In April 2021 I started to try to note what I have read and what I thought about it. I have made little attempt to edit my thoughts - some are probably unduly harsh, others wildly enthusiastic. There's no real pattern to them, though I have often noted when I started and when I finished (if I did so) April 2022 The Searcher - Tina French (2020) Read this fast. (Not sleeping so well, so reading a lot). Finished this afternoon - 7th April. Retired American cop moves to Ireland countryside to get away from the terrors of copland USA. Crisp and observant writing. Pleasantly convoluted onion-layered plot, with some meditations on modern Western life, and living a moral code, layers of reality, relationships and parenthood, and countrylife. Amusing observations about rooks. Enjoyed immensely. Nobody Walks – Mick Herron (2015) Not read this before. Started two days ago (2nd April). I was reading the Tina French, but this instantly took over. God knows why I find Herron's work so attractive, but I do. I should extract some quotes. Finished 4/4/2022 [So this is a year's record. I'm going to do a quick count – 12 months – of books noted, books read, fiction/non-fiction.]
| Fiction | Non-fiction | Totals | ||
| Read | 69 | 24 | 93 | |
| Finished | 60 | 10 | 70 |
Started Early, Took My Dog – Kate Atkinson (2010). Started a few days ago, dumped for Herron. Lent by Suzie. Took a while to get into the style, understand what I was reading. Thundering along now. Similar cadences to Herron, in a difficult to pin down way. It's a detective novel. Much enjoying. Shall see what else I might like by her. Finished early hours of 6th. Circe – Madeline Miller (2018) Bookclub for April. The story of a minor Greek goddess – Circe. Started around 10th April. Not finished. Lovely writing but I could't find any way into being involved in the narrative/characters. The Careful Use of Compliments – Alexander McCall Smith (2007) Started 11/4/22, as a kind of antidote to Circe. One of the 'philosophy' series. Very readable, but I did find it a tad irritating – just so mannered, so careful, so precise, that it all felt too schematic. Is that the right word. I think not. Transcription – Kate Atkinson – Radio 4 Extra reading. Excellent again, with a massive twist at the end. (24/25/4 2022) Case Histories – Kate Atkinson – the first of the Jackson Brodie detective novels. (started 18/4/22) Enjoyed immensely. The Wych Elm – TIna French Didn't finish May 2022 Lowestoft Through the Ages – M L Powell (c 1920). Printed by Flood and Son – which were in the High Street. Read before. Fascinating read, though not a great deal of sources quoted. Interesting on lighthouses, high street, pubs, and so on. The Basel Killings – Hansjorg Schneider. Translated from German, I think. Set in Basle and area around. Interesting on class, prejudice, cover-ups ( there's a lot about exploitaion of children, esp romanies and other immigrants, which is presented as fact). Also about night time dives and bars. But not a great read, as a novel. Big Sky - Kate Atkinson – latest of the Jackson Brodie series. Lots of insights, lots of jokes, lots of angst and pain. Much enjoyed. Lowestoft High Street: The Butcher...and Candlemaker – Crispin Hook (2015) Dipping in and out Their Finest – Lissa Evans. I'd seen the film a few months ago, and much enjoyed. I liked this novel. Lots about the art of editing, period detail, women, and pathos. From my memory the film is pretty faithful to the book. Fair Play – Tove Jansson (1989/2007) Started 19th May, finished 21st May) Bookclub book. A gentle book. Reminded me a bit of Alexander Mcall-Smith's philosophy series. Summer Water – Sarah Moss (2021) – stream of consciousness novel, day in the like of a woman. Mother, housewife, parent. Started around 16th. Had to return to library as several reservations. Will get it again to finish. This Nowhere Place – Natasha Bell (2021) Novel. Set in Dover. Themes of immigration, prejudice, teenagerdom, sexual orientation, media. Started around 17th – currently reading in favour of Summer Water. Finished but it was a bit too brutal/real/ for me. Nevertheless, it apparently documents young people's lives, lives that I find hard to believe, though doubtless an accurate reflection. Utterly humourless. June 2022 The Taste of Blood – James Craig (2022). Latest in a series featuring Commander Carlyle of the Met, though my first encounter. Very readable. Love Medicine – Louise Erdrich. Bookclub book. Set on an Indian Reservation. Couldn't get on with it. Bookclub generally liked it, though. The Woman in the Wood – M K Hill (). This was one of those novels which make me question my critical criteria. It's full of cliches – some pages are almost entirely made of one cliché after another. The characters are stock ones, too. Yet I read it it to the end, quite quickly. Compare it to Love Medicine which eschews cliches (or at least, in my world, the phrases and descriptions are fresh or unusual, though in the writer's world, they may be cliches, of course), and whose characters ring true – yet I just couldn't be arsed to read it it, only got about half-way. Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett – funny and clever. In Extremis The Life of War Correspondent Marie Colvin– Lindsey Hilsum – Bookclub choice. Non-fiction. Had a lot of trouble with this. To my mind far to much detail, and whole lumps of tedious material. July 2022 Jumping the Queue – Mary Welsey. Fiction. Bit of an odd one, about death and suicide and love and deception. No One is Talking about this - Patricia Lockwood (2021) Fiction. Failed to make any progress though the premise seemed good The Ascent of Rum Doodle – W E Bowman (1956) Fiction. Still makes me laugh out loud! The War Against the BBC – Patrick Barwise/Peter York (2020). (Started 17/7/22). Non-fiction. Still dipping into this (Nov 2022) – lots of library renewals – really does deserve more attention and a proper essay, as the future of the BBC is always in doubt with the Tories in power.
The Pigeon Tunnel – John le Carre (2016) Non-fiction. Wonderful writing. Reads effortlessly, as far as I can express it. Stuffed full with gentle critiques of himself, of our political understanding, and the writer/political/celebrity diaspora – what do you when you are a part of it, and every inhabitant wants to not be in it, at the same time has to be.
Ellerby's 