Five in May

 I read five books in May.

 

Games and Rituals by Katherine Heiny

This is Katherine Heiny’s second book of short stories. I’ve been waiting for it and it did not disappoint. Inevitably some appealed more than others but all had the writing style I’ve come to love after reading her two novels Standard Deviation (three times so far) and Early Morning Riser (twice). 

 

The Crystal Crypt by Fiona Veitch Smith

A fun read with a 1920s amateur sleuth Poppy Denby. The sixth in a series but the first I’ve read. Here she is asked to investigate the mysterious death of an up-and-coming female scientist in an Oxford laboratory known as the Crystal Crypt.

 

 

Christmas is Murder by Val McDermid

Hardly seasonal, I know, but I bought this very pretty copy in the Christian Aid Book Sale and just got stuck in to this ‘festive collection of chilling tales’.

 

The Villa in Italy by Elizabeth Edmondson

I paid my first visit to Italy (Sicily) in February so the country is on my radar. Four people, previously unknown to each other, have been mentioned in the will of a woman, of whom none of them have ever heard. They have to spend time in her villa to find out why. I did keep reading to find the solution – but the reasons the legatees were brought together were convoluted and the whole thing pretty unlikely, but hey, that’s fiction for you.

 

 

Far Off in Sunlit Place: Stories of the Scots in Australia and New Zealand by Jim Hewitson

Another Christian Aid Book Sale purchase and a book I’ve wanted to read since it first came out many years ago. I’ve read other, academic, books on the fascinating subject of the Scottish diaspora – this one, while undoubtedly involving a great deal of research, is at the popular end of the history scale and extremely readable.

Seven in April

 I read seven books in April.

 

Hope to Survive by Caroline Dunford

The second in a series but the first I’ve read – and my first Caroline Dunford book but not, I hope, the last. I much enjoyed this spy thriller and its sparky protagonist Hope Stapleford (love the punning title too). Hope, recruited for British Intelligence by her spymaster godfather, is sent to a secret base when the threat of invasion intensifies – but is everyone there on the same side? Heart-in-the-mouth stuff.

 

The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

Once again, Cormoran and Robin occupied me for three solid days. And once again they are investigating a very mysterious case with several suspects plus of course there is their own relationship … I could have done without quite so many comments/interaction from followers of the eponymous online game and skim-read most of them. Wouldn’t advise reading this on Kindle because of the column layout of these.

So, book six, one more to go. Can’t wait.

 

 

Marple: Twelve New Stories

I spent much of my youth reading Agatha Christie. I like Poirot but if I had to choose between him and Miss Jane Marple she would win (sorry, Monsieur Hercule). Each author in this welcome collection re-imagines Agatha Christie’s gimlet-eyed old lady in their own way. They include Naomi Alderman, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Jean Kwok, Ruth Ware and Val McDermid and, among other places, they take Jane to Manhattan, on a cruise to the Far East, to California and to Oxford – and back in time for a second murder at the vicarage.

 

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

Novelised true story, read for bookgroup. The description line ‘A sweeping story of love, friendship and betrayal in bohemian 1920s Paris’ is a lot of keywords but misses the most important element of the book – the establishment, by American Sylvia Beach, of the English-language bookshop, Shakespeare & Co, which became known across the world. Its reincarnation in a different street under different ownership exists to this day.

At the time there were many Americans in Paris, getting away from Prohibition amongst other crackdowns on enjoyment … There was censorship elsewhere too which is why Sylvia Beach came to be the publisher of the first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses (and what a nightmare of an author he was).

 

A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon

I was keen to read this having enjoyed her The Trouble with Goats and Sheep and Three Things About Elsie. It didn’t disappoint but I still prefer Elsie.

Linda is an unreliable narrator of what is happening around her when people start to go missing and she has her own secret to hide too.

 

The Book Lovers by Victoria Connelly

I enjoyed this (very) short and sweet romance between author Callie and bookshop owner Sam (and a dalliance with Leo along the way). Callie’s new home in Suffolk, Owl Cottage, sounds enchanting and with books and bookshops being a big feature of the series (this is the first title), what’s not to like? Well, I have a couple of gripes – the shortness meant the storyline felt rushed and it was a bit annoying the number of times the men Callie encountered ran/raked their fingers through their hair. Other expressions of puzzlement are available.

