The new academic year and writing

 There is something about September that drives me to think about next steps, a bit like returning to school after the summer holidays. I think, too, that as the days shorten and become chilly, we batten down to things that can be done indoors. In the summer I write less. I am a spring/summer person and want to be out when the weather is good, not stuck in stuffy room writing. When I do write in the summer, it's usually earlier in the morning when the sun is rising. I love sunrises and sunsets, and I love early morning when no one much is around.

So, now we have slipped into October, I feel autumn knocking at the door, and while I love those bright sunny days of autumn with all those beautiful russet colours, I sink into myself when the sun doesn't shine and the skies are grey. I'm even worse when it rains! This is the time to plan. I have signed up for an online workshop in November on writing gothic/ghost stories. I've dabbled a bit with them in the past, but it will be good to get some pointers and advice and spread my wings a little.

Book with new notebook

I have also begun working with the book 52: Write a Poem a Week. Start Now. Keep Going  by Jo Bell. And yesterday was my research day. After having no time (holiday and family stuff) in the last month, I can now begin to devote more time to writing. I spent breakfast time yesterday going through the Mslexia Indie Press Guide and highlighting potential places to send my manuscript. Later that morning, I visited the library and looked through the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook, jotting down things of interest (publishers, agents and websites/blogs) that could be of use to me. Now to narrow things down and actually send my manuscript out!

Research!

While I've been concentrating on a longer piece of work, I have missed submitting. Maybe this is the time to rectify that. I know it's silly because I have worked my socks off this year, but I have so little to show for it in terms of submissions/acceptances. This year was always going to be different, but I didn't realise how much it would impact on any new writing and submissions. I feel so out of the loop.

The one place I have submitted to now and then is Visual Verse, and I was rewarded with having my poem Night Away published there last month. Look under my name (Heather Walker) which is in alphabetical order in the archive. They list it by first names! I think Visual Verse have one more month of publication before the site closes. I shall miss the prompts, as often it is my go-to place to kick-start writing.

Now is the time to lean back on my old faithfuls of poetry and short fiction and get back to submitting. It might start with stutter, but I look forward to getting back into the swing of things.

Books

I chose a book to take on holiday with me, and then started it a few days before I left! With only a quarter of it to go, I had to take a second book with me. The original book was Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach. This was the follow-up to The Ex-Wives Club, which I didn't realise at the time, but had in fact read. It was a fun book, with lots of romantic encounters as Buffy, retired actor, is left a B&B by a lady friend from the past. The people who come to the courses he has arranged (like car maintenance) pair up. The book is funny and has the feel-good factor. A nice easy read.

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid was the other book I took away with me because it was small and easy to pack. I've read a couple by this author before. They are always thought provoking, but often the endings leave me a little unsatisfied. I chose this book for the subject matter, and indeed it was an interesting read. The ending also satisfied! Anders wakes to find his skin has turned brown overnight. He hides, and when he goes out he covers up as much as possible. He hardly recognises himself in the mirror. Eventually he tells his girlfriend and at first she doesn't know how to react. But Anders is not the only one to turn brown. It is happening all over. Suddenly they are treated differently. There are riots. While all this happening Anders is looking after his dying father, while his relationship with his girlfriend deepens. This is an interesting subject on how we treat people not like ourselves. We often make judgements based on colour and race. A satisfying read, one I would recommend.

While I was on holiday, and a friend and I slipped into a bookshop (as you do), I bought Holy Island by LJ Ross. This is the first in a long series of crime novels. It was big and bulky, but I left my other two novels at the hotel, having read both by now. (They had a bookcase just waiting!). Set on Holy Island (Lindisfarne), a girl is murdered, and it looks like a ritual killing. The DCI is on a sabbatical on the island after his last case become personal, and decides now is the time to return. Soon there are two more murders. Is it a serial killer or more than one person? Ramping up the tension was good. With an island where the causeway is only accessible at certain times, makes this an ideal location. (I have been here, and longed to walk across the causeway, but we went by bus!). There are suspects, red herrings, tension. I thought I knew who was involved, but was only partly right. If you like your crime gritty, this is pretty good. Thinking about this book afterwards I did wonder if some of it was believable, but hey, I enjoyed it. The love interest was a little predictable, but most are really. A faced paced page turner. What's not to like?

