Five in June

I read five books in June.

 

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

Book 5 in the excellent Maisie Dobbs series from which I read Birds of A Feather (Book 2) in April. (There are 18 altogether.) I follow the author on Facebook (she has very interesting posts) and was intrigued to learn that for this one she drew on her own background, an East End family who annually went hop-picking in Kent. So …

 

This Time Next Year We’ll be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear

… I downloaded her memoir and although I would perhaps have liked to learn more about how she came to write (ie the jump between always wanting to be a writer and becoming a best-selling one) I always find other people’s families fascinating and hers more than many.

The title comes from a favourite saying of her dad’s.

 

A Death Most Monumental by J D Kirk

My brother has been telling me for ages that J D Kirk is one of his favourite authors – and having read this I can see why. This is an excellent police procedural with absolutely cracking (sweary) dialogue and a satisfying plot. A young woman, daughter of an American billionaire, is found hanging from the Glenfinnan Monument, near the ‘Harry Potter’ viaduct. But who would want to kill her – and why?

 

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Although I very much liked the premise of this debut novel (‘When Mukesh Patel pops to the local library, forgoing his routine of grocery shopping and David Attenborough documentaries, he has no idea his life’s about to change.’) I thought there were far too many characters and the writing quickly became predictable.

 

The Magazine Girls 1960s-1980s: The Inside Story by Ann Carpenter et al

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have had short stories published in Woman’s Weekly. I’m a Friend of one of their ex-fiction-editors on Facebook and jumped on this when she flagged it up. It’s the experiences of seven women who worked in best-selling teen magazines of the time (Petticoat, 19, Rave, Mirabelle, Valentine, Loving) and (before the gate-keeping of PR agents) got immediate access to some of the biggest stars such as David Bowie.

They didn’t get their jobs (proper jobs, not unpaid internships) because of who they knew or what school they went to or what university degree they had – they were state-school educated ‘from sprawling pre-war suburbs and housing estates’ and were able to move straight from school into work.

It was a new era, a time of youth, no particular qualifications required, just ‘curiosity, the ability to learn new skills’ and being in the right place at the right time.

Eight in April

I read eight books in April.

 

V for Victory by Lissa Evans

The conclusion to the trilogy (I read Crooked Heart last month, and Old Baggage some time ago). Schoolboy Noel (except he doesn’t go to school) and his guardian, Vera, are running a boarding house and still lurching from one financial crisis to another, with the ever-present threat of being found out for Vera is not who she has to pretend to be. Noel’s parents, hitherto unknown to him, are revealed but his bond with Vera is now unassailable after such a bad beginning. A perfect conclusion, an absolute joy.

 

 

Under a Brighter Sky/A Light to Guide us Home by Dianne Haley

 

Following The Watchmaker’s  Daughter which I read in February these two books continue the gripping story of Valérie, operating in the Resistance in Switzerland, helping refugees escaping from Occupied France.

 

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

 

The second in the wonderful private investigator Maisie Dobbs series, set in the aftermath of the Great War. I’ve read a few of them, not in order but always a pleasure.

 

 

The Harbour Lights Mystery/The Rockpool Murder by Emylia Hall

 

The second and third titles in the Shell House Detectives series, the detectives being an unlikely duo of sixty-something widow Ally, and Jason, a young former London cop now relocated to Cornwall. Great stories and lovely writing – although I’m getting a bit weary of books written in the present tense.

 

Past Lying by Val McDermid

 

More crime; this is a Karen Petrie cold case. Karen has more time than usual to investigate the murder of a female student because it’s the first lockdown in 2020. The streets of Edinburgh are eerily quiet and one of her colleagues is grappling with the reality of the virus. The suspect is a crime writer and several actual crime writers are mentioned by name, as an in-joke I guess.

 

The Two-Headed Whale by Sandy Winterbottom

 

Read for book group; suggested by a member who, by the time we came to read it, had done what the author did and visited part of Antarctica on a sailing ship.

