2019 What I read in January

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas.

This book is so powerful and so thought provoking and clever that it has stayed with me. I often start a new book immediately after finishing the old one but I couldn't do that with this. The story was still in my head and I needed to let it sit a while whilst I thought about it. It gave me such insight into the lives of black Americans and the suffering they have at the hands of some of the police. I thought I knew about this, but, this book really brings it home. I learnt some stuff. I thought about a lot of stuff. I think everyone could do to read it.

Starr is fourteen and lives in a poor, predominantly black neighbourhood which has a strong sense of community but also has problems with gangs and drugs. Her family own the local store. She is struggling with her sense of self at home as one thing and then at school in a richer, whiter neighbourhood she feels like she has to be a slightly different version of herself. She finds it a difficult and exhausting balance. Starr leaves a party with Khalil, a childhood friend who she has slightly lost touch with. As he is driving her home they are stopped by the police and Khalil is shot and dies. The community are outraged at the murder of a teenager and a Black Lives Matter campaign begins around his death. Starr is managing her grief, her family expectations, her friends at home and at school and the needs of her community. She is a witness to a murder and has to decide how to use her voice.

The characters are brilliantly drawn and as a reader you really care about all of them, they seem very vibrant and alive. There is a strong feeling of tension, of missed opportunities, of unfair treatment and broken promises. The subject matter is moving, interesting and very important to engage with. I can't recommend this book enough.

The Flower Girls bu Alice Clark-Platts.

Sisters Rosie and Laurel have been known as The Flower Girls since an event that occurred when they were six and ten years old. They met a toddler, Kirstie, in a playground and a few hours later she had been attacked and killed. Laurel was convicted of her murder, Rosie was deemed to young to stand trial and could not remember the events of the day. The murder shocked the public and there was outcry leading to Laurel being kept in prison and her family given new identities.

After the disappearance if a young girl from a hotel that Hazel (Rosie) was staying in, the past becomes stirred up. Hazel's identity is likely to be revealed and she is worried about public opinion. At the same time, Laurel is applying to the parole board to be released. The events of the past are catching up with them both.

The book considers some very interesting family dynamics and several moral and ethical dilemmas. It was an ok read but I didn't find it entirely satisfying. I think that might have been because I guessed one part of the plot before it was revealed, but then, there was another one that I had no clue about.

The Glovemaker by Ann Weisgarber.

I really enjoyed this book, I was completely engrossed in it. The glove maker is Deborah Tyler, a Later Day Saint living in Utah in a small settlement called Junction. It is January 1888 and Deborah is waiting for her husband, Samuel, to return from a long period working away as a wheelwright. A stranger turns up on Deborah's doorstep and she knows that he is going to bring trouble to her and the rest of the settlement. She realises he must be on the run, but he uses phrases that the Saints use as code between themselves and so agrees to help him. She knows that the Marshall and other lawmen must be close behind. The decisions that she and a neighbour Nels make in helping this man impact on their lives and those of their community.

The vast majority of the action in the book takes place over just four days which is clever, it almost feels as if they are unfolding in real time. I was gripped and was right there in the cabins or in the snow with Deborah and Nels. The scene setting is great, the sense of place is very strong, I could really see this settlement and landscape in my mind and it acts as another character. As a reader you could feel how hard their lives were in this harsh environment and see the strength of character required to live like that. It asks some interesting questions about the will of the individual and the will of a community or family.

It was a lovely read, quite moving in places, and I was a bit sad to finish it. I will be looking out for the author's previous books.

Floored by Sara Barnard et al.

There is an interesting concept behind this book. An editor asked seven highly respected YA authors to collaborate on writing this book. I've read some interviews with the authors and it sounds like they all enjoyed the process. Interestingly they have not said who wrote which character and I haven't read enough from all the authors to be able to guess.