Oh Dear, Maria by Abigale Ted was a very different read. To start with it's set in Regency times. Maria is married off my her father to Sidney Jackson, a man she had met before but known as Mr King. Maria is temperamental and throws tantrums when she doesn't get her own way. Mr Jackson (as she mostly calls him) is patient and thinks he's married someone unhinged. This is a funny story, but also sad. Maria has been manipulated by others all her life and does not seem to know how to make any decision herself, down to what to wear. She can also faint to order. This comes in handy when she is faced with things she doesn't know or want to deal with. But this has tragic consequences later in the story. The story includes some domestic violence, race and other subjects. Marie is not liked by some for her loud and inappropriate speech. She is still such a girl and has a lot of growing up to do, though she does make some good points on love! It took me a while to get into this book as it's so different to what I normally read, but the humour comes through, as do the attitudes of the time.

Update on writing and book reviews

 I have been writing. Oh yes, I have! While waiting for feedback on my Christmas themed novella, I went back to something I started at least a year ago. It will be part of a trilogy, and this is the last part. I'm about half way through now and these three stories are my first foot into a bit of horror. Getting back into it was a struggle at first, but I'm making headway now, though as usual I have no idea about the ending. 

Some weeks back, I went to an event at the Southbank Centre entitled Can Poets Speak to Trees? The event was hosted by Nina Mingya Powles, a writer and zinemaker from Aotearoa in New Zealand. Unfortunately one poet, Elizabeth Jane-Burnett (author of Twelve Words for Moss) was unable to attend, due to the train strike, but another poet came (sorry I forget the name) whose views were very close to mine on the state of the planet. The other poet was Pratyusha, author of Second Memory. The poets began by reading from their books before going on to discuss their poetry and the many aspects of it. These included which season were they most driven to write, how their poetry relates to the planet and trees, and if indeed we can speak to trees. I think the upshot was that we don't really understand the language of trees, though we know a fair amount about their relationship with fungi and the wood wide web. We know they sense things, like invasion, from insects, and can pass this information on to other trees (much like plants do).

It was a fascinating talk. The floor was then thrown open to the audience to ask questions. One question was: do you have hope for the future? One answer was yes, but not for us. The earth will survive very well without us. And that has always been my view. We need the planet more than the planet needs us!

I found the session very inspiring and already I could feel 'tree poems' bursting in my head. In the past I have written a succession of tree poems, which was why this talk interested me so much. I now have very rough drafts of another four poems to work on.

After the talk, I decided to re-join The Poetry Library. I was a member years ago, and in fact still have my original orange card. It fascinated the lady on the desk as she'd never seen one before. The Poetry Library has thousands of books, as well as study rooms and shelf displays of poetry magazines. At first it was a little overwhelming to know where to start, but I borrowed a couple by well known poets to get me started. You can borrow up to four books for four weeks. They also run events throughout the year with visiting poets and discussions.

Book Reviews

The first two books are related, though one is fiction and one is non-fiction. They deal with pre-historic Britain. I've had a fascination for the stone age since I was at junior school, and I've read many books about pre-history and where we as human started. My favourite fiction books were the Earth's Children series by author Jean M Auel. I remember reading The Clan of the Cave Bear avidly, and it is still my favourite book of all the series. It takes you back to the time when mingling between tribes occurred. The girl Ayla, was rescued from an earthquake by a woman of the Clan. The Clan speak mostly in grunts. Ayla was different, from a new tribe, more like us and the books follow her journey to adulthood. I could not wait to get my hands on the next book!

The first book, The Gift of Stones is a reminder of those times and is about a community of stone tool makers, knappers. The main character lost an arm as a child when he was shot with an arrow by one of the traders. The arm had to be amputated. The boy had never had the gift of stones that the others had, and was a bit of a dreamer. As he grew, the community thought him useless as a worker. One day on his wanders, he came across a woman and child living on their own. The father had gone to trade with his two sons and had never come back. The character begins to tell stories about his adventures to the community. He becomes their storyteller. One day after a raid he brings the woman and child back and for a while they live with his uncle, until the woman builds her own house. The story is told through the eyes of the woman's child. From my reading other books, I'm guessing this story is set in Neolithic times, just as the end of of the stone age, where it begins to overlap with the bronze age, as towards the end of the book the community come into contact with metal arrows. It is the main character who leads them out of their quarry when they realise that trading flint is no longer viable as metal takes over. This was a very different kind of book, by an author I'd not known before. An interesting read.

