Book 42: "The Reluctant Devil" by Miranda Seymour

Be careful what you wish for . .

Satan sends a devil called Clegg down to earth with instructions to cause trouble in a particular London street. In the guise of a Frenchman named Raphael Sartis, he decides to sow discord by granting the residents' dearest wishes. This is Clegg's final chance to show Satan that his compassion won’t get in the ways of carrying out orders, but will he go through with wrecking the lives of his new neighbours?

Book 43: "The Northern Lights" by Howard Norman

I picked this Canadian novel up sometime last year, but didn’t get round to reading it before my holiday last autumn. It's the story of a boy growing up in an isolated part of Manitoba in the 1950, living with his mother and younger cousin. His father is rarely at home as he spends most of the year on trips to survey and map the interior of Canada. Noah spends his summers staying with his friend Pelly in the small village of Quill about 90 miles from his home and this part of the story was extremely enjoyable.

The part set in Toronto wasn't so interesting, and the story just seemed to stop dead rather than being finished properly. Why go on so much about Mina's obsession with Noah's Ark when that thread of the story goes precisely nowhere?