March Round Up

 My recent trend of reading less each month seems to be continuing. I have no idea of why. It isn't conscious. Perhaps reading also slows down as one ages. 🤷

My first book this month was a collection of Franz Kafka's shorter writings. In one sense it was a reread as I've read them all before more than once. But not for quite a while. During my late teens and early twenties I was Kafka obsessed. I would still name him as one of my favourite writers. I was very happy to reacquaint myself with these stories. It was a collection I won in a riverrun giveaway on Instagram. Social media does have its pluses!

My penchant for reading memoirs and autobiographies continues but again it hasn't been a conscious decision. It as if these books simply present themselves to me one way or another and I read them! So my next book was a library book, I Swear by John Davidson. Way back in the eighties when I worked in the field of education I worked with a young lad who was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome. Challenging and heartbreaking. Around that time the first documentary to feature Mr. Davidson - John's Not Mad - was aired on television and my colleagues and I all watched it to give ourselves a better undertaking of the condition so we could help and support the boy. Since then I've watched the other documentaries that show John throughout his life and his tireless campaign to raise awareness for Tourette's. So it figured that I would watch the film and read the book. I did. It was interesting and I think we have moved froward to an extent with an acceptance of this cruel condition. 

I am a Gavin and Stacey fan. So when I saw the in the library I grabbed a copy. It was if Jo Page is talking, it read as very authentically her. I learnt a lot about the struggles of an actress and she comes across as a very likeable person.  

I've read all the Thursday Murder Club books. They're easy to read with familiar characters, unlikely scenarios that are almost formulaic but what the hell?! They're enjoyable. This was a library book and I've waited ages for a copy. Worth the wait? Yeah. But thumbs up for libraries for I'd rather borrow a book like this than own it. Not something I would have said a few years ago but I am old now and in danger of being submerged by my book collections. 

The last of this month is the lengthy memoir of Margaret Atwood. And I suppose, for somebody who has lived such a long, rich and full life it was bound to be long. Not that it matters. For I found it fascinating on several levels. Firstly, the account of a somewhat unconventional life, her childhood sounds idyllic in some respects. And then the process of being a writer and writing - the conception of The Handmaid’s Tale. I found it all most absorbing.