Catching up on reviews (not that many as rather too much of my holiday was spent doing stuff with my children - shock! - rather than reading).
40 The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris
I enjoyed this memoir although it was a bit bland in places. Kamala Harris comes across as a sensible, grounded woman and I was impressed by some of the things she'd managed to achieve in the arena of criminal justice, particularly in relation to rehabilitation of offenders. I remember first becoming aware of her (along with most of the rest of the world) when she questioned Brett Kavanaugh, and the same calm single-mindedness is evident in her book. An interesting read if you want to know a little more about her. Her mum sounds completely awesome.
41 The Chinese Maze Murders by Robert van Gulik
Part of an unusual series of crime novels written by a Dutch diplomat, which are said to be faithful to the Chinese style. The protagonist is Judge Dee, a magistrate, who in this instalment is sent to a relative backwater which has been taken over by a corrupt governor. It's dramatic from the start, as Judge Dee's party are waylaid by highwaymen. Once safely ensconced in the city, he has to untangle three mysteries which are to some extent intertwined (apparently a common device in traditional Chinese writing). The plots were intriguing and although drawn from old Chinese stories were given a (more) modern twist (van Gulik was writing in the 50s and 60s, I think). The one bit I didn't like was the very graphic description of the executions of the perpetrators at the end; again, apparently, this is part of the Chinese tradition, but it was a bit much for me! I'll read more but I might skip over the endings...
42 Summer by Ali Smith
The last in the seasons quartet, which felt to me more like a patchwork quilt trying to join together the previous instalments than a fully realised story in itself. It reaches back to characters from previous books, in particular Daniel Gluck from Autumn, and I enjoyed those parts. There are some lovely lines, though. I particularly liked this:
"If people think you like them, Charlotte said, well it can go either way. There's a lot of power-play in liking and being liked. Such a powerful connection, it's a chance to make the world bigger for someone else. Or smaller. That's always the choice we've got."
I'm glad I read the quartet, but I do think Autumn was its high point for me. Certainly the most fully realised novel of the four, and the characters are still buzzing around in my head.
To continue my Virginia Woolf obsession, I happened across the second volume of Quentin Bell's biography of her at a second hand book stall whilst on holiday, which was clearly a sign that I needed to read it, so I am.