My Year in Novellas retrospective looking at any novellas you have read since read since the end of last year’s challenge. I haven’t taken part in Novellas in November since 2022, so I’ve looked back to see what I’ve read since then.
I’ve not got back into the swing of writing reviews after my operation in 2023. You can click on the titles to read my review or the Goodreads description – for most of these I’m sorry to say:
- Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
- One Snowy Night Before Christmas by Ava Bradley
- Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo
- Gladys Aylward: My Missionary Life in China by Gladys Aylward
- The Christmas Book Hunt by Jenny Colgan
- Ted: a Pawtography: My Adventures in Gone Fishing by Ted the Dog as told to Lisa Clark
- The One That Got Away by Mike Gayle
- The Curious Case of the Village in the Moonlight by by Steve Wiley
- Maigret and the Wine Merchant by Georges Simenon
- The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon
- Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
- Appointment in Arezzo by Alan Taylor
- The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard
BooksPlease 
You’ve got a good list here, Margaret. I like Simenon’s work, so it was good to see some of those stories here – the Steinbeck, too. The Gladys Aylward got my attention, too. I read a biography of her life once, and found it fascinating.
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Great list Margaret. I really enjoyed Loitering with intent
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I’ve read a couple of these. I’m slowly working my way through John Steinbeck’s work and I have read Tortilla Flat. Beowulf is the other one I’ve read, although I read a different translation. :)
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How nice to see Michael Morpurgo’s edition of Beowulf. I used to read it to my Year 5 & 6 students and we had the best discussions about the morality of revenge! I’ve also read two adult versions, and recommend the Seamus Heaney one with its illustrations that show what life was like at that time, so I used to take that to school too, to show the children the housing, the weapons and so on.
Michael Morpurgo also did a children’s version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and that was also relevant to today’s children because it was great for discussing whether the ‘knightly virtues of chivalry’ could or should still apply today. I have fond memories of one of my stodgiest boys whose entire life was sport and hunting pigs on the weekend with his dad, declaring in shock, ‘No!! that’d be like your dad’s best mate having it off with your mum!’
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I’ll get to the Muriel Spark eventually–I’m reading all of hers. I read Tortialla Flat and felt it didn’t age well. Enjoy the month.
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