April 2009 – Page 6 – BooksPlease

The Sunday Salon – Reading Report

Published on April 5, 2009 by Margaret5 Comments

As the first quarter of the year is now over (where did it go?) I thought I’d look at the state of my reading over the last three months. Given my obstinate urges not to read books I’d planned to read I’d decided at the end of last year not to join any challenges apart from What’s In a Name 2?, which I’d enjoyed very much last year. So of course I then signed up for Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, the Chunkster Challenge and the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge.

Challenge Progress January – March

What’s In a Name 2?

The Challenge is to read one book from each of 6 different categories between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. So far I’ve read 3 books from 2 of the categories. Not too bad – at this rate I’m on target to complete the challenge.

Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge

The Challenge is to read 25 library books by 31 December 2009. I have absolutely no problems with this Challenge and am well on target with 10 books read so far. They don’t have to be on any particular subject, have particular features in the title, or be in any specific genre. They just have to be library books. This suits me down to the ground as I can pick whatever takes my fancy whenever I go to the library.

Chunkster Challenge

I joined this in an attempt to read some books that I’ve owned for a while and not read yet. A Chunkster book is 450 pages or more long and I signed up to the Too Big To Ignore Anymore section – that is books you already own on your to-be-read list.

You have to decide which ones to read in advance and stick to that. I’m no good at that and haven’t read a single one of them yet. Why do I suddenly have an aversion to reading books that I really do want to read just because I’ve put them in a list? Looking at my list today they all look enticing, so why haven’t I even picked up one of them?

The Agatha Christie Reading Challenge

I’m doing much better with this one, mainly I think because when I go to the library there are always quite a few Christie books to choose from. But on looking more closely I find that the Challenge as described by Kerrie is to read them in the order they were written – at least that’s what she is doing. I’ve read three so far, not in the order they were written because that would mean trying to buy them or find them at the library. I’m trying to cut down on the number of books I buy and I’m too impatient to wait for library reservations to materialise. So I’m reading them as I find them.

General Progress

Of course I’ve read other books apart from the ones in these Reading Challenges. They’re all listed with links to posts where I’ve written about them on the Books Read tab at the top of the page. So far this year I’ve read 26 books, most of them have been really good reads. A lot of them have been spontaneous choices either from the library, bookshops, presents or my own shelves.

My “Plan” for Reading over the next three months is not to plan what I read, not to bother if the books I choose fit into any of the Challenge categories, but each time I finish one book to read whatever takes my fancy next.

What I’m Reading Today

So far today I’ve read a few pages from Sue Roe’s book The Private Lives of the Impressionists. I wish it had more illustrations, because I want to see all the paintings she mentions. This morning I read about Manet’s paintings of Berthe Morisot in 1872/3. His wife Suzanne was tolerant of his womanizing and put up with his love of other women. He painted Berthe (who was also a painter) in seductive poses, searching for the

sensation Ã©lÃ©mentaire, the sensation de vivre which ValÃ©ry elsewhere equated with the frisson of being in love.

The Coffin Trail by Martin Edwards

Published on April 4, 2009March 30, 2021 by Margaret3 Comments

A while ago I read The Arsenic Labyrinth by Martin Edwards, the third in his Lake District Mystery series of books, which I wrote about here. Now I’ve read The Coffin Trail, the first in the series.

Daniel Kind and his partner Miranda have just moved to Tarn Cottage near Brackdale, a beautiful village in the Lakes in a hidden valley. The Cottage used to be the home of Barrie Gilpin, who was suspected of the brutal murder of Gabrielle Anders and Daniel had met Barrie, when as a boy he had spent a fortnight’s holiday at Brackdale. Barrie had died before he could be arrested and Daniel can’t imagine how the Barrie he knew could possibly have murdered anybody. He starts asking the locals questions about it.

So when the police set up a new team to investigate cold cases led by DCI Hannah Scarlett, who had been on the original team investigating the murder of Gabrielle, Daniel’s questions trigger a phone call to the team resulting in the revival of the case.

I was completely involved with the characters and swept along by the mystery. The setting is superb, the Lake District is vividly described, as is Daniel and Miranda’s renovation of the cottage, and the bookshop owned by Marc, Hannah’s partner. I liked all the detail in this book. I could see the coffin trail, the steep stony track that had been used years ago as the route mourners took to bury their dead at the chuch over the fells. It leads to the Sacrifice Stone, an ancient pagan site, where Gabrielle’s body had been found. I could see the bookshop in a section of a converted mill, with its creaking floorboards:

They creaked, just as Daniel believed, all floorboards in secondhand bookshops should creak. It was an essential part of the ambiance, like the giddy sense of claustrophobia that came from squeezing between tottering towers of books and clouds of dust that had to be blown from the ancient volumes lingering in the darkest recesses.