Ancestors: The Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials by Professor Alice Roberts, looks at the remains of burials from stone age through to pre-Roman times. She talks about who first discovered the remains (interested clergy and Pitt Rivers are mentioned), their attitudes to sexuality (males must have been the warriors), grave goods, religion and death. It was a fascinating read. Professor Alice Roberts has, of course, appeared in many TV programmes on the subject of pre-history. She talked about how we must not have preconceived ideas about what we find; about how technology has advanced so much from those early days with  the regular using of Carbon 14 dating, and more recent advances that will tell us even more.

The final book I want to mention is Nightwalking by John Lewis-Stempel. Split into the four seasons, the author walks the fields with his dog catching glimpses of wildlife we would probably not otherwise see. He walks in rain and snow, and the heat of a summer's evening. Nothing stops him. There are also diary notes from each season and a glossary at the back of the book. The prose is beautifully poetic as the author describes his surroundings and the animals he sees. You feel you are with him. I also love the front cover! This is a keeper.

What makes you pick up a book? Three book reviews

 What makes you pick up a book? Is the cover design? An author you've read and liked before? Is it the title? The by-line?  When you turn it over, does the blurb convince you to buy it/borrow it? Perhaps it's the genre. Do you read the praise given to a book by various critics and other authors? What else does it for you? Maybe you read the first page, or the first few paragraphs.

I'll tell you what works for me. The title, cover design and blurb are important. I like to pick out something different from the run of the mill similar cover designs that seem to flood the market. The genre isn't so important to me, though I am drawn to certain crime and thriller books. I like my crime a bit gritty. But I read an eclectic mix of books, and am not necessarily drawn to bestsellers. What I don't read is the praise inside. I like to make up my own mind about a book. Sometimes books are hyped up to such an extent that they fall short of what I was expecting.

One last thing. I listen to recommendations by friends, a post on Twitter, and sometimes a review in a newspaper. Often it is the subject matter too that will interest me, so I go and search the book out.

I've been in a reading frenzy lately, so here is my review of three books I've read since I last posted a review.

Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North: I love Rachel Joyce's books, so I was keen to get my hands on this one. The final part of the trilogy (though Rachel Joyce never set out to make it a trilogy). I loved the previous two in this series, and even went to see the film The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which kept sincerely to the book. This is a small book, a novella, and I have to say I read it in a day. In this book Maureen sets off on her own journey up north. She doesn't walk like her husband, but takes the car. It is several years on from Harold's walk and Covid is still evident with people wearing masks. 

On Maureen's journey she meets different people. Some of these encounters are amusing, some are sad. I feel for Maureen as she struggles with her feelings, unable to express them, resorting to whip-tongue replies and put downs. There is still a lot of anger in her over what happened to her son. It is perhaps the saddest book of the three, and certainly towards the end there is a scene that made me cry. There is so much emotion. The guilt, the anger, the overwhelming love, and trying to come to terms with the past, and the lady who Maureen resents, Queenie Hennessey. It is to her garden Maureen is travelling to because she has been told that there is a memorial to her dead son. Though Queenie has been dead for some years, the garden still exists and is maintained by volunteers. It has become a place people visit to leave tributes to their own loved ones.

This third books brings everything together and, as usual, is beautifully written. There are book club reading questions and an interview with the author (and Maureen!) at the back of the book.

Dark Matter is Michelle Paver's first adult book, and boy it's compelling. I picked this one up in a charity shop and once I started, I could not put it down. It is menacing! Jack joins an expedition to the Arctic as a wireless operator. Unlike the other four men, Jack is poor and desperate to change his life. But before they even arrive with the eight huskies and all their provisions, one of the party breaks a leg and has to leave the expedition. 

Jack is disappointed they are not the first to live there. Miners had been there once, and the captain of the ship tries to warn them from going there. At one point he even refuses to take them. But there they are setting up camp. It is not long before Jack sees something, a man, who he takes to be part of the ship's crew, who hasn't yet left. 

As in all ghost stories there is an atmosphere. One side of the cabin is always cold and a deep dread often overtakes Jack. He doesn't say anything to the others, doesn't want to name his fears. Jack has become close to Gus, but when Gus is taken ill with appendicitis  they have to radio for help. Someone needs to go with him, and Jack makes the decision to stay alone to save the expedition, while Algie goes back until Gus is ready to rejoin the group.

