Books I have Read – Aug 22 – Oct 22

August

The Future Homemakers of America – Laurie Graham (2001) Fiction.

Mrs Death Misses Death – Selena Godden (2020) (Bookclub choice) Fiction.

Down The Harbour 1955 – 1990 – 40 years of Fishing vessels, owners, the harbour and Shipyards of Lowestoft – Malcolm White Non-fiction.

The Hideout – Camilla Grebe (2021) Fiction. I can remember nothing of this book

Edge of the Field – Richard Hawkins (2022) Non-fiction. Lovely scholarly work about Adrian Bell. Pertinent and satisfying.

September

News of the World – Paulette Jiles. Fiction. Recommended.

The Inflatable Book – Rob Harries (2021) Non-fiction. Story of inflatables made by local people and local business. Includes the Pink Floyd pig and many other iconic massive inflatables.

Floodland – Marcus Sedgwick (2000) (note the date) Fiction. Children’s book, which imagines a not very distant world where Climate Change had been ignored, and most of East Anglia is under water, and follows a young girl as she escapes by rowing boat from Norwich, finds herself in Ely Cathedral, run like a tribal fiefdom, and her eventual escape to the uplands of Cambridgeshire. Lovely evocative read, and let it be a lesson to us all.

The Sun in the East – Richard Barnes (1983) – re-reading as research for Clarion book. Non-fiction. A collection of stories, remeninces and photos of Barsham and Albion fairs. Mentions our dog, Sam, on p 119!

Lost Cowboys – from Patagonia to the Alamo – Hank Wangford (1995) Non-fiction. (Started around 10/9 – still dipping on 5^th Nov). Hank is a locally bred chap, famed for his authentic C&W pastiches and interests. It desribes his journey though South America in search of cowboys, then and now. A good read that falls just short of ‘compelling’.

October

The Lives of Animals – J M Coetzee (2000) Fiction. This is a lecture, really, examining our approach to what is sentience, rights of animals. Bit of a hard read, and though it’s short, I’ve not finished it yet (7/11/2022)

Wayfaring Stranger – James Lee Burke () – Fiction. one of my favourite writers, about the emergence of the oil industry, and its connections with Hollywood and organised crime. Avbout capitalism, individual responsibility and what personal morality actually means.

Emotionally Wierd – Kate Atkinson () Fiction. Reading for second time after I heavily promoted it at Bookclub. Not so sure this time around. Too many bloody brackets.

Tater Trap – Spring – Nathan Franc and Mickey Gibbons (2022) Non-fiction. Local authors and graphic designers. Foraging philosophy and recipes.

Tater Trap – Summer – Mickey Gibbons (2022) Non-fiction. Local author and graphic designer. Foraging philosophy and recipes.

The Book of Trespass – Nick Hayes (2020) Non-fiction. This is a must-read, though it’s very dense, and full of facts and history. But beautiful descriptions, and a properly argued idea – how ownership of places becomes ownership of us. Still reading.

Keeping the Faith: The Labour Party in the Waveney Constituency 1945 – 1920 – Don Mathew (2022) Non-fiction.

Wild of Bungay – Christopher and Terry Reeve (2022?) Non-fiction. Great pictures, nice writing. Local book about a local place. Printed locally, too.

The Charming Quirks of Others – Alexander McCall Smith (2010). Fiction. An Isabel Dalhousie novel. Isabel rambles through her life, constantly making the wrong philosophical deductions. Sometimes stimulating, always gentle, amusing, and ultimately optimistic.