Dawson - a teen heartthrob actor down on his luck, Sasha - delivering a parcel, Hugo - rich and spoilt, Velvet - on work experience, Joe - escaping a school trip and Kaitlyn - on work experience and loosing her sight are in a lift at a top television broadcasting centre. One more person enters the lift, something happens and the lift becomes stuck and everyone is trapped. This event changes the course of all their lives. The reader follows what happens to each character as they meet up around the same time every year as they come to terms with the events that happened after the lift experience. Each character has issues: life changing illness, caring for a parent with dementia, unplanned pregnancy, poverty, controlling parent, questions of sexuality and friendship problems. The story follows them for several years and I found it interesting to see our their lives unfolded as they grew up.

I enjoyed reading this, it was cleverly done. In some places I wanted to know about certain characters in more depth and I suppose as there are 6 main characters it would have been a much longer book to fit all that in. There were a couple of story lines that didn't get as much attention as I felt they deserved, again, probably because they are all main characters.

It's Not About The Burqa ed. Mariam Khan.

This is a fascinating collection of 18 essays written by a diverse group of Muslim women. The aim of the book is to give a platform for the voices of these women as they are often under represented or not represented at all in the mainstream media. The topics covered range from mental health to sex to feminism to marriage. These are stories of families, work, culture, religion, dress, love and having a voice. Every essay was interesting, gave me food for thought and I learnt plenty too. There is a short biography of each women featured in the back of the book which is a good place to start if you want to find out more about them.

I particularly enjoyed reading 'Immodesty is the Best Policy' by Coco Khan, a Guardian journalist. It combines family stories, exercise, dress and the cultural community with a heft dose of humour which doesn't detract from the serious points made. I also liked 'The First Feminist' by Sufiya Ahmed, an author and journalist. She talks about the impact that a book about Khadija bint Khuwaylid, the Prophet's first wife, made on her when she was given it at the age of twelve and how her influence has been there throughout her life. 'Eight Notifications' by Salma Haidrani, a writer and journalist looks at how she has been trolled on social media for writing about Muslim women. She considers how this has changed her behaviour in terms of safety whilst keeping her voice. It is a sobering tale of people trying to silence women.

I highly recommend this book.

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas.

Having enjoyed Angie Thomas' first book immensely I was very excited to read her new one and I was not disappointed. This is another powerful and moving story which both entertains and makes the reader think. It is set in the same area as The Hate You Give so there is a familiarity for the reader but this is a stand alone story.

Bri is 16 and is determined to become a famous rapper, like her dad. She is talented but has struggles that are holding her back, a shocking incident at school, living in poverty, being ignored because she is female. Bri is angry at the injustice that she sees. Her mum and brother are working hard but not getting far and her aunt is a gang member. Bri writes a song which becomes a hit but there are lines in it that people misinterpret and she is portrayed as someone she isn't. She has to balance the image which will help her in her career with her real self. Will her friends stand by her? Will she get her break?

Bri is a really strong character and as a reader you care about what happens to her. It is a fast paced story and a great read.

A year in books - 2018

I love reading, I've talked about this quite a bit before. I have a fabric covered A5 notebook where I write down every book I read. I started it in March 2008 so 10 and a bit years ago. In case you are interested, in March 2008 I read Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Graft by Martina Cole, On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan and Double Fault by Lionel Shriver.

I often flick through my notebook at the lists of books. I can picture where I was reading some of them, they remind me of holidays and days out or of people who lent them to me or the joy of discovering a new author or of visiting particular book shops or of being part of a book group.

I don't write reviews in my notebook or give the books a mark out of ten or a certain number of stars. That isn't really for me. I just like a list and I find it satisfying to see all those books listed. I do count up how many I have read at the end of the year but not for any kind of competition with myself, it is just out of interest. It also makes me reflect on how the year went and what kind of books I read. Did I prioritise reading books? Did I read lots of magazines instead? Did I spend more time reading blogs or using social media? Did I read lots of great big thick books or conversely loads of thin ones? None of it matters, I read to please myself, but I do find it interesting.

In 2018 I read 73 books. I read some thick ones and some thin ones. I read new fiction, old fiction, non-fiction, poetry, young adult titles and children's books. I read historical fiction, memoirs, crime, cosy crime and diaries. I loved spending time with these books in 2018.

