I found it hard to decide what to go for first this month and spent a happy hour browsing my bookshelves. In the end I chose The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson (Hodder & Stoughton paperback 2014). Set in a debtor’s prison in 18th C London, this is in places a grim read and the plot fell short of being 100% convincing, but the author is good on atmosphere, the main character is engaging and the book is a good choice for anyone who likes historical crime fiction.
I had no idea what to expect when I began my next book A Little Life by American writer Hanya Yanagihara, knowing nothing at all about it other than it had been shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker. But it hooked me in right from the first page. What’s it about? Friendship, identity, working out who you are and what your life is all about, pain, abuse, relationships, death, grief and love. It’s challenging, harrowing and absolutely compelling. And of all the books I’ve read so far this year, this is the one I would recommend most. Currently available in hardback – published Picador – or on Kindle.
What do you choose when you’ve just finished a brilliant book; one which has taken you a long time to read and which you can’t get out of your head? For me, the solution is to turn to something familiar and reliable and completely different. And as followers of this year of book reviews will know, that means in my case an Agatha Christie. This time I picked up The Moving Finger – one of a batch I was given last Christmas. I don’t think I’ve read it before though it’s hard to be sure. Either way, I couldn’t remember the ending. And of course neither the book itself nor the ending disappointed. Vintage Christie – and very enjoyable at that. My copy is a Fontana paperback, reprinted 1971.
This Little World edited by Sue Ashby is the sort of book you can dip in and out of whenever you have ten minutes to spare It’s a collection of short stories from people who live in Dorset – some as young as 11 – and each story is located in Dorset. Lots of variety and lots to interest anyone who knows anything about Dorset. My personal favourite is A Smuggler’s Life by 12 year old Sam. Available now on Amazon and will soon be published as an e-anthology.
And I’ve also been dipping in and out this month of my copy of the works of poet George Herbert edited by W H Auden. I studied Herbert for A level and there are certain lines from certain of his poems which still stick in my mind. Writing in the first half of the 17th C his poems are all about religion, his understanding of it and his struggle to be worthy, but it isn’t the content of the poems which speaks to me but the beauty of the language and the strength of his belief. Not I think a well-known or in any way fashionable poet but one who in my opinion deserves to be read more. My edition is a Penguin paperback published 1973.
Only one month left to go. And so many books to choose from………………..