 

 

A House in Sicily by Daphne Phelps

Daphne Phelps inherited a house in the shadow of Mount Etna in 1947. At 34, she had led a very interesting life but, war-weary from working as psychiatric social worker, she decided, despite the many difficulties, that she would live there.

To make ends meet she took in paying guests – not any old tourists but writers such as Roald Dahl (horrible), Tennessee Williams (fun), Bertrand Russell (with whom she might have had an affair) and an endearingly eccentric American artist I’d never heard of called Henry Faulkner. I wouldn’t want him and his pet goat as house guests but I enjoyed reading about him.

Her writing is terrific, telling the reader not only about her visitors but also about her Sicilian staff and neighbours including the local mafia leader.

 

Six in March

I read six books in March.

 

I’m Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait

Read on Kindle but I liked it so much I’m going to get a paperback copy. Here is a very dysfunctional family: their issues include severe mental illness, a father who’s scarpered and a self-centred mother, but somehow Rebecca Wait finds light in the darkest moments. I loved Alice, one of the most self-effacing (to an almost ludicrous extent), lovable characters I’ve ever come across. Her twin sister, Hanna, could not be more different but I rooted for her too.

Alice’s party is one of the best set pieces ever. If you’re planning a party make sure one of your guests isn’t carrying a cat basket …

 

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

I much enjoyed this author’s The Hating Game (and the film made of it), a very well written romance plus I’m a sucker for anything set in a publishing house. I liked this one too; it’s set in a community for well-heeled, elderly retired folk (location unclear but somewhere they use dollars, not that it matters really).

Ruthie is managing the complex while her boss is away and when the owner’s wayward son shows up, having been told by his dad he has to grow up and do some proper work – well, that’s a situation Ruthie is unprepared for.

This would make a great film too – it comes over like a 1960s screwball comedy.

 

In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor

It’s a long time since I read an Elizabeth Taylor (probably when they were first Virago-ed); don’t think this (published in 1961) will be one of her best but it was interesting and blackly funny in places (although not at the end). Kate Heron is a youngish, wealthy widow who has got remarried to, Dermot, a much younger, rather feckless chap. Some of the humour is got through the correspondence between Kate’s spinster Aunt Ethel (who lives with her) and Ethel's (spinster) school friend speculating on Kate and Dermot’s love life.

 

The Moon over Kilmore Quay by Carmel Harrington

A teeny bit of the book takes place in Kilmore Quay under the moon. It’s mostly set in Brooklyn – not that I’ve any objection to that, just the opposite; I guess TheMoKQ does make for an attractive title though.

This is my first Carmel Harrington book and I will probably read more (despite the ending of this one which I did not appreciate although it certainly made for a ‘devastating twist’ as the blurb writers say).

Bea has grown up in the Irish community in Brooklyn. Her mother died when she was little and she has always heard wonderful stories about her. However, when Bea is about thirty she finds out something life-changing.

 

Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson

And the first book I’ve read by this author.

It’s the 1980s. In a small West London flat, sixteen-year-old Marina lives with Laura, her emotionally delicate [English] mother, her Hungarian grandmother and two great-aunts. 

To get away from the very loving but stifling atmosphere at home Marina enrolls (at punitive financial cost to her impoverished relatives) in a boys’ boarding school in Dorset which takes girls in the sixth form. The story veers between the horrible time she has there and Laura missing her back in London and with problems of her own.

The elderly Hungarian relatives are delightful, and amusing to the reader, and I enjoyed the author’s notes at the back with reference to her own Czech Hungarian grandparents.

 

Halfway to You by Jennifer Gold

One of Amazon Prime’s first of the month free Kindle books. 

I thought it was too long – the on-off relationship between Ann and Todd that’s on and off for nearly forty years didn’t really grip me. But I liked the structure – Ann, who in the past published one massively bestselling book, is telling her story to young podcaster Maggie with whom, as it turns out, she has another connection.

Nine in February

 I read nine books in February.

 

Deception by Helen Forbes

This was indeed the ‘compelling’ read promised in the blurb – heightened for me because I know the locations in Edinburgh very well. Who knows what lurks behind those doors?

