Four Seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley
This was a recommendation from a bookseller when I apparently looked as though I needed to buy more books... It's not something I'd have picked up, but they did a good job in suggesting it, as I truly enjoyed it. It's a story within a story - an American woman, living in Japan and working as a literary translator, finds a book left behind on the train, and decides to translate it. Each season starts off with Flo and her life, then moves to her translation fo the story. I've not explained that well, but it really works!
I definitely found that I cared more about Kyo and his grandmother Ayako, the main characters in the inner story, than I did about Flo and her life, but the two parts are tied together beautifully. I strongly recommend for any lovers of Japan and Japanese literature.
[52. Published in 2024]
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
It's a few years since I last read this one, and although it's somewhat dated, for me it stands the test of time. Nine-year-old Mary's fear, confusion, and isolation is very real as she finds herself transplanted into a Yorkshire mansion, leaving behind all that was familiar in India. The house on the moors appears to be full of secrets - strange noises at night, and a hidden garden that noone is allowed even to mention. As Mary grows in confidence she learns the value of caring about other things and people, and in her turn is able to help others.
Yes, it's at times perhaps simplistic and moralistic, but I absolutely enjoyed it regardless.
[48. The word 'secret' in the title]
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett [audiobook]
This is the sequel to Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries which I read in June. Emily Wilde is investigating doors into faery lands, and is now interested in the possible existence of a nexus, a door to multiple lands. Bambleby is being sought by assassins sent by his evil stepmother, and Emily hopes that her theory that there is a door to his land in the Alps. They are accompanied on their reserach trip by Emily's niece, the Head of the Dryadology Department, and of course Shadow, Emily's large black dog.
The faery lands of the Alps are complex and dangerous, and previous dryadologists have died or been lost in them; Emily and Wendell must cope with multitude dangers in order to find the answers they need.
As before, I found the anachronisms jarringly distracting, and ended up feeling utterly frustrated by issues with the simplest bit of quick research would have solved. These range from factual matters (tenure doesn't exist at UK universities; Cambridge didn't get their first female professor until 1939, the first woman Vice-Chancellor wasn't elected until 1975; women's dresses of the era couldn't have been put on backwards without considerable effort, due to the styles and fastenings etc.) to less concrete matters of behaviour and forms of address. Don't get me wrong - I do enjoy the story, but wish that a bit more care had been taken in these matters.
I really want to like this book more than I actually do - my daughter loves these, and is desperate for the next in the series (due out in early 2025). I should imagine I'll read it, and just hope that it's less frustrating!
Bird Brain by Guy Kennaway
Another 50p purchase from a charity stall in Burford, and turned out to be a good choice for something a little bit different! Basil 'Banger' Peyton-Crumbe, wealthy shooting-obsessed landowner, dies in what appears to be an accident while on a pheasant shoot. Reincarnated as a pheasant, he discovers what life is like on the other end of the hobby.
Ridiculous, but fun.
The Accidental Further Adventures of the 101-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson
As implausible as all his other books, here we catch up with Allan Karlsson, the centenarian who decided to escape the tedium of life in a nursing home by escaping during his birthday party. We find him living a comfortable life in Bali, enjoying his new-found wealth - but of course this relatively peaceful state of affairs doesn't last for long. This latest series of misadventures finds him advising (or not) North Korea on the development of nuclear weapons, while trying to make his way back to some kind of relative peace and safety.
[15. Part of a duology]
Our Last Summer by Jennifer Joyce [audiobook]
This time-travel romance looks at regret, and how things might have been different if only... Elodie Parker is flying back from LA to attend her sister's wedding in the small Cheshire village where they grew up, and which she left after the sudden death of her best friend four years ago. She has lived with the regret of losing the love of her life at the same time - and while seated on the plane, suddenly finds herself transported back to Little Heaton in the past. Can she manage to find a way to change the past, and bring about the future that she lost?
This was a very enjoyable listen, and I did find myself wanting to keep going, to find out whether Elodie would succeed in rescuing Ed, Tomasz, and their future together. I enjoyed the familiarity of the setting, having grown up in the same area, and found the characters plausible and likeable. A very comfortable book.
[35. Title matches lyrics from a song]
Comments