Daniel, an Oxford historian, is used to investgating the past and this leads to his meeting Hannah, partly because he is trying to find out more about his father, Ben who had been Hannah’s boss. Daniel had lost touch with his father after his parents’ divorce. Miranda meanwhile is becoming less enchanted with the idea of living in the cottage away from her job in London and as Daniel and Hannah spend some time together the potential for their relationship arises. I must admit that I took to Hannah rather more than I did to Miranda.

This is a nicely complicated book with complex relationships and sub-plots. There are plenty of questions to be answered. Can Daniel and Miranda live happily in Tarn Cottage? Did Barrie kill Gabrielle? And if he didn’t who did? Ben Kind and Hannah were never convinced at the time of his guilt and as the cold case team investigate aided by Daniel’s persistence more secrets emerge. I was kept guessing right to the thrilling end of this book.

The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side

Published on April 3, 2009July 18, 2024 by Margaret5 Comments

The Mirror Crack’d From Side To Side by Agatha Christie first published 1962.

Miss Marple was feeling rather down and a bit weak after an attack of bronchitis. Her doctor prescribes ” a nice juicy murder” for her to unravel and not long after the ideal opportunity arose with the death of Heather Badcock. Heather had gone to a fete at Gossington Hall held by her idol, the glamorous movie star Marina Gregg. She died after drinking a poisoned cocktail, just after meeting Marina. The title is taken from Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalot, a convincing image of Marina’s reaction on meeting Heather – “… ‘the curse has come upon me’, cried the Lady of Shalott.” Heather was the sort of person no-one would want to murder, she was a very kind woman who always did things for other people. Her trouble was that she was sure she knew the best thing to do and she was only really interested in herself. Such people Miss Marple observed “live dangerously – though they don’t know it themselves.” So why was she killed and was Marina really the intended victim?

I remember seeing the TV adaptation of this book with my favourite Miss Marple – Joan Hickson – and although I did remember who had committed the murder I didn’t remember the motive, nor how it had happened. As I read on it all came back to me – just what the curse was. As usual with Agatha Christie’s books,which are so deceptively easy to read, all is not straight forward and there are many complications and twists before the denoument.

There was lots to enjoy in this book – not just the puzzle of the murder, but also the setting and the characterisation. The setting is St Mary Mead, once an idyllic English village, now threatened by the “Development” of rows of new houses which at first didn’t seem real to Miss Marple – it “was like a neat model built with child’s bricks” and the people looked unreal to her. She thought it all looked “terribly depraved”. Then she realised that although everything and everyone looked and sounded different the human beings were the same as they always had been. It’s from her understanding of human nature that she is able to solve the crime.

I also liked the characterisation of Miss Marple, now an old lady thought incapable of looking after herself and the neat way she handles Miss Knight her live-in companion who talks to her as though she is a child. In fact all the characters have that touch of reality that brought them alive. Their idiosyncracies are what makes them seem real people.

For more reviews of Agatha Christie’s books have a look at the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Carnival.

This is the ninth library book I’ve read this year so I’m well on target to read at least 25 library books by the end of December. Click on the logo for links to other bloggers reviews of library books.

Library Loot

Published on April 3, 2009 by Margaret8 Comments

I gave myself a pat on the back as I walked out of the library yesterday, because for once I’d borrowed fewer books than I’d taken back. As usual though I can’t wait to start reading them and have already started the genealogy book – well I’ve dipped into it. My loot this week is:

The Anti-social Behaviour of Horace Rumpole by John Mortimer. This has such a beautiful cover. I think it may be the last novel published by Sir John Mortimer who died in January this year. The Times is quoted on the back cover: ” Very funny about the old dinosaur’s attempt to fit into the depressingly clean modern world”. It promises to be good – about petty criminials, kids playing football in the streets and it even looks as though Rumpole himself will be getting an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order).
Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson. I’ve become a fan of Kate Atkinson so I have to read this one. It’s a collection of short stories, beautifully illustrated with woodcuts, described on the cover as:

Vibrantly contemporary, plausibly implausible, refreshingly original … a timely meditation on mythology and transformation …

The Beginner’s Guide to Tracing Your Roots by Diane Marelli. I’m researching my family history whenever I get the time. Actually once I get started it’s hard to stop, but then my brain gets addled and I get everyone mixed up. So I was interested in this book which decribes how Diane Marelli went about her research and I thought it looked rather different from other “how-to” books. It’s written with enthusiasm and is very funny in parts – it’s not a text book but is still packed with information.
The Birthday Present by Barbara Vine. Cath’s post on her blog Read Warbler about Barbara Vine made me realise that I hadn’t read any of Vine’s books, although I’m familiar with her work through the TV adaptations. Anyway books are better than filmed versions so I thought I’d see what the library had. Again from the book cover, The Birthday Present is described:

Set against an age of IRA bombings, the first Gulf War and sleazy politics, The Birthday Present is the gripping story of a fall from grace, and of a man who carries within him all the hypocrisy, greed and self-obsession of a troubled era.