It was an unsettling read, taking in a host of social problems ... and with an unexpected (or maybe not?) villain. My heart was in my mouth almost the whole time I was reading as I followed Lily in her attempts to change her life and keep her little boy safe.

Terrifically atmospheric writing and a great cast of characters.

 

Murder at Snowfall by Fleur Hitchcock

More murder – but this time off-stage and written for a 10+ age group. This is a children’s mystery twenty-first-century style and I loved it: the Famous Five had their excitements but finding a body in a suitcase wasn’t one of them. A satisfying plot and I liked the developing relationship between the two step-siblings.

 

And more murder. You can’t go wrong with ‘a Vera’ – or two.

 

 

And another murder, a cold case this time, the first of five books I read while on holiday.

 

Stay Buried by Kate Webb

I’ve enjoyed Katherine Webb’s historical books, especially her first one The Legacy. She has a new author name for her first foray into crime.

Detective Inspector Matt Lockyear reopens the case he was involved in fourteen years earlier which sent a woman, Hedy Lambert, to prison. At the same time he is making ongoing investigations into the murder of his own brother.

A very good read which does finish in an ends-tied-up way but there’s also a bit of a cliff-hanger ... The follow-up is due this autumn I believe.

 

Closing In by E. D. Thompson

A psychological thriller this time. Caroline has a nice life, personally and professionally, until someone turns up – someone she’d rather forget and with whom she shares a secret past. That secret is a difficult one, bravely tackled.  

 

Then I caught up on more of my Kindle ‘pile’, three from Amazon Prime’s First Reads.

 

Three More Months by Sarah Echavarre

Over-wrought, and repetitiously written, but I was totally on board with the (impossible) premise.

 

Five Winters by Kitty Johnson

Liked the structure of catching up with the characters every December for five years but didn’t find the characters very convincing.

 

Good for You by Camille Pagán

My favourite of the First Reads as I’m a sucker for American beach houses; the one here is on Lake Michigan and has been half-inherited by Aly from her adored brother Luke – half, because she has to share ownership with Wyatt, Luke’s best friend whom Aly disliked first time they met. You can guess the rest.

Seven in January

 I read seven books in January.

 

Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive’s Tour of the Bookshops of Britain 

by Robin Ince

Signed copy, a lovely Christmas present.

When Robin Ince’s stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox was postponed because of the pandemic he decided, as you do, to go on a bookshop tour, by public transport.

As well as giving talks (customized to each venue) he bought books either in the shops or adjacent charity shops, and was given books as gifts – leading to lugging heavy loads around on buses and trains. What an enviable way of spending time …

Here’s a flavour: ‘Edinburgh probably represents my highest per-day date of book purchases of any city I visited. I won’t list my favourite purchases, but rather the one I most regret leaving behind.’

 

French Braid by Anne Tyler

Pleased to have a hardback version (from Waterstones’ hardback half-price sale).

When her children grow up and leave home then, inch by inch, their artist mother Mercy does too. But family life turns out to be inescapable …

I got very involved with all the characters who we follow at various stages of their lives and was frustrated by some gaps and unfinished stories – but, hey, it’s Anne Tyler; she’s forgiven.

 

Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer

Delightful heroine (called Hero) and her marriage of convenience to the dashing Lord Sherry, on whom she’s always had a crush. Not-really-a-spoiler – the book ends with one of my favourite Heyer scenarios: a chase through the darkening countryside and a showdown in an inn.

 

The Village of Lost and Found by Alison Sherlock

‘Scandal-hit party girl Lucy Conway needs to leave London fast, so she packs her bags and escapes to the sleepy village of Cranbridge to take care of her beloved Uncle Frank.’

 

Blurb your Enthusiasm: An A-Z of Literary Enthusiasm by Louise Willder

Bought with my Bookshop.org voucher. Fab. How are we persuaded to buy/read the books we do? Louise Willder (who’s written 5000 blurbs) tells of the tricks of the publishing trade and discusses among much else what she sees as the best and the worst blurbs of all time.

 

Talking of Jane Austen by Sheila Kaye-Smith and G. B. Stern

Bought in the Christian Aid Booksale last year. Published in 1943. Two writers, famous in their day, discuss most eruditely a writer unsung in her day but now one of the world’s most known and beloved.