Sandy Winterbottom left her husband and teenage children behind in Edinburgh and embarked on this voyage, partly for the adventure, partly for respite, and as it turned out to find out more about the history of the whaling industry pertaining to Scotland (far more recent than you might think).

When she saw the grave of a teenage whaler born very near where she lives, and buried so far from home, she imagines his early life and also embarks on finding his relatives.

All these strands come together to make a fascinating (and beautifully written) read. I am the world’s worst sailor so was glad to be able to make this amazing journey vicariously.

Highly recommended.

 

 

Twelve in March (1)

I read twelve books in March. 

You don’t need me to tell you what’s been going on this month. Silver lining is more time to read. I’ll review my twelve books in two posts rather than one huge one.

Confession with Blue Horses by Sophie Hardach

Read on Kindle for book group. Ella and Tobi live in London now but have unanswered questions about their childhood in East Berlin including the family’s failed escape attempt in 1987 and the subsequent disappearance of their little brother – ironically only two years before the wall came down. When Ella finds some of their mother’s old notebooks she goes to Berlin and the Stasi archives to find out what she can. A beautifully written mystery/family story/history.

The Other Mrs Walker by Mary Paulson-Ellis

Margaret returns to Edinburgh in 2011 after her life in London falls apart, and with no other means of support she moves back to her mother’s flat. Her mother, Barbara, has always said that she has no family and she has refused to tell Margaret who her father was.

I was attracted to the premise of this book, being a fan of the TV programme Heir Hunters which features a company who look for relatives of deceased persons who have property/money but who have died intestate and with no known family.

Margaret finds a sort of similar job (to do with what kind of funeral takes place) tracking down families of those who have died alone. Interwoven with that is the story (not in chronological order) of three sisters and their lives in London, from 1929 to 1980, encompassing, among much else, abandonment, madness, paedophilia, thievery and abortion. All this grimness is well evoked and I liked having to keep my wits about me to work out what was happening and when.

BUT <spoiler alert>It did beggar belief that the deceased in Margaret’s first case should turn out (I think) to be a relative.

I wasn’t mad on the writing style. Which tended to be a bit choppy. Like this. And like this. There was lots of repetition too. Lots of repetition, and bracketed comments. (But that was deliberate and not lack of editing. I think.) These stylistic tricks were a distraction away from the story.

It’s such a dreadful thought, dying alone, estranged from or without family, sometimes not being found for days, weeks or even years. I see that MPE’s new book has an heir hunter called Solomon Farthing – clearly the subject is very fertile ground for a novelist.

Things We Choose to Hide by Jane Riddell

‘After ending a long-term relationship, Rachel Grosvenor goes to stay with friends in Florence, where she meets the attractive Sicilian businessman, Tommaso. Despite her friends’ concerns, she marries him weeks later, only to learn at the end of their honeymoon, that he’s been less than honest with her. Gradually she stumbles upon more unpleasant secrets in his life. Set in Italy and India, this is the story of one woman’s experience of deception, jealousy and finding love in unexpected places.’

Read my interview with Jane here.

Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear

I’m a big fan of JW’s Maisie Dobbs character – she’s a private investigator/psychologist and this is the twelfth title in the series (currently there are 15). Here she goes to Munich in 1938 on behalf of the British Secret Service.

I’d also recommend following Jacqueline Winspear on Facebook – she’s a Brit living in the States and has a lot to say that is thoughtful and wise.

 One Shot by Lee Child

One of his best, I think, and completely page-turning. A man is apprehended after six people are shot dead; all the evidence including forensics point to his guilt. His sister however doesn’t believe he was capable of such a thing. All the man will say is ‘Get Jack Reacher’ but it turns out they weren’t exactly buddies on their previous acquaintance.

Did you see that Lee Child is going to stop writing the Reacher novels and has handed the job over to his brother? I wonder how that will work out.

The Explorer by Katherine Rundell

I have just discovered children’s writer (for children of all ages) Katherine Rundell and her Rooftoppers was the very last book I read last year.

I loved this one too – a plane crashes in the Amazon jungle and four children are left to survive in it. The different personalities, talents and backgrounds of the three older ones mean they all have something useful to contribute.

