Seven in March

 I read seven books in March.

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

This is a trilogy. I read the first one Old Baggage a few years ago for my book group – about wonderful Mattie. Earlier in her life she was a militant Suffragette who was imprisoned five times. Now it’s 1928 and she needs a new cause. Into her life came young lad Noel. Now, in Crooked Heart, we gather that Noel and Mattie have lived together very happily but WW2 is approaching – and Noel finds Mattie dead and himself on his own.

Evacuated to St Albans, he ends up with Vera who lives with her unsatisfactory grown-up son. She supplements her meagre income in various dodgy ways (bogus collecting boxes for example). Precocious Noel, with his Mattie-taught literary skills and mathematical brain, proves to be an excellent accomplice. The development of the relationship between the two of them is brilliantly done and I’m looking forward to V for Victory which is the third book.

 

Yellow Face by Rebecca F. Kuang

Read this million-selling title for my book group. There has been much in the literary press in recent years over who has ‘the right’ to tell a particular story and who has not. In this case June, the author protagonist, definitely does not have the right to publish the story of exploited Chinese workers – because she didn’t write it; she stole the manuscript from her dead friend Athena, an incredibly successful young author of whom June has always been wildly jealous.

Ironically, this very 21st-century scenario hinges on one 19th-century invention; Athena always wrote her first draft on a manual typewriter with no copies so there was no digital evidence. Told through June’s voice – an increasingly desperate voice as she gets found out – this is an easy read, and of extra interest if you’ve ever worked in the publishing business.

 

 

The 1960s-1980s Magazine Girls: the Inside Story

Another publishing story but one which could not be more different to the one above. Seven women who worked on women's magazines spill the beans about everything from fashion shoots to hanging out with pop stars. Bright young school leavers could walk into jobs then – no university degrees required, no unpaid internships. Happy days!

 

Game On by Janet Evanovich

The 28th book in the Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, series and the first I’ve read in years – the last one was probably the 15th or 16th. Nothing has changed – not her madcap family or ex-hooker colleague Lulu, not her relationship with handsome cop Joe Morrelli (nor her occasional hankerings after the mysterious Ranger) and not, sadly, the casual acceptance of gun culture. I think I’m done here.

 

 

Goldberg Variations by Susan Isaacs

I’m keen on Susan Isaacs (especially Shining Through). This book has two grown-up siblings and their cousin being invited to stay with their estranged grandmother who intends to decide who will inherit her very successful business. But do any of them want it?

The story is told from each of the four viewpoints and each rounded character walked off the page. Enjoyable though it was, however, I didn’t think it was any more than the sum of its parts.

 

 

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

One of two rereads this month. If I’ve finished a book and it’s getting late I tend to look for a book I’ve read before rather than embarking on a new one. I had it in my mind that I would read this one again and then donate it to a charity shop.

Nope. Couldn’t do it. Get rid of it, I mean.

High-flying lawyer and financial wizard Samantha walked out of her City job and has (very improbably – the clue is in the title) been employed as a housekeeper.

Sophie Kinsella is so brilliant at set-pieces and I will pop back in just to read these bits again – too many to mention, and there would be spoilers, but the scene in the greenhouse … and the moment when an entitled girl gets her comeuppance … are particularly satisfying.

 

Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart

In the case of this book, it’s a re-re-read (or maybe more) of my favourite Mary Stewart book. I picked it up again this month because it’s set in Vienna and other parts of Austria, and I just came back from three nights in Vienna and one in Salzburg.

Having now been lucky enough to have sat in the Blue Bar in the famous Hotel Sacher in Vienna for drinks (be sure to book a table … ) it was brilliant to read about Vanessa’s visit there.

Sadly we weren’t able to see a performance of the Lipizzaner horses, which play a vital part in the plot, but I was thrilled when we came across the stables (I hadn’t expected that they would be right in the middle of the city) and we could see some of the beautiful white animals looking over their half doors.

My visit did not include being chased by a circus performer over a castle roof … but Mary Stewart’s superb writing made me feel that it had.

 

Seven in February

 I read seven books in February.

 

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Love a road trip book, love an American road trip book, love an American road trip book set in the 50s. So, job done, Mr Towles – and you delivered on the premise in spades.