January

London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes is a fantastic piece of 1940's social history, covering information that the author used in her articles that she sent to an American newspaper during the war. The Companion by Sarah Dunnakey has a dual timeline of the present day and the 1930's and is a great read. The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin is an atmospheric murder mystery set in Georgian London. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is a true story about the man who tattooed the numbers on his fellow inmates arms and his time in the camp. It is a tough read and an important one.

February

Things A Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls is a great read following 3 young women and their involvement in the fight for the vote. Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore is set in the late 1700s and is a portrait of a marriage, radical texts and architecture. I didn't love it which surprised me as I usually enjoy her writing. The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe was written in 1958 and portrays the lives of 4 young women in a New York publishing house. It was interesting but it also annoyed me. Every Day and Another Day by David Levithan tell the story of a character who wakes up every day in another person's body. The books show two sides of the same story and were a good read. Nobody Told Me by Hollie McNish, full of her poetry and reflections was the book I enjoyed most that month.

March

The Lives of Stella Bain by Anita Shreeve follows Stella as she pieces her life back together after being found in first world war field hospital with no memory. London Calling and British Bulldog by Sara Sheridan are books in the Mirabelle Bevan crime series set in 1950's Brighton. I really enjoyed them. Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys is historical fiction based on a true event in 1945. A group of young refugees are trying to walk past the fighting to a port to safety. It is a great book. I enjoyed the poems and illustrations in Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. How To Hang A Witch is set in Salem and follows a group of descendants of those involved in the original witch trials and the goings on in their town. I really enjoyed it. The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson follows two young people who know they were born the wrong sex and is fantastic.

April

The Girl From Venice by Martin Cruz Smith was not a favourite. The Graces by Laure Eve was a great tale about teenage friends and witchcraft. The Dollmaker Of Krakov is a great book, a mix of fairy tale and wartime fiction. The Stars At Oktober Bend is a beautiful and poetic tale about a girl recovering from a traumatic event and a brain injury. Light After Light by Victoria Gatehouse was one of my favourite poetry collections last year. Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman follows a young girl who when freed from slavery has to pass as a boy and join the army in order to survive. An interesting and powerful read. I love Hollie McNish's poetry in Plum. We Were Liars by E. Lockheart follows the goings on of a group of teenagers over one summer. The Strange And Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslie Walton is full of beautiful imagery and is fairy tale like.

May

Under the Rock by Ben Myers is the story of a place, local to me, and the effect it has had on the people living there. Beautifully written and fascinating to me as I learnt more about where I live. The Dry by Jane Harper is gripping Australian crime. The Betrayal by Kate Furnivall is set in Paris in 1938 and follows two sisters with a secret. The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell is just brilliant. A creepy, uneasy story featuring a house full of secrets. I had to finish it on a sunny afternoon as I was too scared to read it at night anymore! Invitation To A Bonfire by Adrienne Celt I disliked. Simon Vs The Homo Sapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli is very good. Simon is not openly gay and he is being blackmailed at school whilst dealing with friendships and a potential romance. Where The World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean is a wonderful read with a really strong sense of place. It is based on a true story about a fishing party from the Scottish Island St Kilda being stranded on a sea stack for months when their annual bird hunt goes wrong. The Break by Marian Keyes is a lovely read and funny like you would expect.

June

Private Papers by Margaret Forster looks at a family through the eyes of four daughters and a mother. It was interesting but not my favourite of hers. The Goose Road by Rowena House looks at a young girl trying to save her family farm when her brother is away at war. This leads to her having to drive a flock of geese across part of France. It was a great read. One Of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus is a clever story about a group of teenagers under suspicion for killing their classmate. It is told from multiple points view and is a good book. The Wondering by Mira Bartok was disappointing and I did not enjoy it. Sealed by Naomi Booth made me feel sick whilst I was reading it and I mean that as praise. Dystopian horror in a very clever story. Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein follows Tash dealing with her memories from when she was younger involving her imaginary friend and a missing little girl. It is a very good read. Heathcliff Adrift by Ben Myers is a poetry collection imaging what Heathcliff experienced after his time with Cathy. Lovely poetry. The Adventures of John Blake by Philip Pullman is a graphic novel which is not my usual thing but I quite enjoyed it.

