I read twelve books in May.
Twelve.
Accomplishable partly because I was on holiday in London for
a week, travelling there and back by four-and-a-half-hour train journeys; and
partly because, ahem, I was not doing much writing. But I was having a
long-overdue tidy-up of writing-related bumph, about ten years’ worth of notes
from classes and workshops, scribbled bits of stories etc. Etc. Also had big
reorganisation of bookshelves – nothing I like doing better, apart from reading
what’s on them.
Between You and me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris
I wrote about the last chapter of this book in a previous
post A Penchant for Pencils. Mary
Norris has been a proof reader at the New Yorker since 1993. As the blurb says:
‘Now she brings her vast experience, good cheer and finely sharpened pencils
[yay!] to help the rest of us in a boisterous language book as full of life as
it is of practical advice.’ See also:
The Miniaturist by
Jessie Burton
I finally got round to reading one of the highest selling
and critically acclaimed books of recent years – and found it deserving of all
the hype. Love the writing and the story, and the picture it paints of
17th-century Holland.
Rescue in Ravensdale
by Esme Cartmell
This is a book I loved when I was about ten and I
rediscovered it during the aforementioned bookshelves reorganisation.
I must have reread it several times because I found I could
remember great chunks of it. It’s about a family – parents, four daughters and
their eighteen-year-old male cousin (from whose point of view the story is
told) – on holiday in Yorkshire in August 1939, who get involved with the
search for an apparent German spy.
It stood the test of time for me, and I think this was why.
It is unusual in a children’s book for the parents to be so much involved –
generally they are got out of the way as quickly as possible. Here, with their
writer/reviewer father and artist mother, the girls (I remember being intrigued
by their names – Thelma, Kyra and twins Daphne and Dione) and their cousin have
wonderfully wordy, punny, literary conversations that I enjoyed this time round
too.
Neither the book jacket nor Google can tell me anything
about Esme Cartmell and whether she/?he wrote anything else.
Hysteria 3 – read
on Kindle. An anthology of winners from the Hysteria Writing Competition, which
include my fellow Edinburgh Writers’ Club member Olga Wojtas, and her typically
amusing, and wonderfully named, story Green
Tea and Chocolate Fudge Cake.
Read on Kindle. A dual narrative, cleverly interspersing
contemporary Eilidh’s return to the Scottish town she left as a child, and the
story of Robert Burns and his doomed romance with the lass known as Highland
Mary. With its great sense of place, the book is also a love letter to Burns’
home county of Ayrshire.
Read on Kindle. Ellen’s transition from no-baggage career
girl to hands-on guardian to her sister’s children is very believable, as is
her slow-burning romance with neighbour Kit. I loved the farming background
too.
The Pearl Locket by Kath McGurl
Read on Kindle. Enjoyed this even more than The Emerald Comb. Again, it’s a dual
narrative, this time contemporary and WW2.
Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
Read umpteen times before but never stales. Have just joined
the Barbara Pym Facebook page and thought my favourite title of hers was due
for a reread.
The Trinity Six by
Charles Cumming
Love a good spy story. Was there a sixth man – along with
Burgess, Maclean, Philby, Cairncross and Blunt?
Kissing Mr Wrong
by Sarah Duncan
‘Lu Edwards may write and illustrate books for children, but
she's certain she doesn't want children of her own. She believes in travelling
light, with not even a goldfish to tie her down, until Nick – a WWI expert with
more baggage than Heathrow, right down to the kids, ex-wife and hamster – blows
into her life.’ A good read.
What Alice Forgot
by Liane Moriarty
Christian Aid sale purchase. The second LM book I’ve read, following The Husband’s Secret. Much enjoyed this one too – her characters
are really … real. Alice hits her
head and when she comes too she thinks it’s ten years earlier, but her whole
life has changed.
Wedding Night by
Sophie Kinsella
Christian Aid sale purchase. Enjoyably farcical situation.
And a reminder, if it’s required, that trying to relive your youth with your first love is never a
good plan.
Re-reading childhood books on the other hand is, mostly, a very good plan.
Re-reading childhood books on the other hand is, mostly, a very good plan.
