Sofa reading – Flighty's plot

Happy reading!

Last Sunday I was very kindly given a pristine, signed copy of Geoff Hamilton’s Radio Times Gardening Year, a 192 page hardback published in 1994.

It’s a book I’ve not read and certainly look forward to doing so as he always was a down-to-earth gardener I admired, unlike some of the present day so-called gardening celebrities.

I really must sort out my modest (ahem!) collection of books which are mostly second-hand paperbacks along with plenty of gardening books and assorted others.

It’s mainly thanks to mum that I’ve always been an avid reader, and on rainy days she would often find me in the front room on the sofa reading a Biggles book, hence the name Sofaflyer. One of my few very early memories is going to the library every week with her even before I started primary school. Now 75 years on I still regularly walk to the local library.

For a couple of years just before I fully retired I worked part-time in a small local bookshop doing some regular hours and covering for the others when need be.

Have a good weekend, take care and happy reading!

A November miscellany

Further to last Thursday’s post here’s a closer view of the sedums which I mentioned. As you can see the leaves and stems have gone very pale and positively glow under the dark flower heads, especially in the sunlight.

The red valerian in the stone feature was looking rather sorry for itself a couple of months ago so I lifted the clump, cut the stems right back, then replaced the soil before replanting it. Thankfully it’s now looking much better.

Yesterday I ate the last of the tomatoes, a handful of the yellow Golden Sunrise. Looking back I see that I picked the first one, a red Gardener’s Delight at the beginning of August. It wasn’t just the good weather that made it such a good year but also the notable absence of blight which usually affects them by early September.

I usually buy myself a non-fiction book, often about gardening, for Christmas and this year it would almost certainly have been The Bumblebee Flies Anyway by Kate Bradbury. However during the week I learnt that I’d won the free copy in the prize draw on Karen’s Bramble Garden blog post where she reviewed the book a couple of weeks ago. I received the book yesterday and look forward to reading it.

It’s been a dry, sunny and relatively mild weekend but the weather is set to get much colder from tomorrow with a biting easterly wind making it feel close to 0C.

Have a good week!

Sofa reading, May 2018

The author Anthony Horowitz has written over 100 books, being best known for his bestselling teen spy series Alex Rider. Magpie Murders is a stand-alone novel, published in 2016, which we’ve both read recently and this is what we thought about it.

Liz – Anthony Horowitz has written a tour de force, sharp and funny being a whodunit within a whodunit and oh so clever! A book editor narrates her experience whilst reading the final draft of a book written by her publishing house’s best-selling author. Magpie Murders is a homage to the mystery writers of mid 20th century Britain. The protagonist, Atticus Pund, is a detective in the manner of Hercule Poirot, although German not Belgian. He undertakes the investigation of two deaths in the peaceful West County village of Saxby on Avon. Of course nothing is as it seems. The draft comes to a sudden end with the solution left hanging. The editor is then drawn into a voyage of discovery to track down the missing chapters. Full of word play and anagrams, with the editor’s story shadowing the book draft this novel is nothing short of delicious.

Mike – Although I enjoyed reading this book I found that I faltered about half-way through, and it took considerably longer to read than I expected. It’s certainly clever and well-written but I think perhaps a novel within a novel makes it just a touch too complicated for my taste. Despite my reservations I would certainly recommend it as a worthwhile, and of it’s kind somewhat different, read.

Please note that there probably won’t be any Sofa reading posts for the next few months as it’s taking a summer break.

Happy reading, and have a good weekend!

Sofa reading, April 2018

Liz – Those who have read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and it’s companion book The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey, both published in 2012, will know the joy of reading Rachel Joyce‘s work.

Her third novel, published last year, was The Music Shop set mostly in 1988 in a downtrodden city area. CD’s are encroaching on vinyl records and Frank, a middle-aged man, owns a music shop that only stocks the latter on a dead-end street that has seen better days. His fellow shopkeepers are a female tattoo artist, a Polish baker, a defrocked priest who sells Catholic items, a funeral parlour and, of course, the pub on the corner.

Frank was raised by an unconventional mother who instilled in him a love and knowledge of music in all its forms. He uses this ability to find for his customers what will cure what ails them, be it a Chopin prelude or Aretha Franklin. Frank changes lives and he is content with his lot until…

Out of Frank and this motley crew comes a story filled with delight, nostalgia and poignancy. Gentle humour saves it from becoming sappy. In addition to the pleasure of reading a good story I learned along the way about how to really listen to music and the lives of the great composers.

Mike – When I received Liz’s email in mid-March I’d not read these three books but have now, finishing the last one yesterday. I enjoyed them all, especially The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy.