July

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland was a bit of a struggle and I didn't enjoy it. Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon is a raw and honest look at her mental health issues and is well worth a read. Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber covers love, loss, friendship and the Palm Springs desert and was a good read. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert is a fairy tale like story which I wanted to love and didn't quite. The House On Half Moon Street by Alex Reeve is brilliant, historic crime fiction set in Victorian London with a trans main character. I loved it. Betty Church And The Suffolk Vampire by MRC Kasasian I did not love.

August

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen follows a Jewish girl who is spying at a Nazi boarding school and passing secrets to a secret agent. It was very good. The Lost Witch by Melvin Burgess I did not enjoy. The Corset by Laura Purcell was excellent, creepy and gripping. Ruth, a seamstress on trial for murder, talks to prison visitor Dorothea about sewing murderous thoughts into the clothes she makes. I loved it. Raising Sparks by Ariel Kahn is a well written story set in Israel. It follows Malka and Moshe, their religious upbringing, their friendship and difficulties and Kabbalah. The Psychology Of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas has an interesting concept but I didn't enjoy it.

September

Clean by Juno Dawson is a great 'issues' book that deals with drug addiction, rehab, teenage friendships and family issues. To War With Whitaker is the diary of Hermione Whitaker from her time spent overseas in the second world war. It is fascinating and she was a very determined woman. Before The Fire by Sarah Butler deals with teenage friendship, grief, poverty, lack of ambition and social issues. It is a good read.

October

Girl Heart Girl by Lucy Sutcliffe was one I did not enjoy. Dying In The Wool by Frances Brody is the first of her Kate Shackleton detective stories. It is set in a mill village in the 1920s and looks into the disappearance of the mill owner. I really enjoyed it. Dragon Daughter by Liz Flanagan is a brilliant story featuring dragon eggs, dragons, dragon riding and an ancient island. The main character is a very fierce and determined girl and I loved the story. The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister ed by Helena Whitbread are fascinating to read. Anne Lister lived at Shibden Hall, an estate near Halifax, in the 1800s. She was a land owner, traveller, reader, employer, diarist and a lesbian. Many of her diary entries were written in code, when these were eventually transcribed they were found to reference her love affairs. She was an amazing, interesting woman. Her story will be on the BBC soon as Gentleman Jack by Sally Wainwright.

November

I am on a learn all I can about Anne Lister mission so I read more about her this month. Gentleman Jack by Angela Steidele is a biography chronicling Anne's life and the women that she loved. I learnt lots and really enjoyed it. Presenting The Past and Nature's Domain by Jill Liddington also told me more detail about Anne's Life. A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge is a spooky great read set in the English Civil War. Makepeace learns as a child to defend her head from ghosts that try to enter it. When she finds out more about her creepy family history she needs these skills. A Medal For Murder and Murder In The Afternoon by Frances Brody are the second and third Kate Shackleton books and I really enjoyed them. The Mermaid's Singing is the first Val McDermid book I have read and it was a good read and I will be reading more. It follows Tony Hill a psychologist and profiler and Carol Jordan, a detective, in their first case. Not pictured is The Moss House by Angela Clare which is a fictional account of the relationship Anne Lister had with Ann Walker, they lived together as a married couple. I was lucky enough to read this as a manuscript. It will be published later this year.

December

Splinter The Silence by Val McDermid is another Tony Hill and Carol Jordan book and it is a good read. The Quality Street Girls by Penny Thorpe is a bit too romance for me but I wanted to read it as the Mackintosh factory, where Quality Street were invented and made, was in Halifax and I wanted to know more local history. They are still made in Halifax. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers is a beautifully written, fascinating look at a gang of coiners (forgers) who operated in the Calder Valley in the eighteenth century. I loved it. Educated is Tara Westover's memoir about growing up in a strict Mormon family with a father prepping for the end of days and an abusive brother. It was a very interesting read, difficult in places. The Lingering by SJI Holliday is a great story, I really enjoyed it. It is part ghost story, part psychological thriller set in a commune based in an old institution on land linked to witchcraft.

