24. A character that might be called a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, or Spy

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a classic espionage novel. While you aren't required to read that book this week, you are looking for a character that could fall into one of those four categories.

Some Ideas:
Tinker - someone who travels for a living, or someone who 'tinkers around', perhaps a mechanic or hobbyist
Tailor - anyone working in the fashion industry, or involved with concerns around fast fashion
Soldier - someone fighting in a war, or someone home from it
Spy - anyone involved in espionage or spying, even if it's amateur (looking at you, Mrs. Dursley)

ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

What are you reading for this prompt? How does the character fit?

[Kathy]

I read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré last year and enjoyed it, so I'm going to go with his book, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.

If I'm not in the mood for that book, I have The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (spy), The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason, The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan (tailor), or Tinkers by Paul Harding.

[LeahS]

I was intending to read Tinkers but as I am checking out old books on my shelf on a keep/recycle basis, I thought I might re-read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values.

[Dubhease]

It's a bit of a stretch, but I'm reading the last Millennium book The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

I'm trying to get in some books I know are fun (because my friends have told me so!) but I that I inexplicably have not read yet. To that end, the spy mentioned in the summary for City of Stairs will be filling this prompt for me.

[Pam]

I’ll probably read something by John Le Carré. First choice is The Tailor of Panama.

[Hannah]

I tried twice this year to read The Sympathizer and it just wasn't working, but I'm not fully ready to give up on it. I would looooove to use it for this prompt, but that might be too optimistic? Funnily enough, the same thing happened with Catch-22 a few years ago, which I could also use for this prompt. I fear this suggests that this is not my favorite kind of book?

Maybe I'd be safer going in a fantasy direction. For example, I think you could argue that the characters in The Rook are either soldiers or spies, and I loved that book. And there are definitely fantasy series that I'd like to give a try (The Way of Kings? A Game of Thrones?) that feature characters who are soldiers.

I don't have any ideas for tinkers or tailors! I might keep an eye out for that.

[Janice]

Possibilities The Rose Code: by Kate Quinn, or The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, or The Huntress by Kate Quinn, or Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie or Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan, or Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

[Sonia]

If you are looking for some books set in Australia I can recommendThe Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison; The Dressmaker or the sequel The Dressmaker's Secret

[Michelle]

My father in law gave me this recently Soldier Spy so will probably go with that.

[Bea]

I will be choosing among these:
Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII
Louisiana Longshot
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War

[Jennifer W]

I read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy last year and it was infuriatingly good. I might try the next book in the series, The Honourable Schoolboy.

I also might go back to The Seamstress that I started years ago and had to return before I finished it.

Or Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress has been on my TBR for years.

[Dana]

I didn't even knew about this one Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré, but I might get to this one, actually.

If not, Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim is also on my list.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

For soldier I might use Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II

A lot of fantasy and science fiction books contain soldiers and/or spies

[NancyJ]

The Alice Network
The Things They Carried
The Gift of Rain
Old Man's War

[Jenna ✨DNF Queen✨Here, Sometimes...]

Here are a few I'm considering:

Tailor
The Seamstress
The Dressmaker
The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive
Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker: The Unlikely Friendship of Elizabeth Keckley and Mary Todd Lincoln

Soldier
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
My Grandfather was a Screamin' Eagle; he endured the Battle of the Bulge and received a Bronze star at the Crossroads (among many other accolades). I've seen BoB probably 20 times no exaggeration, and I've always wanted to read the book. This might be the year.
The Things They Carried
The Guns of August

Lots of options for this one. Since I'm reading in order, I have a while to make my choice.

[Maple]

I've picked Bad Monkeys for this week.
Bad Monkeys

[Jill]

What are you reading for this prompt?
I read The Labyrinth Makers by Anthony Price
How does the character fit? This is about a man who has worked in a desk job for many years, but is sent out in the field to spy. Very much a feeling of the Cold War which followed WW2.

[Marie (UK)]

For this i read

Tiger is drafted into the army to go to Vietnam and finds that he likes the Army and what he achieves within it, if not the War

[Erica]

I read Our Missing Hearts because one of the characters does some tinkering. Great book.