I hope it won’t be too long before I get time to read these books!

And to finish off here is another photo of my local branch library, showing a display of books on Mediterranean Cookery with some of the fiction shelves in the background. Note the stand of reading glasses!

500th Post! And a Giveaway

Published on April 2, 2009 by Margaret42 Comments

This is my 500th post! I began very tentatively in July 2006, when I wrote my first post beginning “This is my first attempt at writing a blog.” It wasn’t much of an attempt and I wrote nothing more until April 2007. I never thought then that I’d keep going for another two years and reach 500 posts! To celebrate I’m holding a giveaway – see below.

Last week we were in Scotland staying with our son and his family and whilst there we visited Linlithgow and found a really great little bookshop called, not surprisingly, the Linlithgow Bookshop. It’s on the High Street in a 16th century building, the entrance being down some steps through a small door – if you’re taller than me you have to duck your head! I’m sorry I didn’t take any photos but their website shows what it’s like. It has very friendly, helpful staff and a really good range of books, specialising in Scottish authors, children’s books, travel and fiction. In fact it’s packed with books, cards and gifts – a book lover’s heaven. We bought several books and I could have bought plenty more:

Be Near Me by Andrew O’Hagan – an award-winning Scottish author. This book was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2006. It’s about a priest assigned to a small Scottish parish. The title attracted me first, taken from Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” and when I read the first paragraph I was hooked:

My mother once took an hour out of her romances to cast some light on the surface of things. I was just back from Rome and we stood together on the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle, watching the sky go black above a warship anchored in the Firth of Forth. Picture that time of day in the old city when the shop windows stand out and the streets of the New Town begin to glow with moral sentiment. She took my arm and we rested like passengers bound for our distant lives, warm in our coats and weak in our hearts, the rain falling heavily on the stone.

Star Gazing by Linda Gillard – I wrote very briefly about her book Emotional Geology in my second post. I’ve been meaning to read this one for ages. Linda now lives in Glasgow, having spent six years living on the Isle of Skye. This book was shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year 2009. It is set in Skye with a blind heroine exploring the beauty of the island, in particular the stars in the winter night sky.
Doors Open by Ian Rankin – the award-winning Scottish crime author famous for the Inspector Rebus books. Now D I Rebus has retired this is a stand-alone thriller about a plan to steal paintings from the National Gallery of Scotland. I couldn’t resist this one either.
Southern Uplands by Nick Williams – this was my husband’s choice. It’s a pocket mountain guide. It’s a small book but filled with beautiful photos and sketch maps. I think I’ll only be attempting the gentler walks and content myself with reading about the others. The book features

40 circular hill routes from the remote Galloway Hills and the rolling Cheviots to the folding valleys of the Borders and Edinburgh’s own Pentland skyline, this region is rich in history and diverse in topography, inspiring great days out for walkers of all levels.

Making History by Stephen Fry (a present for our son) – what can I say about Stephen Fry? He makes me laugh and he makes me think; both are good for you. I love QI, he was wonderful as Jeeves in Jeeves and Wooster with Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster, and even further back I enjoyed the show A Bit of Fry and Laurie. His documentary The Secret Life of a Manic depressive was very good and his TV series Stephen Fry In America was fantastic (I have the book of the series) and that’s only mentioning a few of his achievements. If you follow him on Twitter you’ll be amazed at the amount of travelling he’s been doing recently – currently he’s island hopping around Indonesia (I think).

Giveaway

Because this is my 500th post I’m having a book giveaway. It has a Scottish connection as I’ve been reading books by Scottish authors or set in Scotland recently (and our son lives there).

Everyone is welcome, wherever you live. Just put a comment on this post giving the title of the book you’re currently reading and whether you would recommend reading it or not and I’ll enter your names in a draw next Thursday to win a copy of Ian Rankin’s last Inspector Rebus novel Exit Music and a magnetic bookmark from the Linlithgow Bookshop.