So that was my 2018 in books. I got some super books for Christmas and some book tokens and am looking forward to more reading this year.

What I read in January

I did very well at Christmas for books and book tokens; I am looking forward to getting plenty of reading done this year. I've talked before about my love of Persephone Books and I was lucky enough to get five of their titles as presents. I couldn't wait to start them which is why one of them is the first read of the year.

In 1939 Mollie Panter-Downe was a 33 year old writer of novels, short stories and articles, living in Surrey. Between the years covered in this book, 1939-1945, she wrote a regular 'Letter from London' for the New Yorker. These letters gave American readers a real idea of what it was like to live in wartime Britain.

The author covers all topics in her letters; politics, war reports, rationing, evacuation, bombing, entertainment and work. She can be critical, stern, amusing and is detailed in her accounts. Her writing feels very immediate, she is quite chatty, as a reader you get a real snapshot of exactly what was happening on that day, both locally, nationally and often globally and, importantly, you also get to know people's reactions and feelings to these events. I found the book fascinating and very readable. Even if you have read quite a bit of wartime social history this book will enhance your knowledge and understanding.

Sarah Dunnakey is an author local to me and this book takes inspiration from some of the places and landscapes in the area in which we live. I was looking forward to reading her book for these reasons alone but I really enjoyed her writing and story too. It is a fantastic read, rich in detail and captivating.

The book is set in both the 1930's and the present day. The main character in the 1930's is Billy Shaw, a young boy who lives with his family at the mill turned Pleasure Palace where his mother works and he helps out. He becomes a companion to Jasper Harper who lives on the moors above the palace with his mother Edie and his uncle Charles, both of whom are writers. Billy's life becomes entwined in theirs until a tragic event occurs which leaves behind a mystery.

In the present day Anna Sallis is the new custodian at the mill/palace and she is working on the archives, history and exhibitions to make it more of a tourist attraction. She comes across Billy's story and begins to unfold the mystery linking him and the Harpers. As the mystery unravels all the events of years ago and their consequences become clear.

Set in 1831 in the grimy, murky, crime ridden streets of London this novel follows the story of Hester White. She wishes to escape her dire surroundings to find a better life. She is also worried about the number of people in her area who are disappearing without a trace. A chance meeting with a gentleman doctor and his sister, Rebekah Brock, leads to a change in Hester's circumstances. She becomes caught up in a perilous attempt to solve a grim mystery and finds love and belonging along the way. An atmospheric and gripping tale.

I really enjoyed reading this, it was quite a page turner. I thought the author captured the sights and smells of London at that time very well, as a reader you were transported there. I was a bit disappointed by the end of the book, not so much that it spoilt it for me but it was all just rather convenient.

This is the true story of Lale Solokov, a Slovakian Jew who was sent to Auschwitz. The author became friends with him in the last few years of his life and Lale shared his story with her as he wanted it to be recorded before he died.

Lale's job in Auschwitz was to tattoo the numbers onto the prisoner's arms as they first arrived at the camp. This job allowed him some small perks, he got a few extra rations and he was allowed to move around the camp more freely than an ordinary prisoner. Lale used his position to aid his fellow prisoners; he shared his extra rations and traded smuggled jewels and cash for food and medicine. He met a young woman, Gita, as he tattooed her number and they managed to keep meeting up and fell in love. This book tells their struggle for survival in the most desperate and harrowing of places. It is an incredibly moving, powerful and important read.

What have you been reading this month?

What I read in December

Happy New Year. I hope 2018 has got off to a great start for everyone. Today's post rounds off my monthly reading reviews for 2017. I read 55 books last year, I am planning a post discussing my favourites soon.