Jack is now alone on the ice through the storms and the never ending night. He becomes attached to one of the huskies, Issack. Jack goes about his duties, taking the readings, sending the results back by wireless. Outside there is a bear post Jack becomes obsessed with. He thinks it moves. He experiences the dread more often, puts up curtains in the windows to avoid looking at the post. He feels he gradually going mad.

The story builds to a devastating climax, ramping up the tension. I could not put it down. At the back of the book Michelle talks about her journey to write this book, which I found most interesting. She did her research in Norway, but admits the place mentioned in her book does not exist, so don't go looking for it! If you like ghost stories, you will like this, and it will stay with you after you've finished it.

This was another charity shop find. The Places in Between by Rory Stewart follows the author on his journey through Afghanistan shortly after the Taliban have left. This was a difficult read at times, not only what the Taliban did, but in fighting between groups and the way they treat animals. Rory acquires a dog at one of his stop-overs. He has no name and was raised as a dog to fight off the wolves. His tail had been docked, the top of his ears cut off and his teeth smashed out. The dog becomes his faithful, if somewhat reluctant friend. 

As Rory moves from place to place he encounters hostility and kindness. Food is in short supply in most places and seems to consist mostly of rice and bread. The dog, who Rory names Babur, after the man in whose footsteps Rory is following, exists on bread. Giving meat to a dog is frowned upon. I felt sorry for this dog as it followed Rory through deep snow and blizzards. Rory had decided he would take the dog back to Scotland with him after the journey was over. 

What came out of this was how difficult a place Afghanistan is. Some people have never set foot outside their village and have no concept of the larger world, especially the women, who feature very sparingly in this book. Rory is looked at with suspicion and often confronted by men wanting money, his sunglasses, even his dog as a fighting dog. They ask him for medicine because they have seen him taking it, and he ends giving most of it away. He needs letters of introduction to the main man in the next village for his own safety. At one place he arranges for Babur to be taken the final stages to Kabul by car as he fears the dog won't make it.

On the journey he is warned, not only about the weather, but that he will be killed by groups on the next leg of his journey. Often he is accompanied by a man or men from one village who walk with him part way. Rory would prefer to walk alone, and during the last part he is alone. He is careful what he says because the atmosphere is volatile. He walks in temperatures way below freezing and almost succumbs to hypothermia. For someone like me who hates the cold, I find it strange that someone would want to put themselves through this. Rory suffers from dysentery and the antibiotics don't work. He is weak, but will not be swayed to rest as he walks eight hours a day through dreadful freezing conditions. This is one stubborn man! 

There are some very uncomfortable reads in this book. This is a place with little in the way of human rights and where torture is commonplace. Despite this it was an eye opener to Afghanistan, and saved by the few very hospitable men Rory encountered who made his life just that bit better. Strangely, Rory Stewart was on Joanna Lumley's programme last night about the Spice Trail. These days Rory works with refugees.

Space in poetry and two book reviews

 

Last Saturday I attended a poetry workshop with The Poetry School at Somerset House in London. I'd not been to an in-person workshop with The Poetry School since they ran courses from their offices in Lambeth, though I had taken some online courses with them.

This course I chose because basically I don't understand this form of poetry, and like certain forms of art, I thought I'd learn about it in the hope I might find this understanding and even use it in my own poetry.

I soon realised I wasn't seeing what others saw! One of the poems was by Andrew McMillan (The Men are Weeping in the Gym). My first thought was that this was a poem with the punctuation taken out. I could not see what others saw with the meaning of the spaces. I began to wonder if I was a real poet!

Now I have to admit I am not a fan of large spaces in poetry. I find them hard to read and the space on the page just turns me off. When they are long poems I don't even bother reading them. I couldn't bring myself to admit this at the workshop, just that I didn't understand them. 

We did some writing tasks, but I found myself putting in commas and writing in blocks like I usually do. I found the tasks hard. Some of the poems we looked at were easier on the eye. I liked the poems of Wayne Holloway-Smith and the tutor's own poem, but when I came to write mine, I wasn't happy with the spacing. However, it was the only one I shared.

