September Wrap up

It seems to be that I average about 7 books a month, this month its 9, but does it matter?  I loathe it when reading becomes a race, a competition. I don't set myself any kind of reading goals. I'm here to enjoy the pursuit and pen a review or two when a publisher has entrusted their books to me, which isn't so often these days but so be it. I'm old and the impression I get from social media is that young is beautiful. Enough.

First up this month was Listen by Michel Faber. (A review is on its way....) Yes, it is Michel Faber of The Crimson Petal and the White fame but hold fire before you hyperventilate with excitement because this is a non fiction book. It's ostensibly about music but it's more to do with the hows and the whys of listening to music. It is very much his personal view and I would warn Spandau Ballet fans that the book might not please them. 😉

A library book next, and the winner of the Waterstone's debut novel prize, Ferdia Lennon's Glorious Exploits. I feel quite smug here because the library didn't have a copy. I thought they should! So they invited me to complete a form making a case for why they should purchase the book for the library. I did. And so did they! It meant that I was the first person to read this library book and for no good reason that pleased me greatly. It's a poignant, bittersweet tale of Syracuse and Euripides and the power of stories. Lampo and Gelon somehow had me thinking Rosencrantz anad Guildenstern, Waiting for Godot with their lopsided friendship. 

After a couple of more intense reads I lightened things up with the latest offering from Ann Cleeves, The Dark Wives. It's a Vera Stanhope mystery and if you've read others in the series you know exactly what to expect and this is no disappointment. My introduction to Vera was via the TV series and when I read I see and hear Brenda Blethyn. It's an example of how sometimes the TV adaptation is the catalyst for a rewarding reading experience. I think I've read all of the Vera books. I've got several of the Shetland series  on my TBR shelf.

I found this book on the 'New Arrivals' shelf in the library when I returned the Ferdia Lennon! Emma Donoghue's Learned by Heart. I've read many of Ms. Donoghue's books but I knew nothing of this. It is a fictional imagining of Anne Lister's (Gentleman Jack) boarding school days and her relationship with Eliza Raine. Absorbing story in the hands of a master story teller. 

The next two books I read were sent to me by Quercus Books. Two novellas by Simon Mason - reviews to follow, I know I've got behind....😞 I loved Mason's previous Wilkins novels, two detectives within the same surname but polar opposites. These little novellas feature The Finder who is a specialist in locating missing persons from cold cases. They may be novellas but they pass as much punch as full length novels. Completely absorbing, quite complex, yet easy to read. 

I don't often do this but I treated myself to a preorder, signed copy of this next book. I prefer my books to be signed face to face somehow but with this author I'll make an exception since the chances of actually meeting her in person is as remote as me winning the Booker Prize! 🤣 The wonderful Elizabeth Strout and Tell Me Everything. I love her style. And I love the fictional world she's created and the character of Lucy Barton. Here Lucy pals up with - Olive Kitteridge! Other characters return and their own narratives intertwine with each other. It's masterful. 

I enjoy reading short stories. I enjoy knowing that I can read a complete story within a shorter space of time. Most of the short story collections I read these days are from the incredible Fly on the Wall Press, a one woman show founded in 2018 by Isabelle Kenyon. She has the knack of selecting authors who have created  unnerving and off kilter fictional landscapes that can range from futuristic dystopian to ethereal fairy tale narratives. This latest collection is Victoria Richard's Sylvia Plath Watches Us Sleep. Stories about grief and dysfunction that are unsettling yet addictive. 

The Edge of Solitude - Katie Hale

 

Against the backdrop of a physical landscape with ice and cold Katie Hale creates a stunning exploration of people who court their desires with flawed ethics and make choices that seem at times almost feral instincts rather than reasoned choices. 

It's a chilling dystopia depicting a future where climate catastrophe is imminent. And Ivy Cunningham, now in her seventies, an environmentalist who has fallen out of favour is recruited for a trip to Antarctica by a millionaire who wants to save the planet . 

The trip becomes a metaphor, in a Heart of Darkness kind of way, for Ivy as she hopes to salvage her reputation and reconnect with her seemingly estranged son.

Parallel to story of the journey to the Antarctic is the story of Ivy's life and relationship with Bree. Poignantly, we learn of how ambition and love can conspire to test the foundations of an intimate rapport. But there is also something of the eco thriller to as Ivy investigates both her fellow passengers and their intentions. 

With a beautifully constructed narrative that is as unsettling as the katabatic storm that engulfs the ship, aptly called The Lone Star, Hale allows us to accompany Ivy on her journey as she fortifies herself with guilt and alcohol. I found it hard to warm to her, in fact I don't think I really engaged with any of the characters except Bree! But that may be intentional. 

It's a cerebral book, there is some action but I feel the author's intent is to get us to think. And from my own perspective she's certainly succeeded in that! With the climate crisis much to the forefront of our news these days, it’s a very pertinent book.

