The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever, Marie Kondo

Read on the Kindle, after reading reviews on various blogs.

Describes the "KonMari" method of de-cluttering and organising.

Some of the points Marie makes are very interesting; you should only keep possessions that "spark joy".

Some of her ideas sound a bit more bonkers; talking to your house to find out where it would like to store things.

Gave me some interesting ideas some of which I've tried, like folding and stacking clothes in drawers vertically. And also suggested stuff I'm never going to follow up - thanking my clothes for keeping me warm when I hang them up.

J by Howard Jacobson

Read in hardback - given to me as a birthday present as part of the Man Booker Prize shortlist.

This is the third book I've read from the shortlist, after the winner - The Narrow Road to the Deep North and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

An exercise in imagination.  What would happen if there were another Holocaust, a "Twitternacht", during which a certain race were done away with, and society lost at a stroke its most feared and reviled enemies but also its best purveyors of art and sardonic comedy?

Set in small rural community resembling Cornwall, but difficult to identify as all names have been changed as part of the repentance of "Project Ishmael", the book follows the ups and downs of the love affair between two outsiders and misfits.

Not an easy book to read, but definitely thought provoking.

Elizabeth is Missing, Emma Healey

Read on the Kindle, our book club book for March.

After a disappointing first novel (The Miniaturist), this book, also a first novel, really gave me something to get my teeth into.

The narrator of the story is 82 year old Maud. Although never explicitly stated, it's clear that Maud has pretty advanced Alzheimer's. At the start of the book she is living by herself, supported by visits from carers and her long-suffering daughter, Helen, but it soon becomes apparent that Maud cannot be left on her own, and she is moved into Helen's house.

It seems a terrifying portrayal of what happens to a dementia sufferer when the familiarity of home is taken from them. Maud's grasp on reality becomes more and more tenuous as she tries to discover what has happened both to her friend Elizabeth, and her sister Sukey, missing for seventy years.

I pretty much devoured this book over three days. I thought the writing was superb and the way the two mysteries, historical and present day entwined themselves in Maud's mind was brilliant.

The Miniaturist, Jessie Burton

Read on Kindle, after recommendations by pretty much everyone, everywhere.

Nella Oortman, scion of an old and distinguished, but impoverished, dutch family, comes to Amsterdam in 1686 to live with Johannes Brandt, wealthy merchant of that city, to whom she has recently been married.

Johannes is not there to greet her, but his sister Marin is, along with their servants Cornelia, brought to the house as an orphan, and Otto, a former slave brought back by Johannes on one of his voyages.

When Johannes returns, he gives Nella a wedding present, a cabinet which is essentially a dolls house, and suggests she can keep herself occupied by furnishing it.  Finding the name of a Miniaturist in the equivalent of the Yellow Pages, Nella orders some items for her cabinet, but additional items keep being delivered which may or may not be relevant to Nella's circumstances.

I found this book ultimately unsatisfying.  The clues given by the miniaturists gifts are too obscure for either Nella or the reader to understand, and the ending just leaves more questions than answers.

Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel

Read in hardback, after reading Wolf Hall, again.

Because I had read it before, I was better able to concentrate on the scheme of revenge that Thomas Cromwell sets in motion against those he holds responsible for the downfall of his mentor, Cardinal Wolesey.

Still haunted by the loss of his wife, and cut off from the comfort of his brief affair with his sister-in-law, Cromwell has been admiring Jane Seymour. But a trip to Wolf Hall during Henry VIII's summer progression means Jane has a new admirer, and Cromwell has a new job - to rid the King of another wife unable to bear him a son, Anne Boleyn.

Still a fantastic book - still waiting for the last book in the trilogy.

The Children Act, Ian McEwan

Read in hardback, borrowed from Granny (we gave it to her for Christmas).

Looks like I haven't read an Ian McEwan novel since Sweet Tooth in 2012.

This slim volume (more of a novella) is the story of Fiona Maye, a high court judge in the family division.  She is daily called upon to make judgements on behalf of families going through divorce or other crises. Fiona and her husband, Jack, are themselves childless, and there is a very poignant paragraph explaining why it never seemed to be the right time.

Fiona is called upon to give a judgement in the case of a young man, Adam, a Jehovah's Witness, who is refusing treatment for his Leukaemia on religious grounds. Reeling from a conversation with her husband about the nature of their relationship, Fiona takes it upon herself to visit Adam in hospital - the pivotal action we've come to know and love in McEwan's novels which sets the rest of the book in motion.

Whilst it seems from the archives that I didn't enjoy Sweet Tooth, I did find myself involved with The Children Act. I had sympathy for Fiona, and the situation in which she found herself. Not a long read - I finished it in 2 days, but perhaps engaging if you were going somewhere by train?

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel

Read in hardback, after watching the first episode of the television series.

Looking back, the last time I read this book was October 2012.  So this must be the fourth time I've read it!

This book tells the story of Henry VIII's reign from the point of view of his adviser Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a self-made man, coming from low birth in Putney (his father is a blacksmith), and devoting himself to the service of Cardinal Wolsey.  When Wolsey is brought down, over his inability to secure a divorce for Henry from Katherine of Aragon, Thomas must find a new master, and continue to make his way in the world through influencing the great and good.

I simply love this book.  Some of the subtlety of the dialogue has been lost in its translation to the small screen, as lovely as the Tudor Houses and courts look, it's definitely worth seeking out the original for the best of Thomas Cromwell's wit.

Blood and Sand, Frank Gardner

Read on the Kindle for Book Club, chosen by Ros.

An unconventional choice for an all female book club book. Frank Gardner's autobiography kicks off with the incident in 2004 where he was shot, and his co-worker killed whilst reporting on location from Saudi Arabia.

It is followed by accounts of Frank's education and career, and also of his recovery from the attack which has left him in a wheel chair.

Throughout the book, Frank's deep and emotional attachment to the Middle East are evident.  He doesn't shy away from giving his opinions on events in the region, covering 9/11 and the Arab Spring.

Not a book I would have chosen to read, had it not been for book club, and not one I shall read again, but a fascinating insight into the life of a reporter/journalist and very well written nevertheless.

Apple Tree Yard, Louise Doughty

Read on the Kindle, recommended by Granny.

When the book opens we discover that our narrator is on trial at the Old Bailey, but we don't know her name or crime, and that she has a co-defendant, also unnamed.

The first half of the book, then, is a series of flashbacks to how the two people ended up in the situation, and the second is an account of their trial.

Very difficult to describe this book without giving any of the plot away, which would definitely spoil it for anyone else as there are many twists and turns in the plot.

So, about all I can say is that as a psychological thriller it was a page turner, written with just enough pace and tension to keep you sucked in.