A summary of my reading in October...
12 Birds to Save your Life by Charlie Corbett
In the middle of my venn diagram of books about nature and books about cancer! Following his mum's diagnosis with breast cancer, Charlie finds reestablishing contact with the natural world to be a helpful way of surviving the difficult times and coping with his grief. He tells her story and his own through encounters with ordinary Britsh birds. Beautifully written and very moving.
The Prophet and the Idiot by Jonas Jonasson
Very typical Jonas Jonasson - if you've enjoyed his previous books, you'll like this one too. It's his usual blend of unlikely characters finding themselves together in implausible situations, and just as much fun as always! Very much recommended.
Etta Lemon: the Woman Who Saved the Birds by Tessa Boase
Everyone has heard of the RSPB - but very few know anything about the woman whose campaign against feathers in the hat trade was the start of it all. This book traces the fight to protect birds alongside the fight for women's suffrage - and the conflicts and overlaps between their sets of supporters. Superbly interesting and has opened a whole new area of reading up for me!
The Body in the Blitz (The Ministry of Unladylike Activity book 2) by Robin Stevens
It's 1941 and May, Nuala, and Eric have been summoned to the Ministry in London to train as spies. One day while exploring where they shouldn't, they discover a body in the basement of a bombed-out house. Who is it, and how did it come to be there? The irrepressible trio's Detective Society sets about investigating, outwitting and outsmarting the adults around them - of course! Every bit as good as Stevens' previous books, and with LGBT, neurodivergent, and non-white characters seamlessly woven in. Strongly recommended for everyone aged 7-ish and upward!
Hotellgästen by Christina Olséni and Micke Hansen
The latest in the Mord i Falsterbo (Murder in Falsterbo) series. As much implausible fun as the rest.
Once Upon A Tome by Oliver Darkshire
Anyone who has enjoyed the Sotherans Rare Books Twitter feed in the last few years will enjoy this! Oliver, the man behind the tweets, tells of his misadventures since sort of accidentally becoming a book selling apprentice, and reveals the truth (or thereabouts) behind the world of antiquarian books. Very readable, with lovely touches of humour throughout.
Folk som sår i snö by Tina Harnesk
I picked this up by chance in a small shop in the north of Sweden as it looked as though it would appeal to my growing interest in sami culture and identity, and the way this is experienced in modern Sweden. My hopes were raised even higher a couple of months later when I discovered it had been awarded 'Book of the Year' by Adlibris. Having finally now read it, I can understand the accolades. It's about the importance of family and belonging, and juxtaposes the elderly couple Máriddja and Biera with Kai and his fiancée Mimmi who have recently moved up to the northern village as Kaj is trying to find where he belongs.
Some of this resonated very strongly with me, in the sense of belonging somewhere I've never lived, and the feeling of having roots somewhere, and I could identify with both Kaj's need and with Máriddja coming to terms with her terminal diagnosis. If the idea of belonging somewhere without having lived there sounds implausible, let me say that I hadn't been to this town in over 25 years - but had a lovely conversation with the shopkeeper about my family and which of my relatives she knew. The roots go deep there. By comparison, my husband and I have lived in 10 houses in three different parts of the UK in 25 years of marriage. There is nowhere this side of the North Sea where that kind of conversation could happen.
I anticipated the connection correctly and was urging the characters on to the discovery, hoping against hope that they would get there in time. I cared about these people, and it mattered that they should get the resolution they all needed. (Since it appears that an English translation 'Those who sow in snow' may be in the pipeline, I won't say whether I was satisfied or frustrated with this!)
In language terms this wasn't an easy book to read as it uses some Sami and dialect words throughout - but as I got further into it I gained confidence in my understanding and feel it would be very beneficial to reread it sooner than I usually would, so that I can get more out of the first few chapters.
Losing Ithaca by Christopher Southgate
I very rarely read poetry - I somehow just never think of it and don't see myself as 'that kind of person'. This book however was a gift from the author, who we know from our Unkversity days many many years ago, so I decided to give it a try. And I'm very glad I did.
This is a short collection of poems, grouped into six thematic sections. Through a number of them there is a current of grief - for our environment, for a loved one's suffering, anticipatory grief, grie following bereavement, and long-lasting grief, amongst others. A few of these poems did exactly what I think is one of the purposes of poetry - they articulated feelings I hadn't quite realised I had, and helped me find ways of addressing them. Others passed me by, and others still made me smile.
We have Chris's previous collections - clearly I should read them!
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