This is a children's story about a boy and a fox and a war. Peter rescued Pax when he was a cub and they have grown up together. With a war coming Peter is forced to return Pax to the wild; a decision he regrets as soon as he makes it. The book is the story of Peter's hunt to find Pax and Pax's story of what happens in the meantime. Peter and Pax get alternate chapters to tell their stories which works very well and the fox's voice is believable.

I enjoyed reading this book and it is very moving. I felt rather weepy at points. It would also be a good book to read aloud although you would need to judge the sensitivity of your audience. It is beautifully illustrated by Jon Klassen.

This novel is inspired by the life of the Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar who was born in 1961 and died at the age of 29. She is best known for her play Rita, Sue and Bob Too which was also turned into a film. Andrea had a very tough life on an infamous estate, dealing with poverty, abuse and alcoholism whilst bringing up her children.

This book tells the story of Andrea's life both at home on the Bradshaw Estate and whilst visiting London as a playwright to see her work being produced. It describes how authentic her work was and the difficulties that she faced whilst writing. It is both tragic and comic, just like her scripts. You get a feeling of how hard it must have been for Dunbar to navigate between these two worlds, only one of which she really understood.

This novel is very well researched and written, with a strong sense of place and real empathy for Dunbar. I found it fascinating and learnt quite a bit too.

I had been looking forward to this book by Lucy Adlington coming out and I was not disappointed. Lucy Adlington is part of the History Wardrobe whose historical costume talks and events you may have been lucky enough to go to. She has written several other books, two of which I have on my to read pile.

This is an incredibly powerful young adults book which centres on four young women - Rose, Ella, Marta and Carla. It is told from Ella's point of view and follows her from her first day in her new job in a sewing workshop. Only it is no ordinary first day as the workshop is in Birchwood (Auschwitz) and this is a story all about hope, friendship and survival. It is based on real sewing workshops within concentration camps.

I don't want to say much more about it as I do not want to ruin the story. It is a wonderfully written story which brings home the horror of it's setting in a way which is all the more powerful because it is dealing with sewing and clothes, things that are not out of the ordinary.

This novel begins in 1922 when Count Alexander Rostov, an aristocrat bought down by the Russian Revolution, is sentenced to house arrest in an attic room in the Hotel Metropol. The Count has to adjust suddenly from his life of having everything and more to having seemingly nothing. However, all of life can be witnessed through the comings and goings at the hotel. The Count makes an unlikely but rewarding friendship with a young girl who is also a guest. They explore behind the scenes at the hotel. This friendship has a lifelong effect on the Count and we follow his story up to 1954.

This book is atmospheric and it gave me a strong sense of Russia at that time, especially through it's politics, music, literature and ballet. The characters are strong and well drawn and you get a real sense of displacement. The house arrest in the hotel is a clever plot device which locks down the location whilst providing lots of plot opportunities in the day to day business of a busy hotel. I really enjoyed reading it.

This is a debut novel and a really great read. I enjoyed it a lot, you end up really feeling for the main character Eleanor. It is warm, funny and tragic in equal measure. I am finding it quite hard to know what to say about it without giving too much away.

Eleanor Elephant has many quirks and a decided way of doing things. Throughout the book we realise that this is to do with a tragic event in her early life which she has not/can not deal with. She has everything that she needs on the surface, a job, a flat, some interests but it becomes clear that she is existing rather than really living. Making a friend changes all that and we watch Eleanor change in ways that she never imagined. I can't say much more but it is well worth a read.

Despite having read a fair few crime books I have never read the 'Queen of Crime' P.D.James. These six short stories are clever tales of revenge. A bullying school teacher gets his comeuppance. A heart broken husband plots a way to get his own back but there is a twist in the end. A country house Christmas weekend doesn't follow the expected traditions. A young girl confronts a mystery in her past. A new house is acquired in a twisted way. A father in a nursing home cleverly gains revenge on his children.

These tales are well written and the characters are well drawn. I don't always enjoy short stories as I sometimes find them unsatisfying but that was not the case with these. Perfect for an afternoon of light reading.