What do tarantulas taste like? What does it mean when they find a cigarette box tied to a high branch? And all those stories of lost cities – could they be true?

Six in May

I read six books in May.

A Spy by Nature by Charles Cumming. Much enjoyed his A Foreign Country was keen to read more; was not disappointed. Good, old-fashioned (in the best sense of the description) spy thriller.

Homeland and other stories by Barbara Kingsolver. (Christian Aid Book Sale buy) I love Barbara Kinsolver’s novels but her essays and short stories even more. Highly recommended as a masterclass in short story writing.

An English Woman in New York by Ann Marie Casey. (Christian Aid Book Sale buy) Love reading about New York, love reading about people who move to live somewhere completely different. Excellent.

Girls will be Girls by Arthur Marshall. (Christian Aid Book Sale buy) For many years, from the 30s to the 50s, broadcaster Arthur Marshall was asked to give a round-up of the year’s new books for girls and this is a compilation of them along with other of his musings, on such subjects as his schooldays and his horror of compulsory games. Gently hilarious if you like that sort of thing, which I must say I do.

The Red House by Mark Haddon. (Christian Aid Book Sale buy)  I wouldn’t like to be related, necessarily, to his characters or live next door to them but his writing can take your breath away – the kind where you re-read sentences and wish you could write like that.

A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear. (Christian Aid Book Sale buy) In the Maisie Dobbs private investigator series and well up to the usual standard.

I won’t name it but I started another book and didn’t get very far because the heroine irritated me so much and I found the writing banal (although from a big publishing house and covered in plaudits). I used to feel I had to plough on to the end once I’d started but not now – so many books to read, so little time.

Do you always continue once you've started – or have you ever hurled a book across the room?

In which I acquire twenty-five books

I went to the Christian Aid book sale in May with a long wish list. I took home twenty-five books, only two of which were on the list …

A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs is a private investigator. Love this series which begins just after the end of WW1.

A Quiet Year by Derk Tangye

Heard an interesting radio programme about him the other week

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty

Was on wish list; the reviews have been brilliant

At Times Like This by Catherine Dunne

Irish writer; haven’t read her before

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

I blogged about Geraldine Brooks here. This one is set in Martha’s Vineyard in 1650.

Cross Country with Grandma by Karen Testa

Great title

Dear Life by Alice Munro

After reading The View from Castle Rock I’m looking forward to this

Every Contact Leaves a Trace by Elanor Dymot

Sounds very intriguing

Girls will be Girls by Arthur Marshall

Arthur reviews girls’ school stories and other titles in his own hilarious way. The other title I’ve read of his was called Giggling in the Shrubbery.

Homeland and other stories by Barbara Kingsolver

Love Barbara Kingsolver’s novels and essays but have never read her short stories

If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler

One of my favourite authors

Night Music by Jojo Moyes

Always good for a page turner

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Yipee, another Geraldine Brooks – this time set in Vienna in World War II

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

Was on wish list; have loved her other books

Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves

For when I feel like a spot of crime

The Aloha Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini

Anything with patchwork quilts catches my eye

The Beginners Goodbye by Anne Tyler

An Anne Tyler I haven’t read; what a treat

My Antonia by Willa Cather

First published 1918; set in the American West

The Hour Before Dawn by Sara MacDonald

A family mystery set in New Zealand

The House at Sea’s End by Elly Griffiths

More crime. Hope I like it as I see there are other titles with the same main character.

The Long Weekend by Victoria Henry

And a long book to get lost in

The Red House by Mark Haddon

Have started this one; don’t care much for the characters but his writing is stunning

True Grit by Charlie Ports

Loved both the 2010 version of the film and the John Wayne original so will be interested to see how they compare with the book

When the Children come Home by Julie Summers

Non-fiction, about children who were evacuated in WW2

Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell

A lovely Virago edition

Plus five girls’ annuals for my collection including one printed in 1948 when paper was still rationed. The board cover is counted as page 1.

I think that will keep me going in reading material for a little while. Have you read any of the titles above?