[Misty]

I'm planning on reading one of these two for this prompt:

Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson
Lancelot And The Wolf by Sarah Luddington

[NancyJ]

For Soldiers I read:
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah, the latest Nobel Prize Winner
To Live by Yu Hua

[Severina]

I read Archangel's Resurrection by Nalini Singh. Both the main characters are generals.

[Joy D]

For this prompt, I read:
A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre - 4* - My Review

[Jacqie]

I read Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao for this. I loved this book- it's got mecha, Chinese mythology, and a very angry girl protagonist. It is an angry book if that isn't for you right now, but it also kicks a lot of butt. The main character also has a disability- bound feet.

[Sherri]

I read Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent. 5 stars. I really liked this non fiction book. It's set in the 1980's. I remember a lot of the events in the book.

[Bec]

I kinda stretched it for this prompt and read Can I Steal You for a Second? . It's based on a Bachelor type style dating show and Amanda, the main character of this book, is a mechanic. She obviously doesn't do any 'mechanicing' in the story, but her job is mentioned quite a bit and her love of cars....so I'm going with it.

[Tracy]

I just finished Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow. I gave it 4 stars.

What this book exposes is important, and Ronan Farrow was in a unique position to do so: he's a lawyer AND a journalist. His family has power in the media, and his father (Woody Allen) is himself a known sexual abuser (of Ronan's sister).

Farrow did an amazing job on his initial reporting. This book — although important to expose what he, and the victims, had to go through to GET it reported — sometimes felt repetitive and maybe a little too in-depth. Maybe editing it down by 25% would have helped? Ultimately I learned that not only were the abusers responsible for the ongoing abuse, but so were the media companies that either covered it up or ignored it. I'm assuming that the same could be true in other corporate settings and not just the media.

[Anne]

I will be reading Tidelands by Philippa Gregory. The two main characters appear to be Alinor, and James who will fit under the spy character.

[Samantha]

I don't feel like I read a lot of books that fit this prompt but found it kind of fun to look for something, I originally thought that a 80's cold war spy novel would be fun but didn't find anything that was a fit. I also heard a book tuber talk about Spin the Dawn and the concept of project runway meets Mulan seemed like it would be right up my ally. It wasn't as awesome as I was hoping but it was enjoyable.

[LeahS]

Moving this book and using it for the Tinker part of the prompt. The MC is a metal worker in a factory for most of her life.

I read, and really enjoyed, I'm an Old Commie! by Dan Lungu

Set in Romania, post communism. A pensioner is asked by her (now Canadian) daughter to vote for a democratic candidate in a forthcoming election. She recalls her good life under communism, where she worked and sets about to work out whether it was as good as it seems.

[Dana]

LeahS wrote: "Moving this book and using it for the Tinker part of the prompt. The MC is a metal worker in a factory for most of her life.

I read, and really enjoyed, I'm an Old Commie! by [auth..."

Oh, I had no idea this book has also been translated internationally!
I was reluctant if I should read it.

As a fun short story: I was in the library with a uni colleague and we heard an old lady saying the title of this book, but my colleague never heard of it and thought the old lady is stating this about herself =)).

I was like: Oh, it's just a book title, don't worry. :))

[LeahS]

I thought it was a very good look at the pros and cons of life during communism and afterwards, and with a light touch.

[Dana]

I read a few reviews after reading your comment and I should definitely read it.

I'm actually from Romania and still live here and I've been born in 96 and my parents and grandparents told me a few stories about that time.

But I'm definitely curious to know more reading the perspective in this book.

Thanks, Leah! :)

[Hannah]

I ended up using Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie for this prompt, which was perfect. The main character is an AI mind who was formerly a spaceship filled with "ancillaries" (human bodies controlled by the AI acting as soldiers/crew of the ship), but who is now relegated to single soldier body. The whole plot is very military-centric, in fact, and many other characters are captains and lieutenants of various spaceships. I'm glad this one worked, because usually this is really not my kind of book!

