My reading this month has been a bit more varied than some recently. I've continued my Pratchett/Discworld re-read, but have also got through several other books. I've also managed to tick off another 8 categories for the 52 Book Challenge, which is very helpful - I've got rather behind on that in the past few months despite reading plenty of books generally, so I definitely need a couple of months with carefully selected titles to keep in touch with where I want to be. Otherwise the last three months of the year will be spent doing far too much catching up!
Yours Cheerfully by A J Pearce
Following on from Dear Mrs Bird, Emmy’s developing journalistic career develops as Woman’s Friend magazine supports the campaign to encourage more women to get involved in war work. Through a new friend, Emmy discovers both the good and bad sides of this, and is determined to do everything she can to support her friends, even when their requests are not well received. Every bit as readable as the first book, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Emmy and Bunty again.
[44. Includes a wedding]
The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams
I’ve looked at this one any number of times since it was published, and finally got it last week, and I’m so pleased I did. I found it absolutely compelling - Peggy’s dreams and ambitions are so real, as are her fears and concerns. Most of the challenges she faces may not be relatable in my lives experience, fortunately, but her responses are sympathetic and very believable. Strongly recommend.
[4. Lowercase letters on the spine]
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix
This sequel to The Left-handed Booksellers of London continues Susan’s discovery of the magical powers of the Booksellers, and of her own powers as together they try to trace the hiding place and form of an ancient power which is brought into the world by a map, accidentally discovered hidden in a book. Despite my usual difficulties with magical and fantasy writing, I found this every bit as gripping as the first book, and managed to read it cover to cover in a day! Excellent story telling, great book.
[5. Magical realism]
Preface to Murder by M S Morris
This is apparently the sixth book in a much longer series of Oxford Murder Mysteries, but it’s the first one I’ve tried, appealing to me because of its setting around the Oxford Literary Festival. There are a few implausible details - most notably to me, a senior academic publishing her first academic book in her 50s, and the ease with which the various police officers can park their private cars in the centre of Oxford - but it’s a reasonably good, solid story with the requisite dead ends, red herrings etc, I’ll definitely track some more of these down, either as audio books or (if necessary) ebooks from the library - but won't make the mistake of listening to them with my husband or daughter around, since they hated it! It's not going to win any literary prizes, for sure, but that doesn't stop it being a good enough read.
[13. An academic thriller - probably pushing the definitions of both 'academic' and 'thriller', but it's as close as I'm likely to get!)]
The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett
The last in the Tiffany Aching series. It's not my favourite, as it seems less well developed than some of the earlier ones - it may well be that his degenerative condition was affecting things by this point. But it's still a good book, and has some very poignant moments as well as the usual Pratchettian humour and silliness.
[18. An apostrophe in the title]
also Reaper Man, Witches Abroad, Small Gods, Lords & Ladies, Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
This month's Discworld book discovery was that our copy of Witches Abroad appears to be, well, abroad! It's nowhere on the bookshelf with the rest of the Discworld, so has clearly gone astray at some point in the last dozen house moves... I borrowed this one from the library as an ebook and read it that way, despite my usual dislike of ebooks, as I can't quite persuade myself that I need to buy another copy of this one when I know we must have it somewhere.
The Art of Baking Blind by Sarah Vaughan (audiobook)
Five amateur bakers are taking part in a baking competition run by Eaden's supermarket to see who will be the new 'Mrs Eaden'. As empty-nester Jenny, single mum Claire, widower Mike, Vicki - a young mum struggling to juggle her own dreams and her small boy, and perfect Karen discover that they all have challenges to face outside the kitchen as well as in it, they form rivalries and alliances and discover hidden secrets. Interspersed with the modern-day events are excerpts from Kathleen Eaden's The Art of Baking and of her story. Very enjoyable - I definitely wanted to keep going with this to find out how it would all be resolved in the end.
[10. Told in non-chronological order]
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
Having been given this for Christmas, I finally got around to reading it as my Elder Child has recently discovered the Osman books and was keen that we should read it together. Just like the previous three, the Thursday Murder Club gang get themselves into all sorts of unlikely situations, with plenty of twists and turns along the way to a satisfying conclusion. If you enjoyed the first three, you'll like this one too - although beware: moments of deep sadness also occur.
[3. More than 40 chapters]
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
I picked this up as a rather spur of the moment choice, so wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting from it. The owner of a rather hidden and outwardly unattractive restaurant offers a service in which he will track down and recreate a meal described by his client from their memory. The chapters are all structured in the same way: the client manages to find the restaurant from its unhelpfully brief advert, is able to provide very little information about the meal, and is told to come back in a couple of weeks. On their return visit, the meal is there, perfectly recreated and exactly what they were after. However, rather than being dull and formulaic, this repeated structure gives the stories a comforting rhythm and emphasises the role of food in memory and nostalgia. Readers who enjoyed Before the Coffee Gets Cold might well enjoy this - there's a certain similarity of atmosphere about them.
[11. Title starting with the letter K - I'm assuming that as under standard indexing rules, 'the' doesn't count]
Comments