Maybe it is to do with my logical mind. Writing this way does my head in, I like structure. I don't know what to do with spaces, where to put them. Mine end up a bit random, and everything I wrote on the day has been put back to my own way of writing. It was an interesting exercise, but it hasn't changed my opinion. Even though this way of writing seems to be becoming more popular, I won't be reading them. Sorry, to those find something in them. They are just too abstract (though I like abstract art....weird!). 

Book Reviews

Two very different books came my way recently. Both are about religion, but one is fiction and the other is non-fiction.

Father Frank by Paul Burke (a charity shop find) appealed to me. Frank is an Irish Catholic and at the age of eleven sitting in Mass decides he doesn't believe anything that is being said. As he grew older his childhood record collection grew and he often DJ's (I loved the continuous references to music in this book). But when his A Level results come through, the highest grade he gets is a D. His career adviser tells him the only university course he would be eligible for is studying theology at Oxford! Apparently they were too fussy about A level grades and they needed the numbers! Frank decides this is better than ending up working on a building site like his dad. He is an excellent student. After university, he still doesn't know what to do, and the only thing he knows about is religion. Despite his beliefs not changing he becomes a priest and he is good at it. This book is funny, but also thoughtful. I recognised myself in this book, which was just weird! There are several laugh out loud moments, especially when as a parish priest Frank returns Mass to its original language, Latin. He reckons in Latin everyone loved it, though they couldn't understand it. In English the congregation just looked confused!

Father Frank raises masses of funds for the church, including a centre where they put on all kinds of events, raising money for charities. He is left a black taxi by one of his parishioners and begins driving around London wearing his dog collar on his day off. Instead of charging fares he asks for donations to his church. Everyone loves Frank. And then he meets the beautiful Sarah who steps into his taxi one day. They manage to meet again. They are attracted to one another, but what can Frank do? Despite everything, he loves his job. I won't reveal anymore, but there is a follow-up book which I must get hold of one day.

The Dominican Way I discovered in a church I visited last week. It was on a shelf in a book swap. I didn't have a book to swap it with, so I donated money instead. I just had to have it! Some years ago I took a course on the different Orders of monks, nuns and saints they were dedicated to. As a group we visited various orders and churches in London including Jesuit, Benedictines, an enclosed order (the nun spoke behind a grille) and the Dominicans. The Dominicans are the studiers/preachers (I mean they all study, but these are different). They had rather a palatial place in London, but I was rather taken by them. Our parish priest at the time, I think, studied with them for a while. I find it all interesting. What makes people choose this way of life?

The book contains interviews with Dominicans all over the world, including lay Dominicans (those living in the world with an ordinary job, but still part of the order). They come from all walks of life and from many countries and work in different ways. Some cells work for justice, some with Christian-Muslim dialogue, some are artists, scientists, poets. I found the interviews with those working in Latin America particularly moving. A very interesting insight into the lives of Dominicans. Some individuals I found difficult to understand with their way of life. Others seemed very different individuals, committed to helping the poor and righting injustices. They might be one of the most diverse orders, but they all committed to God.

There are several interviews with Timothy Radcliffe, the Master of the Order. I always find him interesting. I've heard him speak at an event once (I think it was St Paul's Cathedral). His interviews bring everything together.

So, two very different books, but with a connection. For those who don't know Dominicans are a Catholic Order.

Book Reviews

 

My book pile

I've not posted any book reviews for a long time. So, it's high time I did.

I have a modest 'to be read' pile (there was a splurge of buying around my birthday). The first one I want to mention is The Oystercatcher Girl by Gabrielle Barnby. The story is set on Orkney, a place I am to visit later in the year. I wanted to read something to get a feel for the islands, and this came up in a travel guide I have about Orkney. The author lives there, and the book certainly gives you the idea of a place where people know one another, the bleakness, the beauty, and the weather! 

Christine is the main character. She left the island some six years previously, but has come back as a promise to her unstable sister Lyndsay. But Christine has a secret, one she cannot tell her best friend, Tessa about. The book starts as all three women are attending the funeral of Robbie, Tessa's husband. Things begin to unravel, when Tessa moves in with Christine with her six year old daughter. And then there is the menacing presence of Ronald, Tessa's cousin, who knows more than Christine realises. He's always had a soft spot for Christine and she has always turned him down. This draws things to a dramatic climax at the end. This is a story of friendship, love and secrets in a close-knit community against the stark autumn background of Orkney. And of course there is a twist, but I'm not going to tell you about that.

