I read seven books in August.
Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn
Non-fiction. Cal Flyn visited places which humans have vacated for one reason or another – eg Chernobyl; the island of Monserrat (because of volcanic activity); the no-go buffer zone in Cyprus; and a strange sea that comes and goes in California. Nature has reclaimed all of the places to a great or lesser extent. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, when collective farms in Estonia were abandoned, a staggering 500,000 hectares of forest had taken over by 2010 which is very good news for the planet on the carbon front.
Two sites closer to (my) home were of much interest: the abandoned island of Swona off the north coast of Scotland which is a living experiment in how cattle behave when they stop being domesticated; and the shale bings, legacy of coal mining in West Lothian, where no end of plant life can be found now including two rare orchids.
Cal Flynn doesn’t shy away from the bad news around climate change but it was heartening to have these flashes of hope.
A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
See July … impossible to choose a top five of GHs as it turns out because this one is right up there too. Unusually, the heroine is plain and plain-spoken and much of the book takes place in the countryside with talk of new farming methods rather than balls and beaux.
Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny
Read when it came out in April 21 and it was a joy to read it again, not for the last time I’m sure. I’ve read her first novel Standard Deviation three times and just thinking about it makes me want to make that four. Check them out!
Fabulous Nobodies by Lee Tulloch
I had never heard of Fabulous Nobodies until I read this article praising it by Marian Keyes and before you could say ‘look, missus, there are already xx books on your to-read pile’ I’d nipped online and bought it.
It reminded me in some ways of The Dud Avocado, a book I am fond of, although it is set in New York in 1983 instead of 1950s Paris. Reality Nirvana Tuttle (known as Really) is fashion obsessed and desperate to be a trendsetter, to be ‘somebody’ – sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. Entertaining and oddly sweet.
The Bridge Ladies by Betsey Lerner
I’ve been dipping in and out of BL’s The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers, (bought in a charity shop, not for this price). She’s been an agent as well as an editor so very well qualified to write it, although not everything translates to this side of the pond (and publishing has changed so much since 2010).
She mentioned her memoir and, yes, my fingers went walking online again. Her mother played bridge with the same friends for over fifty years. When Betsey comes back from New York to live where she grew up, she gets to know the ladies better and asks them about their lives, especially their young lives, so different from her own.
I very much enjoyed that aspect – the ladies and their families, living in a post-war Jewish community in Connecticut – but when Betsey takes up bridge too and goes to classes so that she will be a worthy player, she lost me. I can only hope that playing bridge is more interesting than reading about it.
The Swallow’s Flight by Hilary Mackay
A welcome sequel to The Skylarks’ War with as wonderful a cast of characters as you could meet anywhere. For children of all ages.
Arabella by Georgette Heyer
Arabella, daughter of a Yorkshire vicar, is brought to fashionable London by her mother’s friend to enter the marriage market. Despite her new surroundings, her vicarage upbringing keeps coming to the fore as she intervenes in the lives of those less fortunate … (as you can see from this cover – shades of The Water Babies). Unwittingly, she attracts the attention of wealthy and elegant Mr Beaumaris who is undoubtedly the catch of the day.
Despite the money and the immaculate attire though, our hero has a strong sense of the absurd. He is aware that other men strive to dress like he does (he’s an ‘influencer’ of his time) so, three days in a row, he sports a dandelion in his buttonhole and is amused to watch his followers scramble over themselves to do likewise.
A total delight.