NetGalley

[Roman Clodia]

Susan wrote: "Not a series I've read - do you think I would like them, RC? Will buddy read House of Cards if it doesn't win, should you wish to?"

Oh definitely - I thought you were already a Casey fan. They definitely get better as the series develops but I've loved them from the start: first one is The Burning.

And yes, would love to buddy read House of Cards.

[Susan]

Of course, it might win, but if not... Will add the Casey books to my long list of series to start then.

[Roman Clodia]

I seem to recall that both Sid and I read Casey's first book because it was on Vine... back in the days when we were offered stacks of books, and not wigs, false nails and false eyelashes like I get offered now.

[Susan]

Those were the days. I loved the books and was pretty devastated until I discovered/worked out how to use NetGalley. I got the first Robert Galbraith on Vine, before JK Rowling was outed as the author and then spent hours trying to locate my review copy and hoping I hadn't thrown it out (luckily not!).

[Sid]

Susan wrote: "I got the first Robert Galbraith on Vine, before JK Rowling was outed as the author and then spent hours trying to locate my review copy and hoping I hadn't thrown it out (luckily not!)."

So did I. I have it stored somewhere very safe and out of the light! I think there were only a couple of thousand in that original print run and they're rather sought-after. Of course, the real trick would be to get JKR to sign it...

[Susan]

It was lucky I really liked it, otherwise it would have been binned (Vine books not being allowed to be taken even to charity shops, as I recall).

[Sid]

Supposedly not, but a lot of mine were. I hate the thought of just chucking a serviceable book into the recycling and figured that I was doing no harm; that rule was to stop people profiting by selling Vine items, which I've never done [1]. I had no qualms about giving them to charity.

[1]Unlike some current Viners who have thriving eBay businesses.

[Susan]

Oh, I know, Sid. It was difficult. If I really disliked them, I recycled. If I liked them, I sometimes took them into work where we have a book shelf in the canteen for people to borrow.

[Susan]

I think this might appeal to some of us - not on Goodreads, sorry. I can't add books now, which is really annoying!

White Riot (United Kingdom Trilogy Book 1) Kindle Edition
by Joe Thomas

"One of our very best contemporary crime writers" David Peace

1978: The National Front is gaining ground in Hackney. To counter their influence, anti-fascist groups launch the Carnival Against Racism in Victoria Park. Observing the event is Detective Constable Patrick Noble, charged with investigating racist attacks in the area and running Spycops in both far-right and left wing groups. As Noble's superiors are drawn further into political meddling, he's inveigled into a plot against the embattled Labour government.

1983: Under a disciplinary cloud after a Spycops op ended in tragedy, Noble is offered a reprieve by an old mentor. He is dispatched in the early hours to Stoke Newington police station, where a young black man has died in suspicious circumstances. This is Thatcher's Britain now, a new world that Noble unwittingly helped to usher in, where racial tensions are weaponised by those in power.

Supercharged by the music and counterculture of the era, White Riot weaves fiction, fact and personal experience to record the radical tale of London's most thrilling borough. Politics, music, police corruption, institutional racism and the power of protest all take centre stage in a novel that traces the roots of our current political moment.

[Susan]

Also, I did the 'be a librarian' quiz and passed it, but haven't heard anything back.

[Susan]

I think this would be of interest to some of us:

The Snakehead
An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
by Patrick Radden Keefe
‘Reads like a mashup of The Godfather and Chinatown, complete with gun battles, a ruthless kingpin and a mountain of cash. Except that it’s all true.’ Time

In this thrilling panorama of real-life events, the bestselling author of Empire of Pain investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York’s Chinatown, managed a multimillion-dollar business smuggling people.

In The Snakehead, Patrick Radden Keefe reveals the inner workings of Cheng Chui Ping aka Sister Ping’s complex empire and recounts the decade-long FBI investigation that eventually brought her down. He follows an often incompetent and sometimes corrupt INS as it pursues desperate immigrants risking everything to come to America, and along the way he paints a stunning portrait of a generation of undocumented immigrants and the intricate underground economy that sustains and exploits them.

Grand in scope yet propulsive in narrative force, The Snakehead is both a kaleidoscopic crime story and a brilliant exploration of the ironies of immigration in America.

[Susan]

Also, if White Riot is still available, I would say that it is very reminiscent of David Peace and highly recommended.