The second book is The Mercenary River by Nick Higham. I attended an author event in the beautiful library at Southwark Cathedral to hear Nick speak. Soon I was drawn in. Anything about London is of interest to me, and especially the River Thames. I did not buy the book there and then, but later when it came out in paperback. 

This is the story of London's water and sewage. The New River Company were the first main water company to dig canals and bring water through wooden pipes to London. More companies followed, bringing water from various parts of the Thames. The book dwells on the quality of water and how evidence was ignored about cholera. It was thought the disease was airborne. Then there is the Great Stink and Joseph Bazalgette's sewer system; his building of the new embankments along the Thames, and the pumping station at Crossness (a Victorian marvel). This was a very good book to read at that moment with all the hoo ha about Thames Water, paying high dividends to their shareholders and failing to fix leaks. This is nothing new. In the past there was swindling, directors on many water boards drawing salaries, giving contracts to their friends, fiddling the books. And then there was the pollution. You name it, it went on. There was the constant argument about whether water should be privatised or put into public ownership, which is still going on today. I know which I would prefer. 

Apparently you can still walk parts of The New River, and one day that is something I want to do. Reading this book has made me want to check it out more. I remember the filter beds a few miles away from where I live. It has now been turned into a nature reserve. A very interesting book.

Book Reviews

I've been rather obsessed by forensics lately. Hooked by Sue Black's book All That Remains, I have borrowed 30 Second Forensic Science from the library which is co-edited by Sue Black and Niamh Nic Daeid. I may well have to buy this! Crime writing is not my thing, unless you count the one I wrote during NaNoWriMo one year which still sits on my laptop. Sometimes I write around crime, but with none of the technical stuff. But I do love reading these books and have taken the odd online course in the different branches of forensic science. One of them featured Sue Black and Val McDermid in a question and answers session.  All That Remains is partly memoir as Sue Black talks about growing up, the death of her uncle and parents, her first job (working at a butchers) and she goes into great detail about the autopsy process. Later she goes on to discuss various cases and her own attitude to death. The book is deeply moving, surprising and at times humorous. Sue has worked with many police forces as well as in places of conflict identifying bodies, or parts of bodies that have been buried to cover up mass killings. I could not put this book down.

30 Second Forensics identifies the different things that come under the umbrella of forensic science. The book is split into seven chapters, each with a glossary and a profile of someone who made strides or discoveries in the world of forensics. It is aimed at the layreader, so easy to understand. Small chunks like this are useful as you can dip in and out when you have the time.

 If you do write crime then I'd throughly recommend these books, along with the one by Val McDermid. But even if you don't write crime these books are engrossing, or maybe that's just me!

Small Things by Hannah Sutherland (AdHoc Fiction), is a novella-in-flash. The short passages follow Jude as he grows up dealing with loss, his sexuality, and love. Heartbreaking and powerful, this work draws you into Jude's world and has you shouting out for things to go right for him. 

The Assistant by S K Tremayne pumps up the tension in this crime/thriller. It makes you think about what Alexa and other 'home helps' we use daily actually know about you. Jo, who is broke and divorced, is living with friend Tabitha in her expensive apartment near Primrose Hill. As a freelance journalist, Jo works at home and with Tabitha away a lot, she is alone, except for the 'home helps'. Suddenly they begin to talk to her, spouting events from her life. Who was doing this and why? The book has a tension packed ending and a twist.

I've enjoyed two books By Stacey Halls - The Familiars and The Foundling and Wise Children by Angela Carter was receommended by a friend. Twin girls, whose father refused to acknowledgment them as his, but their uncle took them under his wing. Centred around music hall days, the book romps through the years and the family history, as one of the twins looks back on their lives. The humour is wonderful, reminding me a little of Cold Comfort Farm. This was pleasantly delightful.

Book Reviews

 

My second hand finds in Winchester. Still two to read

I've read quite a wide variety of books lately. They have included the excellent Home Stetch by Garaham Norton. I do enjoy his books. In this one a lad leaves home shortly after a tragic accident. He has been blamed by the village and his family and he cannot carry on. He also holds a secret - he is gay. He first travels to London but ends up in America and hooks up with an older man. All this time he has not told his lover about his past, but when someone turns up from Ireland everything begins to come to a head. It turns out things are not what they seem and eventually the whole story comes out. I really do enjoy Graham Norton's books as they are full of warmth, family realtionships and humour. I just fall into them. Can't wait for his next - hope he is writing one.