Thanks to Canongate Books for a gifted copy.

The Taylor Swift Activity Book - Nathan Joyce

 

I am not a bona fide Swiftie. At least not yet. I remember buying the Fearless CD for my niece and burning myself a copy. I listened to it and found the countryish twang pleasant and some of the lyrics clever. But it didn’t have me impatient for her next album. Over the years I became familiar with some of her songs like Blank Space, Shake it Off.  But it is only recently that I have begun to listen more intently. That is due in part to several people whose opinions I respect who have lavished praise on her. And the Eras Tour phenomenen that has impacted in the media in recent weeks. (My current favourite song is August from the Folklore album.) And so I was quite interested to receive this activity book. On first reading it seemed that the author was a true, if recent, Swiftie and was possibly indulging his obsession and getting a publication deal to boot! Then I did some research and found that this same writer has produced similar activity books on David Attenborough, Dolly Parton -  two on Dolly - Elton John and Michelle Obama! So his credibility diminished a bit. But I figure and hope that he is producing these books because he truly does admire the subjects. What he does do is understand the nature of fandom and how consuming it can be for devotees.

I think the book is aimed at a relatively young audience, certainly with some of the activities that involve colouring and designing, spot the difference, join the dots etc.  There are some quizzes and word games too. For those not fluent in Swift lore there are facts, quotes  and information a plenty so you leave the book feeling better informed than when you began. And I guess for the experienced Swifties it might satisfy the withdrawal symptoms of the Eras tour being over and fill a gap till the next album maybe. It's fun and could wile away an hour or two. It is unofficial, though, and not endorsed by Taylor Swift, although I’m sure she would think it fun, and there are only drawings, no photos. 

A fact I uncovered, which isn’t in this book I don’t think, is that Taylor Swift is the third cousin, six times removed, of Emily Dickinson. I feel pleased about that and it endears her to me more. I am Enchanted.

My thanks to HQ stories for a gifted copy. 

Virginia Lane is not a Hero - Rosalind Stopps

 

There is something wonderfully uplifting about a novel that has a protagonist of mature years kicking butt. The title doesn't suggest that, it suggests it's going to be an Eleanor Oliphant, Dawn Brightside kinda story but it isn't! Many nails were bitten and many tissues were used during the reading of this book.

Ever since her beloved Jed died, all Virginia wants is to be left alone. But the little girl who lives down the street is so sweet, that even in her grief state Virginia's heart softens whenever she sees her.

And that's why Virginia knows there's something wrong in the little girl's house. So when the mother asks Virginia to take her child far away, somewhere safe, Virginia says yes.

The last thing Virginia would call herself is a hero. She's just doing what anyone else would do, right? But when she realises how much danger the child is in, she knows she needs to do everything she can to keep her safe… Because sometimes it's the most ordinary people who end up doing the most extraordinary things. 

Thus sayeth the blurb! But the book is so much more. For a start there are some memorable characters, not least Virginia herself, but Jackson and his brother, Noah (surely one of the most philosophically precocious and preceptive eleven year olds to populate the pages of a story!) And then there's Annie, a pen pal of Virginia's late husband whose own story could have been the subject of a full length novel, not to mention Noah and Jackson's grandmother, battling illness. And yet it is not a wholly character driven story, there is a dark, tense plot that explores several contemporary social issues not in a preachy, teachy way but in the best way for maximum impact - a novel. 

Whilst on the face of it the events in this story are very unlikely in a reality situation this is fiction and in the hands of a gifted story teller it all works. There is a pleasing balance between the darker aspects of the story and  some deadpan humour in some places.  

Rosalind Stoops gets under the skin of all her characters and enables the reader to feel what they are feeling, no mean feat, given the range of ages contained within the book from a toddler to a pensioner! So whilst Virginia is ostensibly the main character the others are never far behind her. 

You read a book like this and are forced to consider what you might do in a similar situation. Could you be bold enough? It is a fiction that offers more than the mere telling of a story it asks us to consider some of the more dire aspects of today's world and the impact on others. In this story there is a resolutions but an astute reader will know that it is not always the case.

My thanks to HQ Stories for a gifted copy of this book.

Maps of Imaginary Towns - SJ Bradley

 

I think the most forcible thing that struck me upon completion of this short story collection was how open ended the stories are, inconclusive almost, leaving the reader to take over with their own imaginations. And whilst the stories might appear inconclusive such a device renders the work inclusive for the willing reader as if the writer is inviting you to become cerebrally involved rather than merely entertained. The second thing that struck me was a sense of being off kilter, as if I was navigating dream narratives. That made me think of Kafka and some of his short stories. The sense of nothing being quite right. The protagonists struggling against bureaucracies, conventions and society itself even.