[Misty]

Samantha wrote: "I also heard a book tuber"

It took me WAAAAAY to long to put this together and I was reading "tuber" like, you know, a root vegetable! LOL. I think I need a nap....

[Samantha]

Misty wrote: "Samantha wrote: "I also heard a book tuber"

It took me WAAAAAY to long to put this together and I was reading "tuber" like, you know, a root vegetable! LOL. I think I need a nap...."
LOL! It should have been one word but still wonder if those unfamiliar with the book youtube community would be confused by the term. No book reading potatoes or rutabagas to be seen!

[[deleted user]]

Outsider Agent: The Extraordinary Adventures of an Immigrant and Mystic in the FBI - 4 stars

[Rebecca]

For this I read Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

[Joan]

So I'm reading Rules of Civility by Amor Towles and realized that one of the main characters is named Tinker. If you want to be take this prompt very literally lol.

[LeahS]

I read I'm an Old Commie! for ATY, where the MC was a metalworker, and used this for Tinker.

For my multi-prompt challenge, I read:

Tailor: A Vision of Loveliness. Set in 1960s London before it was Swinging. A girl from a poor background becomes involved in the worlds of modelling and prostitution. Her introduction to that world takes place in a tailoring outfit.
I liked the style of this rather sad book.

Soldier: The Three Musketeers. I'd seen a lot of screen versions, but a buddy read got me to read the book. Action packed and enjoyable, but they were so keen to run people through with swords....

Spy: King of Spies. A random pick from the library. The story of Donald Nichols, an uneducated and damaged man with an unexpected flair for espionage during the Korean War. An interesting and worrying book.

[Barbara]

Plan to read this one in a couple of more books (I'm reading in order and woefully behind) By Her Own Design: The Story of Ann Lowe, Society's Best-Kept Secret by Piper Huguley. Described as "The incredible untold story of Ann Lowe, Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress designer, a Black woman who made some of the most famous dresses of all time, only to be forgotten by history."

[LeahS]

Sounds fascinating, Barbara.

[Book Concierge]

A "light" spy novel ...


The Spies of Shilling Lane – Jennifer Ryan – 3***
What a delightful romp! While this is a novel of espionage and daring deeds in a time of war, and the background of the blitz adds a consistent and real danger, there are many lighter moments to lessen the tension, and the focus is really on the characters and their personal journey rather than on the war. Ryan writes the formidable Mrs Braithwaite so the reader has no doubt that she will prevail. She may bumble and misconstrue most clues, but she is resolute and WILL find and rescue her darling daughter.
LINK to my full review

[Stacey]

I read American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson. A woman pens a love letter to her young twin sons, telling them about their politician father, and describing their mother's life as a spy. The story was pretty good and takes place in Burkina Faso and Martinique, two places I'd never read about.

[Rijuta]

I am wondering if American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer the Biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer fall in this catergy. Since he was a Scientists.

[Tracy]

@Rijuta - I’m not clear how Scientist would relate to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier or Spy. But you could use this book for “18. A book related to science”.

[Rijuta]

Tracy wrote: "@Rijuta - I’m not clear how Scientist would relate to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier or Spy. But you could use this book for “18. A book related to science”."

Hmmm... I had another book in mind for that one so was wondering if I could use this one here.

Thank you :)

[LeahS]

Rijuta wrote: "I am wondering if American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer the Biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer fall in this catergy. Since he was a Scientists."

If you haven't filled prompt 3, 'an unsuccessful prompt', there are a few suggestions that might fit this book:

Character that has a career or hobby that interests you
A book that's eye-opening or thought provoking
A book that involves a moral dilemma
A book related to a recipient of Times Person Of The Year Award (Truman won in 1945)
A book set in the workplace of at least one character

If you include black and white the book would also fit 'A book with four colours on the cover'.
Your second favourite prompt?

[Tracy]

Rijuta wrote: "Tracy wrote: "@Rijuta - I’m not clear how Scientist would relate to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier or Spy. But you could use this book for “18. A book related to science”."

Hmmm... I had another book in ..."

Maybe if you explain why you think there might be a connection. I haven't read the book, but am only familiar with who he was in general.