Lucky Breaks (Yevgenia Belorusets)

Yevgenia Belorusets
Lucky Breaks

An interesting collection of, well, anecdotes, stories, musings, thoughts, observations on people. Not sure exactly but a very readable collection. It's written in the aftermath of the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine a the collection is all about women who are caught up in the conflict whether still living in the area invaded by Russia or under pro-Russian separatists, or those who have located to other areas of Ukraine. Some of the stories seem fantastical, others about mental wellbeing and others that seem to be about the author. I saw this on the off chance in Foyles. Whilst published in Russian (there's a bit about why in the afterword) the English translation was published in 2022. The author is a well known photographer, artist and write. Well worth a read. As published before the 2022 Russian invasion across the whole of Ukraine it reminds you that western governments and press really don't care about Russia's abuses of strength unless it directly affects their interests. Chechnya?

Butcher’s Crossing (John Williams)

John Williams

Butcher’s Crossing 

A truly great book by the author of Stoner which I loved. This is entirely different in it's subject matter but has the brilliant descriptive writing that really evokes the situations written about. Given that not many of us will have experienced the content of the novel Williams' ability to transport you there is brilliant. I'm sure he never experienced what he's written about either which makes it even more impressive. Highly recommended and I wont try to summarise the plot suffice to say it's about relationships and survival. Human fanaticism and self contemplation. How people react to extremes. Ultimately what drives us. The plot is brilliant too with majorly significant story lines. As a side note, in the 1800s bison in USA dropped from over 50 million to under 500. Killed for hides, for farmland and also culled to push native Americans out of their traditional lands. The novel is a brilliantly depressing read.