The stories boast a range of ideas, themes and chronology from futuristic, dystopian worlds - Backstreet Nursery 2050, The Life of Your Dreams to domestic abuse - Dance Class - and grief, in the story that gives the collection its title,  Maps of Imaginary Towns  yet some of the stories are almost impossible to categorise definitively, which I love. There seems to be such a need today to label and compartmentalise that it is so refreshing to have something that tests those boundaries, make the reader think, question and ponder.

The collection is diverse; expansive and imaginative with narratives that are economic without being lacking. Some stories were short, two or three pages maybe against some of their longer 'colleagues' yet they packed as much punch as the lengthier ones because it’s quality not quantity that counts. As a scribbler myself, (not just unpublished, never to be published, I think!) I have written pieces that I have all but discarded because I felt they were too 'short' so some of the stories here filled me with disproportionate joy! 

I found it easiest to discern a unified style throughout the book by the characterisations. Their gender, age, ethnicity etc. didn't matter. It was as if it  were one and the same person in different incarnations. That is a similar feeling I get from reading Kafka where the main protagonists may have different names and so on but it is as if the same character appears in each story or novel. 

I could try to say which were my favourites but it's tough because I might end up listing the entire compendium! Suffice to say that anyone who enjoys short stories should find something to excite them here. 

My thanks to Fly on the Wall Press who gifted me a proof.

Beautiful - William Spring

 This book is Beautiful. Yes, I know that's the title of the book but it really is - beautiful. It's a book of beauty on so many levels and I wanted to call my review Beautiful but I can't use the title of the book as a title for the review so I wrote it backwards instead!

It's beautifully presented for starters. and that's before you even start to examine the text and the illustrations. It's a large format book, maybe some folk would call it a coffee table book, depends on the size of your coffee table! However to contemplate this book being shrunk to conventional hardback or paperback size would be a travesty. 

This book celebrates a variety of creatures to be found across our planet. Details of each animal and how they have evolved are succinctly and articulately expressed to readers of all ages to access.

The art work is stunning. Each animal is presented as a beautiful water colour and here's where the size of the book really impacts because at times you think you're actually looking at the real life creatures. The Fossa entry is a perfect example. Don't know what a Fossa is? No, I didn't either. So the book is informative and will introduce you to animals you may not have heard of before. 

Some of the facts will astound you - for example did you know that the Pygmy Seahorse can swim 500 times  its own body length per second?! If there were aquatic animal olympics I think this species would be in for a stab at gold! 

It's book to be dipped in and out of. It's a book to be kept and treasured. It reminds us, in case we might have forgotten, what a beautiful planet we are privileged to exist on and how great is the need for us to revere and nurture its abundant diversity.

My thanks to Readers First for a prize copy of this book. They require a winner to write a review for their website the title of which must not be the title of the book hence the references in the first paragraph in case you were wondering!

         

July Wrap Up

I’ve had a bit of a Fiona Cummins fest this month! Or perhaps I should say another Fiona Cummins fest for I read three of her books last month and now three this month. And she is returning to my local bookshop this Friday to talk about All of Us are Broken which I’m looking forward to and I can tell her that I’ve read all of her books now, if I get the chance. They are chilling, twisty stories that you just can’t put down. Rattle and the Collector go together and we meet Saul Anguish for the first time before he progresses into Into The Dark and All of Us are Broken. 

 One of the publicists at Quercus books offered me a finished copy of Trevor Woods’  latest book, The Silent Killer, which I wrote about on my blog.

https://bookphace.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-silent-killer-trevor-wood.html

 

 Bridget Collins The Silence Factory was a library book. I read The Binding but not The Betrayals. However, that might have just edged its way further up my TBR list after this one which was mesmerising almost in its gothic tale of family, fortune and… silk!

  

 

Next up was a volume of poetry from Ricky Ray. I wrote about this on my blog.

 

https://bookphace.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-soul-we-share-ricky-ray.html

 

 Rose Tremain’s Absolutely and Forever was a novella, a moving tale of love and friendship with a twist right at the end that will grab your heart.

Next  is Three Sisters, Three Queens by Phillipa Gregory. I love her Tudor books although I would say this one dragged a little at times because it seemed repetitive in one sense as Maragret went from castle to castle fleeing someone other. But it does give you a flavour of the courts of Scotland and England at that time and how basic communication was!! Days for letters to reach the recipient, hard to think of in our time of instant messaging!!

 

 

Finally this month Thinking Girl by Norma Meacock. Published in the sixties it reminded me a little of Henry Miller. I found it on a second hand book site because it is out of print. I read it because it was written by my brother’s neighbour! I had the pleasure of meeting her earlier this year, she is 90 now, bless her and one of those bohemian, original people you only come across every so often. She’s written two book and I hope to read the second one soon.