While I was on a day trip to Winchester, I picked up a couple of local history books in the wonderful second-hand book shop behind the cathedral. One was from the 1960's with artists ink drawings of various buildings in and around Winchester along with background to the history, the other was a history of the village of Alresford where I spent a day enjoying the river walk and admiring the colourful houses. Both made good reads, and I am mentally planning a revisit to that area. It is my favourite city and feels like coming home everytime I visit.

Grandmothers by Salley Vickers was wonderful read. Another warm story, but also contained humour. My favourite character was Nan who often looked after her grandson, Billy. At the start of the book the two spend time looking for a coffin for Nan and when she finds one she likes she takes Billy with her to view it. When it is delivered Nan spend time just lying in it! The story, though concerns grandmothers. Two of three main characters are grandmothers, but even the one who is not looks after a little girl. But it is also about their own grandmothers and the legacy they left.

WIlliam Morris with Grandmothers in the background

The book on William Morris: A Life for Our Time by Fiona MacCarthy is a mammoth of a book. At 681 pages in hardback it was quite a read. I know a fair but about Morris as I have read much about him. I have visited various places he lived or worked, such as Kelmscott House in Hammersmith, Merton Abbey Mills where he had a dyeing and weaving business (gone now, but there is plaque) and the Museum at Walthamstow where he also lived. The bits I wasn't so sure about was his boyhood and the extent to which his socialist views took over his life. Morris has been a hero of mine since I discovered the Pre-Raphaelites, and he has become even more so now. I hope to visit a couple more places where he lived in the next year.

Finally, A Field Guide to Larking by Lara Maiklem isjust what it says. Everything you want to know is here with lovely coloured hand drawn illustrations. She talks about where to look, what to look for, how to identify what you have (or places to research), how to clean, record and store your finds and details of websites to look at and books to read. She covers mudlarking (which you need a Licence for), fieldlarking (you need permission from the land owner), beachcombing and how to lark in your house - looking at old wallpaper, stuff that gets lost between the floornboards and what gets buried in the garden. I ordered this book in advance of Lara's book launch which I attended at Southweark Cathedral. The talk was excellent. I'm sure this book will be used many times

Book Reviews

I think I'm on my 14th book since lockdown. I've been ploughing through my backlog over the last few weeks and have a stack of books to pass on when I am able to. Admittedly, I'm stuck on one - Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps. I realise I have read this before, and though it is fascinating how different women's brains work differently men's, and it is very amusingly written, I'm keen to read new books. So, although I'm over half way through, I can't seem to finish it, and some part of me thinks why bother, as I've read it before.

Of the others, there has been a mixed bag of topics, and this is a brief look at some. I hope I'm not repeating myself here because I do throw in the odd review in my blogs.

The Way of Seeing by John Berger is a book I'd had for a long time, began and never read more than a few pagers. I'm glad I kept it because, wow, I learned so much from this. It's a book about art and I was drawn to start it again after I found the TV series on which it was based. It came up online of arty things to do during lockdown. The TV series is from the 1970's, and looks it, but it was fascinating. In four parts it looks at various ways of looking at art that I had never come across in any art history  classes I'd taken. One programme was about how women are portrayed, the pose they are given, what's on show and how women see themselves. The book is split in the same fashion as the TV series with photos, though the photos in the book are all black and white and not of good quality, the text helped me to reinforce what I had seen. In the programme (available on YouTube) the pictures are in colour and better, despite the grainy 70's film. I have this theory that you have to be ready for some books. Since I bought that book I've learned more and experienced more. This time I was ready for the book. It all clicked into place and was a real eye opener.

 Fragrant Habour by John Lanchester is a story told by four people and set in Hong Kong. The characters lives interlock, but the main character is the one of most interest. Having left England  in his early twenties he gets a job in a Hong Kong hotel and eventually runs the business. He meets various people who dip in and out of the story including a nun who he met on the boat coming over, and the years pass. Everything changes when World War II happens. He rescues the nun and they hide together for a while, but he must go back to the business, but things get worse for him when he is captured. Without giving the story away, it is his connection to the nun that years later changes things for him. The story is multilayered, gentle and tense. A really good read.