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Susan - really appreciate you mentioning these top titles currently on offer at Netgalley


I've requested both books - here's hoping 🤞🏻

[Susan]

Fingers crossed. I have requested The Snakehead as I like the author more than any particular interest in the blurb.

[Roman Clodia]

I'm dithering as the topic doesn't appeal in the same way as The Troubles and Sackler family... but it's PRK.

[Susan]

I felt much the same, but I have requested on basis of who wrote it. May not be approved anyway - I seem to have a lot of NetGalley books at the moment, but mostly ones I would have pre-ordered anyway.

[Nigeyb]

It's PRK ✊🏼

[Susan]

Well, exactly....

[Roman Clodia]

In the spirit of my new year bookolutions, I might let you two go first and see what you think...

[Nigeyb]

👌🏻

[Nigeyb]

I've been approved for...


The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream

Watch this space


A mesmerizing narrative about the rise and fall of an unlikely international crime boss

In the 1980s, a wave of Chinese from Fujian province began arriving in America. Like other immigrant groups before them, they showed up with little money but with an intense work ethic and an unshakeable belief in the promise of the United States. Many of them lived in a world outside the law, working in a shadow economy overseen by the ruthless gangs that ruled the narrow streets of New York’s Chinatown.

The figure who came to dominate this Chinese underworld was a middle-aged grandmother known as Sister Ping. Her path to the American dream began with an unusual business run out of a tiny noodle store on Hester Street. From her perch above the shop, Sister Ping ran a full-service underground bank for illegal Chinese immigrants. But her real business-a business that earned an estimated $40 million-was smuggling people.

As a “snakehead,” she built a complex—and often vicious—global conglomerate, relying heavily on familial ties, and employing one of Chinatown's most violent gangs to protect her power and profits. Like an underworld CEO, Sister Ping created an intricate smuggling network that stretched from Fujian Province to Hong Kong to Burma to Thailand to Kenya to Guatemala to Mexico. Her ingenuity and drive were awe-inspiring both to the Chinatown community—where she was revered as a homegrown Don Corleone—and to the law enforcement officials who could never quite catch her.

Indeed, Sister Ping’s empire only came to light in 1993 when the Golden Venture, a ship loaded with 300 undocumented immigrants, ran aground off a Queens beach. It took New York’s fabled “Jade Squad” and the FBI nearly ten years to untangle the criminal network and home in on its unusual mastermind.

THE SNAKEHEAD is a panoramic tale of international intrigue and a dramatic portrait of the underground economy in which America’s twelve million illegal immigrants live. Based on hundreds of interviews, Patrick Radden Keefe’s sweeping narrative tells the story not only of Sister Ping, but of the gangland gunslingers who worked for her, the immigration and law enforcement officials who pursued her, and the generation of penniless immigrants who risked death and braved a 17,000 mile odyssey so that they could realize their own version of the American dream. The Snakehead offers an intimate tour of life on the mean streets of Chinatown, a vivid blueprint of organized crime in an age of globalization and a masterful exploration of the ways in which illegal immigration affects us all.

[Susan]

Me too, Nigeyb, although it might take me a while to get to it. Hope you like it!

[Roman Clodia]

Interesting to see on here that this was originally published in 2009 (maybe in the US?) so seems it's been republished in the wake of recent successes.

I can feel myself starting to cave in response to your enthusiasm, you twosome of tempters!

[Susan]

I blame NetGalley - I have been tempted so much recently!

[Nigeyb]

Given his track record it's got to have some merit, despite my having no real interest in the subject matter

[Alwynne]

I see that Faber is republishing The Shutter of Snow with an intro by Claire-Louise Bennett currently on Netgalley, would recommend it highly.

[Nigeyb]

Susan wrote:


"Also, if White Riot is still available, I would say that it is very reminiscent of David Peace and highly recommended."


Authorised for White Riot by Joe Thomas

Looking forward to it


Thanks Susan, looks fab....


"One of our very best contemporary crime writers" David Peace

1978: The National Front is gaining ground in Hackney. To counter their influence, anti-fascist groups launch the Carnival Against Racism in Victoria Park. Observing the event is Detective Constable Patrick Noble, charged with investigating racist attacks in the area and running Spycops in both far-right and left wing groups. As Noble's superiors are drawn further into political meddling, he's inveigled into a plot against the embattled Labour government.

