Ever since I came across the “50 Books a Year” club, I’ve made an effort to hit the target. As I know many of you are book readers, I thought I’d share my best reads of 2022 — and I’d love to hear yours.
I’ve divided my list into genres, but lest you come away with the impression that I read equally among them, I should set you straight. In a year when reading, more than anything, provided entertainment, about 80% of my finished books were in the domestic suspense genre, which has rapidly become my go-to.
People have asked what I mean by this term; for me, it’s thrillers that take place in a home setting, often involving relationships and family.
So without further adieu . . . drumroll, please . . .
- Literary Fiction: Undoubtedly The Promise by Damon Galgut. The Booker Prize-winning novel is one of the best I have read in a very long time. I was blown away by the Joycean-style narrative, magnificent in its own right, but also enriching a haunting storyline that spans two generations of a South African family. The first part also has a surprising Jewish angle.
- Domestic Suspense: With Our House, author Louise Candlish introduced me to this genre. Catching up on her back catalogue I read The Heights this year, with all the twists and turns that keep you guessing till the end. The best part? It took place in the very neighborhood that I lived when I was at the London School of Economics
- Historical Fiction: The Prophet’s Wife by Libbie Grant captures the early, traumatic history of the LDS faith and paints a nuanced and empathetic picture of Emma Smith.
- Memoir: Free by Lea Ypi resonated with me on many levels. Most obviously, it recounts the end of Albanian communism, which was part of my graduate study. On a personal level, some of her tale reminded me of my early childhood in Israel, at that time basically a socialist country (though of course nowhere near as far gone as Albania). Lack of materialism combined with close family life and independence for children transported me back to those memorable years. That Ypi and I are about the same age helped.
- History: The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre. This tale of a KGB-MI6 double agent falls squarely into the “If it weren’t true I wouldn’t believe it” category. Macintyre is an incredible writer who weaves a narrative that reads more like a thriller than non-fiction.
Here’s to another book-filled year!
Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected]
Copyright © 2022 by the Intermountain Jewish News
Talking of John le Carré’s secrets, Dead Lions and the excellent TV series SAS Rogue Heroes (and even Ungentlemanly Warfare), by now most of us have read Ben Macintyre’s SAS Rogue Heroes and Giles Milton’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. However, there existed a less renowned but SAS related clique of maverick and patriotic British reprobates in British Intelligence called Pemberton’s People who worked for Colonel Alan Brooke Pemberton CVO MBE.
During the Malayan Emergency (really a war) British Intelligence and covert units such as the Special Air Service worked closely together under the eagle eyes of Field Marshal Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer and his ADC Alan Pemberton who in 1952 in Malaya oversaw the establishment of 22 SAS Regiment. Since then its home has been in Hereford, England. Malaya proved to be an exquisite training ground for all involved in the dark arts of modern warfare.
Even the notorious spy Philby tried to get in on the act to support the communist backed insurgents and later some of Pemberton’s People starred in the real Clockwork Orange Plot as to be depicted in Samuel Martin’s The Ghost of Harold Wilson.
If you are interested in this and more besides do check it out at TheBurlingtonFiles website and see the News Article dated 31 October 2022 … Pemberton’s People, Ungentlemanly Officers & Rogue Heroes.
Malayan Emergency is completely new to me. Looking forward to reading up on it!