – before the Turkish invasion in 1974. It’s part-geographical/travel, part-history and, crucially for me, includes accounts with some of the people he met en-route and their generosity/hospitality (he frequently overnighted in monasteries, but also often accepted a mattress in a family’s tiny, simple home). Thubron is an excellent writer and I very much enjoyed his fascinating observations and insights (eg. the island’s unhappy+unequal divisions; the contrasting Gothic+Byzantine architecture; the contrasting Greek Orthodox+Sunni Muslim faiths; the Greek+Turkish traditions… not to mention the climate and the food!).
Home Stretch (Graham Norton): I’m not (with certain exceptions) a great lover of books written by so-called celebrities, but hey! This is a novel set in a small Irish community in 1987. The local community is shattered by a terrible car accident which kills 3 young people and seriously injures a fourth. Two young men survive unscathed. Out of a sense of guilt, one of them decides he needs to leave the community, taking his secrets with him… but the awful event continues to haunt him over the course of years and, ultimately, he feels the need to confront his past. It’s a book about love, loss, and acceptance… I think I’ll leave it there (*no spoilers*). It’s an enjoyable, very readable novel (albeit maybe a bit predictable/dumbed down?). Norton is a good storyteller. 
The Nikel Boys (Coleson Whitehead): This is our next Blokes’ bookgroup selection. Based on a real-life brutal Florida reform school in the 1960s, this novel (first published in 2019) demonstrates how racism in America has long operated (in the words of one reviewer) as a “codified and sanctioned activity”. With all the horrible stuff currently happening in the US about what the current administration has characterised as a “public safety operation aimed at deporting criminals illegally in the country”, reading this novel felt like a timely reminder that some things there (albeit not so blatantly colour-prejudiced) haven’t really changed. Elwood was raised by his grandmother. He was a bright boy (getting good grades). He’s inspired by his civil rights activist teacher and by the writings of Martin Luther King… but he ended up being sent to the Nickel Reform school through an error of judgement (he’d hitched a ride with a man who’d stolen the car!). Once inside, getting out proved to be almost impossible. Rigid black and white segregation; racist staff; violent beatings (years later, they discover bodies buried in unmarked graves on the school site). It’s an incredibly powerful, shocking story which ‘brought me up short’ on more than one occasion (*no spoilers*). A devastating, moving and impressive novel.
The Soulwater Pool (Claire Williamson): I first read this 10 years ago. The story unfolds over 2 days and features five characters and is set out in short, poetic reflections (often just a single page long) – each given a heading in the form of the named character and their location (eg.”Ella: In the Park”). It’s a surprising and subtle book – enhanced by the starkness of its rather beautiful format. Excellent.