 

The Art of Falling by Danielle Mclaughlin

When Danielle Mclaughlin won the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award in 2019 her story ‘A Partial List of the Saved’ was available online and I thought it was terrific. Since then she has published a story collection Dinosaurs on Other Planets and I should have bought that instead of this, her first novel, which left me cold.

I can understand, of course, that it’s stressful for Nessa having problems at home and at work but my understanding is of the situation not of the effects on the character who, with the rest of the cast, I did not believe in never mind care for. There was much that didn’t add up – eg Luke was said to be ‘very fond of Eleanor’ when to my recollection they hadn’t met.

It’s interesting that an author who I thought wrote brilliantly about relationships (and much else) in her short story failed to convince me about any of the relationships in a much longer piece.

Twelve in December

 I read twelve books in December.

 I had three days away in a cottage in Sutherland, then I had a few days of feeling peaky and having to cancel various things, then I was on holiday from work/regular activities – all of which allowed lots of lovely reading time.

 

 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

I’ve been saving this up for the Christmas holidays. I bought the splendid edition Waterstones produced with the periodic table printed in blue down the fore edge.

I didn’t study chemistry beyond second year at school but if our heroine here, Elizabeth Zott, had been my teacher I could well have been persuaded.

The book lived up to the hype for me, and then some. It’s got everything really – an inspirational main character, a family mystery, a love story, social history, a setting in 60s America, and more.

 

 

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

I was lucky enough to be given a Bookshop.org voucher for  for my birthday – which was months ago but I took ages to make up my mind what to spend it on. I ended up with five titles including this: again, a book that lived up to its reputation. It’s a novella most beautifully written by this Irish author. Her portrayal of the dilemma faced, in 1985, by family man Bill Furlong when he delivers coal to a convent that takes in unmarried mothers, stays in the mind long after you put the book down.

Buying through Bookshop.org was easy by the way; it’s a site that supports independent bookshops. In my case it benefitted my local Edinburgh Bookshop.

 

Bedpans and Bobby Socks by Barbara Fox and Gwenda Gofton

I love reading books about nurses (see this article I wrote for Corazon Books on the subject) and I love road trip books especially if they are set in America. So this (another Bookshop.org purchase) was a double whammy. Five British nursing friends took jobs in American in the late 1950s and then intrepidly set out in a very unreliable car to see as much of America as they could, making lots of friends along the way. A treat.

 

Death on the Crags by Jo Allen

The ninth book in the satisfying DI Satterthwaite series.

 

Hancox by Charlotte Moore

Bought in the Christian Aid book sale, this is the story of the family who has owned Hancox, ‘a Tudor hall house in rural Sussex’, since the end of the 1900s. The author was brought up in Hancox and lives there now. Luckily for her they were/are a family who never throw anything away – her difficulty was deciding what to leave out from the extensive archive. She doesn’t hold back on the streak of severe mental illness that runs through the family.

 

Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King

This would have been one of my purchases with my voucher if it had been in paperback, but that’s not coming until the end of this month. However … Waterstones had a half-price hardback sale and lo and behold this was included. I absolutely loved her Writers and Lovers and will definitely seek out her other novels.

Five Tuesdays in Winter is a short story collection. My favourite was the title story; it’s a love story featuring a grumpy bookseller – what’s not to like?

 

Murder on Christmas Eve

What it says on the tin; an excellent collection.

 

Also with Christmas in mind – I read all the Little House on the Prairie books to my children and I recalled that there was a scene where a neighbour of theirs came through a snowstorm with Christmas candy for her and her sisters. I thought it was On the Banks of Plum Creek but it wasn’t so I started the series at the beginning and up until the end of December I read these others.

 

The Christmas scene was actually in Little House on the Prairie – and I’d misremembered something else: Mr Edwards walked 40 miles there and back to the town of Independence for the candy and struggled home not through a snowstorm but through high floodwater.

The account of enduring seven months of snow and blizzards and -40F temperatures in The Long Winter made me thankful for a watertight (if not always warm) house, plenty to eat and the electric blanket, and stopped me moaning (for a while) about feeling cold.

 

I also wanted to reread the books before embarking on the ‘true’ story, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser – a big brick of a book (charity shop purchase) that I shall report back on in due course.