These are the books I chose to send to friends this year: The Zone of Interest  by Martin Amis The Children Act  by Ian McEwan Stalingrad  by Antony Beevor Rubicon  by Tom Holland Don't Point That Thing At Me  by Kyril Bonfiglioli Lost for Words  by Edward St. Aubyn Who's that Lady?  by Carey Harrison The One From The Other  by Philip Kerr So, Anyway  by John Cleese The Unquiet Mind  by Dr. Kay Jamison

Santa was kind to me and brought me a new Jane Whitefield novel. I couldn’t put it down and devoured it hungrily like a Christmas dinner. Now I’m saddened that it’s over and I have to wait for a new one….

In Hatchards I found a very nice first edition 1996 of one of hers I hadn’t read. Not for the first time she writes of the movie business, in this instance about a film director recovering from a fall from a crane. Lovely writing.

I’m not normally a fan of faux Chandler. I think people over write. They mistake his style, which is essential simple with startling metaphors, for bad Hollywood dialogue but I found this 1998 oddity in Odyssey and was tempted to pick it up because the first four chapters are by Chandler himself. To my surprise I stayed for the whole book. Robert B. Parker writes very well, and continues an interesting start which begins with Marlowe married to Linda, plots it elegantly and writes with style and simplicity so that it is as readable and enjoyable as Chandler. He is himself a detective story writer and his experience in the form shows.

These are so good for traveling with. Devoured this one on BA. One of the best mysteries so far.

Another elegantly plotted and deceptively simply written short novel who dun it in the new Penguin translation. Good to the last bite.