1983: Under a disciplinary cloud after a Spycops op ended in tragedy, Noble is offered a reprieve by an old mentor. He is dispatched in the early hours to Stoke Newington police station, where a young black man has died in suspicious circumstances. This is Thatcher's Britain now, a new world that Noble unwittingly helped to usher in, where racial tensions are weaponised by those in power.

Supercharged by the music and counterculture of the era, White Riot weaves fiction, fact and personal experience to record the radical tale of London's most thrilling borough. Politics, music, police corruption, institutional racism and the power of protest all take centre stage in a novel that traces the roots of our current political moment.

[Alwynne]

Nigeyb wrote: "Susan wrote:


"Also, if White Riot is still available, I would say that it is very reminiscent of David Peace and highly recommended."


Authorised for White Riot by [author:Joe T..."

That does sound good, I really liked Peace's Red Riding trilogy. And I've heard a lot about the abuses at Stoke Newington police station, it's a very scary place and still not much better from what I've read.

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Susan



40% through White Riot by Joe Thomas and loving it so far

[Susan]

I thought it would appeal to you, Nigeyb. It's had quite poor reviews, but I really enjoyed it.

[Susan]

Too Late To Stop Now
More Rock’n’Roll War Stories
by Allan Jones is available on NetGalley. I saw that you liked the first volume, Nigeyb.

Too Late To Stop Now: More Rock’n’Roll War Stories

[Roman Clodia]

There's also a new biography of Eileen Blair, George Orwell's first wife, on Netgalley, and it's by Anna Funder, author of Stasiland:

Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life

[Nigeyb]

Thanks RC - added to my list, but will wait til it's actually published

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "There's also a new biography of Eileen Blair, George Orwell's first wife, on Netgalley, and it's by Anna Funder, author of Stasiland:

[book:Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life|63001..."

I'm tempted by that one too.

[Judy]

Oh wow, not that long since the biography Eileen by Sylvia Topp was published and now there's another one. I found Eileen a fascinating, if huge, read.

[Susan]

I often find that non-fiction books on NetGalley are missing the illustrations so I have mainly stopped requesting them. They had both Killing Thatcher: The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown and the new Anne Boleyn/Elizabeth I biography, but I decided to just buy both.

Eileen featured in a book I recently read about Bloomsbury and the Blitz.

[Susan]

The Rest is History's book is on NetGalley if anyone is interested in requesting?

[Nigeyb]

👌🏻👏🏻

[Tania]

Mistletoe Malice by Kathleen Farrell is currently available on Net galley. I had passed it over because of the cover, but I took a look at the blurb; a rediscovered festive classic, recommended for fans of Barbara Pym, Elizabeth Taylor and Stella Gibbons, which sounds much more to my taste, and may interest some here too.

[Alwynne]

Tania wrote: "Mistletoe Malice by Kathleen Farrell is currently available on Net galley. I had passed it over because of the cover, but I took a look at the blurb; a rediscovered..."

That sounds very tempting Tania, I did the same but didn't take the time to read the blurb, thanks!

[Tania]

I know right. I very nearly passed it over, will probably start it tonight.

[Nigeyb]

Sounds fab - looking forward to discovering what you all make of it

[Lady Clementina]

Interestingly a reissue of The Birds and Other Stories is on NetGalley--I just read it this May but if anyone's interested in a revisit or read.

[Alwynne]

Thanks Lady C, although nothing beats the film for me, although it was fascinating to read the original story.

I've requested a copy of Mistletoe Malice so fingers crossed!

[Susan]

Red Menace 2nd in a trilogy which I know Nigeyb enjoyed is available for request on NetGalley.

[Nigeyb]

Oooh, I did enjoy the first one and will put my hand up for the second installment - thanks Susan

[Susan]

Close to Death is available for request on NetGalley.

My daughter recently read the first and was hooked!

[Roman Clodia]

I'm going to give it a try as I know you and Nigeyb are fans of this series, Susan - I like his Magpie Murders series a lot and feel in the mood for some detecting.

[Nigeyb]

Great news


Love Hawthorne

[Roman Clodia]

I'm a Hawthorne convert! I struggled with the first book in this series but this one is fun.