A young man and his much younger brother (Billy, one of the most precocious but delightful child characters ever, sees the world through his book of classical heroes) set out from Nebraska with the intention of driving to California to see if they can find their long-gone mother. However, they acquire some unexpected passengers and things very much do not go according to plan. Adventures aplenty, good and bad, ensue.

Manages to be both screwball and quite dark with gorgeous writing – I adored it.

 

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Another favourite genre, the Depression in America, not sure why it appeals so much – perhaps because it was such a testing time and so much good writing has come out of that adversity.

This is Amor Towles’ first book and, again, I loved it.

‘On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate New York City jazz bar trying to stretch three dollars as far as it will go. But a chance encounter with the handsome banker at the next table changes everything, opening the door to the upper echelons of New York society and a glittering new social circle.’

 

 

 Home/Land by Rebecca Mead

A memoir.  In 2018, British-born New Yorker writer Rebecca Mead moved back to London, with her husband and son, after thirty years in New York. It’s a culture shock for all of them. She reflects on her career in America (and one of the reasons they left – the outcome of the 2016 election), her childhood and family history. I found it absorbing.

 

The Watchmaker’s Daughter by Dianne Haley

I had an all too short holiday in Austria this month: three nights in Vienna – and one in Salzburg where we went on a Sound of Music tour. So when I was thinking what to read on the plane and thinking of the plot of the Sound of Music I remembered I’d bought this for my Kindle when it came out. It seemed an appropriate read and it turned out to be a terrific one. I’ve now downloaded the two sequels.

It’s a WW2 Resistance novel (another of my favourite genres) but with a difference – this one is set in Switzerland. The country was technically neutral but, with occupied France just across the border, life is precarious. Valérie helps the French resistance by smuggling messages with her father’s watch deliveries and hiding refugee children in his workshop – all the time worrying about her boyfriend Philippe who is in the army. Tense and exciting.

 

 The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooley

On holiday is when I do most of my Kindle reading. This was next up, an easy but satisfying read. No one speaks to anyone else on their daily commute from south London – until an event forces a disparate group of people into contact and relationships which will change all their lives.

 

 The Road Towards Home by Corinne Demas

I think this was the free book I chose one month through Amazon Prime. More America, east coast this time … Noah, in his seventies, has moved to ‘an independent living community’ but it feels more like a prison to him. A newcomer, eccentric Cassandra Joyce, turns out to be someone he knew fifty years earlier. Noah invites Cassandra to his ramshackle Cape Cod cottage out of season, and realises he would like their relationship to move up a level.

 

 A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin

And, started on the plane journey home, and completed later, the latest Inspector Rebus. He’s retired now but when it looks as if his daughter might be arrested for murdering her partner he hurries to the far north of Scotland to carry out his own investigations which see him, amongst other things, visiting a WW2 prisoner-of-war camp and a stately home. Meanwhile back in Edinburgh his ex-colleagues may have some information to help him. Terrific.

Eight in January

 

I read eight books in January.

 

Preloved by Lauren Bravo

Gwen is 38 and has just been made redundant from a job she didn’t much like anyway. She seems to be adrift from old friendships and her relationship with her parents has become distant (the reason for which is slowly revealed). She volunteers to work in a charity shop and this becomes her saviour. It’s not just that she makes new friends (one of whom briefly becomes an unexpected lover, and one gives her bad advice) but in sorting the donated items she manages to sort out herself.

In between Gwen’s story there are chapters on the stories behind some of the donations and gradually we come to realise how these fit together. It’s very cleverly done.

I volunteer for a few hours a week sorting books in a branch of Shelter and that added to my enjoyment of Preloved.

The online strapline for novels rarely live up to their promise (in my experience) but I’ll certainly go along with this one – ‘sparklingly witty and relatable’.

I heard of Preloved through the blog https://portobellobookblog.com/ Joanne and I have (mostly) the same taste in books and her recommendations invariably have me adding to my to-be-read pile.

 

 

Limberlost by Robbie Arnott

This was a present from a lovely Tasmanian cousin when she visited last year. It’s a coming-of-age story set in Tasmania during the Second World War. Ned, too young to go to fight alongside his beloved older brothers, longs to buy a boat of his own. He dreams of getting away from working in the family orchard and from his father who’s become almost silent in his worry about his sons in a war on the other side of the world.

