Bookshelf Travelling: 6 June 2020

Published on by Margaret

Judith at Reader in the Wilderness hosts Bookshelf Travelling for Insane Times. Today I’m showing part of one of my shelves of mixed books. This shelf contains fiction but not arranged in any order, other than that of size. I’ve read all of them except for the book at the top of the pile.

From the top down they are:

  1. Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith. I saw this in a charity shop and liked the cover, which can be a dodgy way to choose a book! It’s set in a London mansion block, and tells the stories of its residents. It looks interesting but I haven’t actually started to read it.
  2. I loved Kate Atkinson’s A God in Ruins, about Teddy Todd (the younger brother of Ursula in Life After Life). Teddy is a would-be poet, pilot, husband, father and grandfather. It looks at war and the effect it has, not only on those who live through it, but on the lives of the subsequent generations.
  3. A Game for All The Family by Sophie Hannah was a bit disappointing for me. It’s a book about the truth – just who is telling the truth, just who is who they purport to be, and most of all about identity. Who is real, who is making it all up? I didn’t love this book, but it certainly filled my mind and made me think both whilst I was reading it and for days afterwards – and I like that about a book.
  4. Love is Blind by William Boyd. I bought this in a local bookshop, because I liked the description on the book flap. Set at the end of the 19th century it follows the fortunes of Brodie Moncur, a young Scottish musician. Since then I’ve seen it has had mixed reviews. I’v yet to read to find out what I think of it.
  5. Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin was a ‘must read’ for me. I love his books. It’s the 21st Rebus novel. Rebus is retired but gets involved in investigating an unsolved murder from forty years ago. I’m almost tempted to go back to the first book and read them all again.
  6. And finally another book I loved – Eyes Like Mine by Sheena Kamal. The main focus of the book is Nora, her traumatic background and her search for her daughter, Bonnie, now a teenager, who she gave away as a new-born baby. Nora is shocked by her reaction when she sees a photo of Bonnie – there is no doubt that she is her daughter, with her dark hair and golden skin.

10 thoughts on “Bookshelf Travelling: 6 June 2020”

  2. I so much enjoy seeing what’s on people’s shelves, Margaret! Thanks for sharing yours. I’m a fan of Alexander McCall Smith, so I was especially pleased to see that one on your pile. And, of course, you pretty much can’t go wrong with Rankin. I think some books are better than others, but they’re all well-written and worth reading, I think.

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  3. I read that Sophie Hannah book in the fall of 2018 and I just went back to see what I said about it. I really don’t remember much, but I do remember it was very, very odd. It was the first Hannah book I’ve read and I keep meaning to read more.

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    1. That’s the right description, Kay – it is a very, very odd book. I think it’s the only one of hers I’ve read and I’m not that bothered about reading any more.

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  5. Bookshelf Traveling is not good for me. I keep finding books that I want to read.

    I have a God in Ruins but I haven’t read it yet. I am sure I will like it when I get to it. Actually, when I find it… it is hiding somewhere.

    Also I have a different book by William Boyd, Restless. I have had it for 4 years and I need to get to reading it. I haven’t read anything else by him.

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