February books etc
A little late because I have been doing Masters and Fellowship stuff this week.
Richmal Crompton - The Old Man's Birthday I don't read Richmal Crompton very often these days (although I have been reading her books pretty much all my reading life having inherited the Debfather's Just William books) but they are becoming fairly cheaply available on Kindle so have recently acquired a few. This is fairly typical with a large cast of (not very sympathetic) characters spanning several generations of a family. This one was enjoyable enough but ultimately not very memorable. I will be reading more though.
Meredith Whitford - Churchill's Rebel I feel like I have also been reading books by or about the Mitford sisters for most of my reading life too. This one concentrates on Decca and Esmond Romilly - nothing much new to add about Decca and there isn't a vast amount to say about Esmond as his life was so brief (although lived to the full). There's not a great deal about Churchill either so it's perhaps a touch misleading to include him in the title. It passed a night shift for me and I liked the criticism of the pro-Mosley stance of the Guinness family biographies but I think the Mitford seam has been mined pretty exhaustively.
Phyllis Matthewman - A New Role for Natasha I rather like the Daneswood series of school stories but not quite enough to pay the extortionate prices the rarer books command. I had resigned myself to not reading this one as I had never seen an affordable copy. I wouldn't have wanted to pay a huge amount as it's far from my favourite with a fairly hackneyed plot (ballerina goes to boarding school but has to keep her identity secret). I do like the character of Rusty though, who worked as a servant, before being adopted and sent to boarding school.(And who could resist The Queerness of Rusty for a title?) And she is good at writing about friendships. So now I just need to keep my fingers crossed for a cheapish copy of The Intrusion of Nicola and I'm done.
Simon Armitage - Walking Away Following his walk along the Pennine Way, this book sees Simon heading south to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. I absolutely loved it - beautifully written and laugh out loud funny in places. I did spend far too long Googling his hat though.
ed. Martin Edwards - Murder at the Manor This is the latest collection of Golden Age crime short stories by neglected authors (although I hardly think Conan Doyle and GK Chesterton fall into this category). I was less keen on this than the Christmas and holiday collections. Although there were a few gems the majority were a bit dull. However I did like Anthony Berkeley's Roger Sheringham story and will seek out some more of his work.
So that's my reading. My cultural life remains a desert with no films, plays or exhibitions visited. I am loving Trapped on BBC4 though, which is a splendidly Icelandic Scandi noir serial (with inspiring knitwear). Speaking of knitwear the leftovers cowl is growing
slowly and colourfully. I had planned to make it a little more colour themed but it is totally random and I rather like it. And also I have decided to do this although I think I must be mad - I can't do patchwork, have a sewing machine phobia and no time to spare. So far I have produced one rather rubbish block and spent too much money on essential patchwork kit.
Richmal Crompton - The Old Man's Birthday I don't read Richmal Crompton very often these days (although I have been reading her books pretty much all my reading life having inherited the Debfather's Just William books) but they are becoming fairly cheaply available on Kindle so have recently acquired a few. This is fairly typical with a large cast of (not very sympathetic) characters spanning several generations of a family. This one was enjoyable enough but ultimately not very memorable. I will be reading more though.
Meredith Whitford - Churchill's Rebel I feel like I have also been reading books by or about the Mitford sisters for most of my reading life too. This one concentrates on Decca and Esmond Romilly - nothing much new to add about Decca and there isn't a vast amount to say about Esmond as his life was so brief (although lived to the full). There's not a great deal about Churchill either so it's perhaps a touch misleading to include him in the title. It passed a night shift for me and I liked the criticism of the pro-Mosley stance of the Guinness family biographies but I think the Mitford seam has been mined pretty exhaustively.
Phyllis Matthewman - A New Role for Natasha I rather like the Daneswood series of school stories but not quite enough to pay the extortionate prices the rarer books command. I had resigned myself to not reading this one as I had never seen an affordable copy. I wouldn't have wanted to pay a huge amount as it's far from my favourite with a fairly hackneyed plot (ballerina goes to boarding school but has to keep her identity secret). I do like the character of Rusty though, who worked as a servant, before being adopted and sent to boarding school.(And who could resist The Queerness of Rusty for a title?) And she is good at writing about friendships. So now I just need to keep my fingers crossed for a cheapish copy of The Intrusion of Nicola and I'm done.
Simon Armitage - Walking Away Following his walk along the Pennine Way, this book sees Simon heading south to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. I absolutely loved it - beautifully written and laugh out loud funny in places. I did spend far too long Googling his hat though.
ed. Martin Edwards - Murder at the Manor This is the latest collection of Golden Age crime short stories by neglected authors (although I hardly think Conan Doyle and GK Chesterton fall into this category). I was less keen on this than the Christmas and holiday collections. Although there were a few gems the majority were a bit dull. However I did like Anthony Berkeley's Roger Sheringham story and will seek out some more of his work.
So that's my reading. My cultural life remains a desert with no films, plays or exhibitions visited. I am loving Trapped on BBC4 though, which is a splendidly Icelandic Scandi noir serial (with inspiring knitwear). Speaking of knitwear the leftovers cowl is growing
slowly and colourfully. I had planned to make it a little more colour themed but it is totally random and I rather like it. And also I have decided to do this although I think I must be mad - I can't do patchwork, have a sewing machine phobia and no time to spare. So far I have produced one rather rubbish block and spent too much money on essential patchwork kit.