I have just finished another book by John Lanchester which I picked up at the Wimbledon Book Festival last October, having heard him speak. The Wall is based in the future, after the change (climate). There are no beaches left due to the rise in sea levels and now the young have to spend two years guarding the wall from The Others (climate refugees). Kavanagh is one. He blames his parents for what has happened and the fact that he has to do his stint on the wall. The books is well written and you can sense the boredom of a twelve hour shift on the wall, the cold, the endless hours, what he does to take his mind off it. He just wants to get through it and calculates the days, the hours, the weeks. He makes a few friends, but is drawn to Hifa, a girl. After an incident on the wall, several Defenders (that's what they are called) die and Kavanagh is injured. Later what's left of his troop go to Scotland for more training on how to overcome The Others when they attack. When a big attack comes Kavanagh and his friends are blamed, because that is the way things go. For every Other that goes over the wall, one Defender is put to sea. This book looks into a future that could happen and what we might do to defend what we have left. It is a world of microchipping people, where the Others that get through are given three options, only one of which is a chance to live by becoming Help to the elite, basically slaves. I can't say this is a happy book, there is more doom and gloom than good moments, but the writing takes you inside Kavanagh's mind making you feel the boredom, the fear, hope, hopes dashed, and a chance to survive.

Graham Norton really knows how to write a page turner. The Keeper is his second book, and I really hope he will continue to write as I love his books. This, like the last one, is set in Ireland. A daughter comes home to sort out her mother's house before going back to the States and her own teenage son. She comes across some letters and goes in search of her mother's past, which answers some questions for her. Chapters alternate between the daughter in the now and her mother (in her voice) in the past. The past becomes a psychological thriller set on a farm in the wilds of Ireland. Absolutely brilliant.

Realms of Glory is the last in a trilogy set in a fictional Diocese. Having read the first two books I reveled in this. Knowing a little about the workings of the clergy (having been on a parish council once....never again) I find these books by Catherine Fox (wife to the Bishop of Liverpool) so amusing. Think Rev (if you watched the TV series) and you have some idea of what I'm talking about. Of course a Diocese is much bigger than a parish, so there are multiple characters (and their families), but there is a helpful list at the start of who is who. I think Catherine might be working on a fourth book after readers wore her down! I do hope so.

How Not to Write A Novel by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark is funny. All the stuff a beginner writer does is there with examples. Yet, I have read many books that flout some of those rules and have got away with it. They now shout out at me, but it doesn't bother me if the book holds my attention. The particular rules I'm thinking of here are looking in a mirror to describe the character and starting a novel with a dream scene. Andrea Camilleri regularly started his books with a dream sequence. So, there you go.

Birdcage Walk by a favourite author of mine, Helen Dunbar. Set in the 1700's, Lizzie is married to John, a property developer. Having sunk all his money into a project, over the water the French Revolution is having repercussions. People aren't keen to buy and debt looms. Meanwhile Lizzie is haunted by the thought of John's first wife while he tightens his hold on her, telling her he doesn't want her walking out by herself and visiting her mother (who writes pamphlets for the radicals). Lizzie begins to fear her husband's moods as the book reaches a climax. This was another book I could not put down.

Finally, I must mention two brilliant books. Firstly, The Moneyless Man by Mark Boyle. This is the prequel to The Way Home which I read last year and enjoyed so much. This is a brilliant book about how Mark went off grid to live a year without money. He makes some really good points and there is a website list at the back that are useful. Should you want a compose loo, a rocket oven or make paper and ink from mushrooms, then in theory I have the knowledge! I believe in a lot of what he says, though I couldn't go that far. Like he says, we each have to find our own way, and that is what I am trying to do.

Secondly, Peter Wohllenben's Walks in the Wild. Peter is my favourite nature writer, and here he tells you what you can find in the forest in different seasons. He talks about free food, the trees and how to recognise different ones, the animals you will find. He uses anecdotes and his own thoughts about so called tree management, hunting and grouse shooting. Peter's books never end up in a charity shop because they are a wealth of knowledge. He has made me see trees in a totally new way. I cannot recommend his books highly enough because they are written in layman's terms, extremely accessible.