Ned finds a way of making money but the path to fulfilling his ambition is far from smooth.

Do love a coming-of-age novel. I learned a lot about various subjects in the book (what a quoll is, for example) – I do like to learn. But my main takeaway was the fabulousness of the writing from this young man who has already won/been shortlisted for prestigious awards.

 

 

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

Another absolute corker! Three children, half-siblings, bring themselves up, more or less, in a country house in the 20s/30s – delightful characters all of them. A whale washed up on the beach gradually becomes skeletal and their favourite playground. They grow up; WW2 comes; two of them end up in Occupied France … that’s all I’ll tell you.

 

 

Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves

The latest Vera, set on Lindisfarne. Fab as usual, with more shocks than usual.

 

What Lies Buried by Margaret Kirk

Terrific police procedure, the second in a series, set in Inverness/shire.

 

Victory for the Op Room Girls by Vicki Beeby

Third in a series (I haven’t read the first two which would probably have been a good idea).

‘With Jess newly promoted to Filterer Officer at RAF Fighter Command HQ, she is delighted to be reunited with Evie and May. However, now that they can enjoy socialising in London, Jess fears her friends will discover the secret she keeps there.’

 

The Last Voice You Hear by Mick Herron

Best known for his Slow Horses series of which I have read a few. His character here is private investigator Zoë Boehm investigating a possibly suspicious death. I was with her every step of the way (however scary … ) and that of her friend Sarah who gets caught up in the case.

 

Green Dolphin Country by Elizabeth Goudge

Last month I mentioned that was rereading a book by this author whose other titles are inspired by her background and beliefs. This one starts in the 19th century in the Channel Islands (where her mother’s family was from) and is based on a true story of something that happened to an ancestor. And so we then enter uncharted waters ... two of the three main characters – a young sailor and ten years later a thirtyish woman – take to the perilous seas and end up in New Zealand, during the time of the Maori Wars.

Elizabeth Goudge wrote the book while living quietly in the Devon countryside during the Second World War. She said she ‘made it New Zealand because my ignorance of Australia was, even more, total than my ignorance of New Zealand.’ So much for the advice often given to writers to ‘write what you know’!

Green Dolphin Country brought Elizabeth Goudge to international attention and was made into a film. Further info here. If you want a fabulous long historical to get stuck into these cold February days I would urge this on you.

 

Lastly … due to technical changes, for some months it has not been possible to Follow this blog, and those who had already Followed were not informed of new posts. This has now been rectified I hope – see the Follow button below the post. Please let me know if it works, or not!

 

Six in December

 

I read six books in December.

 

But first … due to technical changes, for some months it has not been possible to Follow this blog, and those who had already Followed were not informed of new posts. This has now been rectified – see the Follow button below the post.

 

Paper Cup by Karen Campbell

Kelly left her Dumfriesshire home many years ago and lives on the streets in Glasgow. She’s an alcoholic, sometimes a violent one. But a series of events, including a moment of unexpected kindness, see her leaving the city to walk all the way home. This is the story of her journey. She meets some generosity along the way; other reactions to her dishevelled appearance are not so warm … and she acquires a dog.

Cleverly told, with flashbacks to show why she became estranged from her loving family, this is both gritty and tender.

 

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

Read for book group.

‘ … explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires, and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good.

There is fourteen-year-old Jael, who nurses a crush on the preacher's wife; the mother who bakes a sublime peach cobbler every Monday for her date with the married Pastor; and Eula and Caroletta, single childhood friends who seek solace in each other's arms every New Year's Eve.’

Love in many forms, unexpected, interesting.

 

The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty

(By the sister of the more famous Liane.) While away for the weekend, four school friends, now in their thirties, learn each others’ secrets via the (I think rather unlikely) device of writing them down anonymously. Well told, though, in a way that the reader is left guessing who the author of ‘the fifth letter’ is.

 

A Spoonful of Murder by J M Hall

The book, the first in a series, is billed as ‘hilarious’ – it’s not and it does the author a dis-service to thus describe it.

It’s easy to see where J M Hall got his inspiration … he has three retired teachers who meet every Thursday for coffee. When an ex-colleague dies they suspect it was murder.

There are a lot of characters and it was sometimes hard to keep track of them.

