I realised, when I started reading this, that I know NOTHING about Czechoslovakia during WWII (or really anything at all, actually).

This novel is gorgeously written, and the dreamlike vignettes that make up the first part left me with wispy, barely understood fragments of the larger story - entirely intentionally I feel, as it gives the reader the same half truths, and distorted reality of the narrator while he tries to understand his parents' past.

As the story unfolds and gains increasing clarity as the pages progress, the truth of this family's trauma under Nazi occupation is laid out. Operation Anthropoid was used as the central conceit around which the romance was built, and while this isn't am event I knew anything about, it helped to bed the story into reality.

4 stars, because I did find the pacing a bit challenging at times.

This one was probably more of a 3.5*. I enjoyed it, but I found it quite slow in the beginning. I am not sure it's likely to stay with me.

There were lots of subjects tackled - miscarriage, religion, women's position in society, LGBT issues. Some better handled than others.

Not something I'd normally pick up - this was a book club read. I really enjoyed it; it was short and sweet. Don't really know much about Billy Wilder but this was a fun little story based around the filming of his 1978 film Fedora.

I loved this.

The Bosnian war isn't something I know a lot about. I remember grainy images in my childhood but little else. I was 12 when the siege of Sarajevo ended.

But this could be a novel about any war, and I cannot help but read it with Gaza and Palestine in mind.

The book brought up some real questions - about survival, about what it is to retain humanity under desperate conditions that can bring out both the best and worst in people. About the power of music and the damage of hatred and vengeance.

Listened on audible

This was very good. If you want an overview of the most important events that have happened in Palestine since the Balfour Declaration then this is the one.

It has a side, of course it does, but I think it's a pretty measured and even presentation of 1917-2017.

I found it highly engaging, easy to listen to. It delved deep enough into the politics of the region that I feel I have a grasp of things but not so deeply I need to read 18 other books to understand what actually went on.

This was patchy. I can't give it a lower rating because it certainly has it's place and I didn't read it all. But it's not what it says it is.

This isn't a history of Palestine. It's the history of the idea of Palestine. The concept, the social, cultural, economic idea of Palestine. The history of the nomenclature.

Which could be very interesting if that's what you were after, which I was not.

Now that on its own isn't cause for 2 stars. I found some of the content really interesting, and perhaps if I had gotten further through it, I would have found more.

But. The editing is horrible. The layout, the structure. Felt all over the place. I couldn't get my timelines in place. It was super, super repetitive. Lists after lists after lists. It could have been much shorter.

And it talks about borders. Amd geography CONSTANTLY. But there is not one single map in this whole book. Which is completely ridiculous when you are talking about the evolution of the idea of nationhood in a specific geographic location.

Oh I did enjoy this and will be seeking out the next one asap.

I can't give it 5* as some of the prose was a bit clunky for me and at times it was a bit melodramatic which I just cannot stand. But it was a sweeping epic, with complex characters and nuanced drives and emotions. I enjoyed the queer aspects and the themes of identity and fate were thought provoking. The pacing had some problems - the first quarter was quite zippy as was the last - the middle was slightly more patchy.

I'm not sure I'm entirely overjoyed with the direction it's going in and I'm not massively sure I actually like anyone in the book (maybe Xu Da?) but you can get behind them anyway - you can understand their drives and the motivation behind their actions.

Ok this was brilliant. I really really HATE Robinson Crusoe. But that's by the by because this is brilliant. When it started I wasn't convinced but as it developed it just got better and better and more intricate.

It's about language, and telling stories and power. And memory and gender and race. It's a short little piece that's perfectly put together. There's so much to unpack here. I'll be keeping this one to mull over again.

I really do love these. They are the perfect tonic for everything else I read! I did catch some of the twists in this one, but as always I never get it quite right and am always surprised in one way or another.

The general situations still remain rather far-fetched and unlikely but the charm and pleasure of the read covers much of this and maintains, if not believability, something close to it.

Meh. I really struggle with short stories and wouldn't ever really pick them up - this was a book club read. Some of them were fine, most of them left little impression.