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.