The last part of The Music Shop is set in 2009 and ends with the Hallelujah Chorus sung by a flash mob reminding me of this rendition.

Happy reading, and have a good weekend!

Sofa reading, March 2018

This month we’re both writing about first novels which we enjoyed reading recently.

Liz…Has a book landed in your lap and the stars aligned for it to be just what you were ready to read. This happened to me when I picked up a copy of Laura McBride’s book We Are Called to Rise, the title coming from the poem by Emily Dickinson. When I should have been attending to other matters my head was stuck in this novel turning page after page until I finished it.

The book’s focus is on the seemingly randomless of how lives can change in an instant for good or ill. The location is Las Vegas in the first decade of the 21st century. A middle-aged woman whose marriage is on the rocks, an eight-year old Albanian immigrant, a young soldier returned from Iraq with PTSD and a child defense advocate each take turns to narrate their stories which culminate as their lives intersect. Each must rise to deal with what life has dealt them.

This novel has a thoughtful well-told narrative which I really liked.

Mike…The Keeper of Lost Things was the debut novel by Ruth Hogan, published during 2017. I read it on the recommendation of a couple of friends and glad that I did as it was one of the best books that I read last year.

It’s rare that a book makes me laugh out loud or shed a tear or two but surprisingly this one did both. The story started rather intriguingly and thankfully finished with no loose ends. It switches between present and past, and is set in London and Brighton. There are some colourful characters including Bomber and Sunshine.

Her next book The Particular Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes is published in May which I hope will be as enjoyable as this one was.

Happy reading, and have a good Easter!

I can’t remember…

the last time that I spent more than a couple of days indoors as I did last week. I wouldn’t have minded the snow, which didn’t amount to much and didn’t last long, but with the temperature staying below 0 C it felt much colder due to a strong easterly wind. I’m thankful that we didn’t get this weather back in December which would have made it a really long winter, and that it only lasted a few days. This coming week is looking much better and warmer, which will be welcome.

This morning I looked round the plot for the first time since Tuesday and was relieved to see that it all looked okay. Over at the horticultural society trading shed I bought a white flowering primrose which I’ll show once the flowers have opened.

I’ve only ever come across two fiction books that are centred around allotments – Ivy Lane by Cathy Bramley and Murder Plot by Keith McCarthy.

However last week I came across the recently published The Allotment Girls by Kate Thompson which I bought for my eReader at the bargain price of 99p. I’ll do a review once I’ve read it.

Have a good week!

Sofa reading, February 2018

It was certainly the weather to do plenty of sofa reading during February, and especially this week.

One of the books that both Liz and myself have read recently is A Legacy of Spies by John Le Carre.

Liz – There were so many articles written about this author when this book was published last year that I put my name down on the library reserve list to borrow a copy. It didn’t disappoint as Le Carre returns to revisit the days of George Smiley through his now retired colleague Peter Guillam. The book interweaves episodes from the Cold War at it’s height with the present day. For me this author is still a master story teller.

Mike – Among my favourite books are Le Carre’s Smiley trilogy, written during the 1970’s, which includes perhaps his best book Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I was slightly disappointed with A Legacy of Spies as, although well written, it seemed to lack a compelling plot compared to his earlier books.

The noted author Val McDermid says that Mick Herron is the John Le Carre of our generation, and having really enjoyed reading the first four books in the Slough House series I have to agree.

The fifth, London Rules, has just been published and I’m sure that when I read it sometime soon I will find it as engrossing as the others.

Happy reading, and have a good weekend!

Sofa reading, January 2018

Kate Atkinson is probably best known for her first novel Behind the Scenes in a Museum, published in 1995 which won the Whitbread Book of the Year.

Liz thinks that she is a clever writer and Life After Life is her favourite Atkinson book.

It’s an extraordinary novel with an unusual structure. In an English country house Ursula Todd is born on a wintry night in 1910 and dies before drawing breath. In the second chapter it’s the same scenario but this time Ursula lives. And so it goes; instead of life after death, it is Ursula’s lot to relive her life at different stages. There are well-drawn family members and friends, and dire events, particularly the London Blitz which is vividly described.

I enjoyed reading the four Jackson Brodie books, published between 2004 and 2010, and I’m looking forward to reading her new book Transcription which is due to be published later this year. It’s a story of deception and consequences set in 1950’s London featuring Juliet Armstrong, a dissatisfied radio producer.

Jo, on her Through the Keyhole blog, does a regular post about books and reading. Her post last Sunday, Waiting on the Bookshelf, mentions the Harry Potter series and Agatha Christie murder/mystery books, as well as some Christmas themed ones.

Happy reading, and have a good weekend!

Lastly a reminder that this coming weekend is the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, which I look forward to doing as usual.