Having got these wee gripes out of the way, I will say that I enjoyed this a lot and will definitely read the follow ups – and will pass them on to my retired teacher sister. I expect she will share Liz’s opinion of her grandson’s classroom.

 

Death in Good Time by Jo Allen

The eleventh DCI Jude Satterthwaite police procedural, this time with an intriguing Gothic atmosphere.

 

Joy of the Snow by Elizabeth Goudge

I have a lot of titles on my to-be-read list (print and e-) but I love to reread … or, as in this case, re-reread. It’s the autobiography of the Elizabeth Goudge, author of many books for adults, and for children – she won the Carnegie Medal in 1946 for The Little White Horse, cited as a favourite childhood book and inspiration for her own writing by J K Rowling.

I love the story of her early life being brought up in various English cathedral cities due to her father’s employment in theological colleges. Her Guernsey mother sounds wonderful, unfortunately not very healthy but very vivacious. (It’s always sad to read of health problems which these days might be cured or at least alleviated.)

However, on this rereading and having, since the previous time, been published myself, I was frustrated that she hardly mention her writing. Her books for adults are lengthy and most of them are clearly inspired by where she was brought up and by the theological discussion she would have been used to hearing and taking part in. But one of them, whose title I shall divulge next month when I have finished rereading it, is an extraordinary feat, far outside her own experience. I would love to know how she managed it.

Seven in November

  I read seven books in November.

Connective Tissue by Eleanor Thom

I love books by someone tracing their hitherto unknown family history. This is couched as a novel because Eleanor Thom has had to fill in gaps but in essence it’s her finding out about her mother’s side of the family. Her grandmother, Jewish single mother Dora, lives in Berlin in 1937 and because of her father’s immigration status finds that she is ‘stateless’ and is forced to move to the UK to work as a domestic servant – as it turns out of course that means that she lives while relatives she leaves behind do not. 

‘Helena’, as the book’s protagonist is called, decides to find her long lost family after the birth of her baby who has an unexplained medical condition, echoing the author’s own experience.

 

This is Eleanor Thom’s second book; her first, The Tin-Kin, explored in fiction her grandfather’s, (Dora’s husband) side of the family.

 

The Lady of the Manse by Lavinia Derwent

The Mouse in the Manse by Lavinia Derwent

 

 Lavinia Derwent is (or was) best known for her books for children, including the Sula series, but these are autobiographical. They are an easy, nostalgic read but kind of make you gasp when you think about it. In her late teens, Lavinia (although that wasn’t her real name) found herself ‘the lady of the manse’ when her minister brother got his first charge and needed a housekeeper. With very little money, and none at all for her own use, she looked after the large, draughty manse and in addition to housework and cooking had to fulfil various parish duties.

 

One amusing story is that of a neighbour’s boy, ‘Wee Wullie’, who is in awe of the young red-haired minister, believing him to actually be God.

 

It doesn’t cross her mind not to do as her family wanted and it did lead to her career; to make some pin money she began to write articles. 

 

(The pb of The Lady is expensive online; mine came from a shop swap-box.)

 

Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes

 

 Twenty years after Rachel’s Holiday comes a sequel and it’s worth the wait. What happened after she got out of rehab and married Luke? Are they still married? And what about her mad-as-a-box-of-frogs family? Well, they still are mad but that’s all I’m going to say, no spoilers.

 

 Exiles by Jane Harper

 

The third book to feature Aaron Falk (following The Dry and Force of Nature); set in small town Australia. Aaron is actually a forensic accountant but he gets involved in the case of a missing woman when he goes to stay with a friend. Excellent, as are the other two.

 

The Wayward Miss Wyckenham by Melinda Hammond

 

‘Miss Clarissa Wyckenham comes to London to live with her pretty step-mama and finds that Mama-Nell has formed a discreet club for ladies. Soon she is pitched headlong into the scandalous antics of the Belles Dames Club, and finds herself in conflict with the disapproving Lord Alresford … ’

A very enjoyable eighteenth-century adventure and romance.

 

Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons by David Stafford

 

Arthur Skelton has gone from being an unremarkable barrister to a much sought after one after winning ‘the legal case of the century’. Now he is charged with defending a woman accused of poisoning her husband. The story itself is satisfying but it’s the characters that make the book– Arthur has several wonderful sidekicks and the dialogue is wonderful.