There are two novels in this book. Quicksand was written in 1928 and Passing in 1929. Nella Larsen was an American novelist of the Harlem Renaissance (a movement in African American culture 1918-1937) and she was the first African American woman to win a Guggenheim Fellowship. She disappeared from public view after these two novels due to a messy divorce and a plagiarism accusation and worked as a nurse until her death.

Quicksand is thought to be semi autobiographical as the main character, Helga Crane, is the daughter of a West Indian father and a Danish mother, as was Larsen. Helga is a woman who is struggling to find a place where she is comfortable in life. Her parents are dead and her relatives are not all comfortable having her around. In seeking out what she wants she finds that she often feels apart when she is in black communities and is also uncomfortable living with her white relatives. She moves around trying to find where she belongs whilst becoming bogged down in questioning her emotions and her beliefs.

Passing focuses on two women and has some similar themes to Quicksand. Clare and Irene were friends as children and meet again after marriage and children. Both are mixed race and Irene identifies as black whilst Clare 'passes' as a white woman and her husband does not know her background. Clare wants to restart her friendship with Irene so that she can have an entry into black society and reconnect with one half of her identity. Irene fears for Clare being found out and judged by her racist husband.

Both books were fascinating, thought provoking, and gave me a much better insight into life in America for an African American in the twenties. I would like to think that things have improved enormously since then but recent events show that to sadly not be true.

I had quite a Persephone Books wish list for Christmas present ideas and luckily for me my family kindly obliged. This one is from my mum and dad. I do love Persephone books, they are always interesting, I like that they are out of the ordinary and that they work hard to bring forgotten women writers back to our attention. I have never read one that I did not enjoy. Also, let's not forget how beautiful they look in their classy silver jackets that open to reveal the glorious endpapers and the matching bookmark. The endpapers for this book are a 1933 textile design from the Calico Printers Association, Manchester. Imagine that as a frock!

Marianna was Monica Dickens second book, published in 1940 and written when she was 24. It tells the story of Mary from childhood to adulthood. It is a fairly gentle tale of family life, in a small flat and then house in London with her mother and actor uncle, with weekends and holidays spent at her late father's family's country seat Charbury. We follow Mary through endless summers with her cousins, school life, crushes, heart break, academic distress, acting school, Paris and love as she grows up and finds her identity. It has plenty of enjoyable domestic detail and special little moments and is a joy to read.

What I read in November

I am so behind on my book posts that I have decided to catch up with November and December and then start again in January and keep up to date from then. I haven't stopped reading, I just seem to have run out of time to write about reading!

I only read three books in November but two of them were great big thick ones!

I don't buy hardbacks very often but I could not resist this as I have been hoping for years that Philip Pullman would revisit the Northern Lights trilogy. If by some chance you have not read them already I really recommend those books. They are super, well written and really transport you into their world.

This book is kind of a prequel though Pullman isn't calling it that and it could be read as a stand alone book. The main character in Northern Lights, Lyra, is a baby in this book. The main character in this book is Malcolm, a publican's son who lives in the pub on the banks of the Thames. He has a beloved canoe called The Belle Sauvage and he canoes on the Thames, helps in the pub and does odd jobs in the nunnery across the river. But then it rains and rains and Malcolm meets friends and enemies and learns about politics and religion and science. He finds himself swept into a dangerous adventure.

I was torn between reading this all at once and savouring it slowly which is the option I took as I didn't want it to finish. I loved it. It was thrilling and exhilarating and nerve wracking and gripping. I was worried I would be disappointed in it because I love Northern Lights so much but I wasn't at all. I am looking forward to volume two!

This was first published in 1933; it is Orwell's account of living in poverty in Paris and London in the late twenties. The book begins in Paris and gives a detailed account of the struggle to pay for somewhere to sleep and something to eat and the difficulties of finding a job. When he is successfully employed as a kitchen porter he describes the sheer slog of the job and the lack of opportunities available whilst living that life. When he moves to London he often tramps the street from doss house to doss house looking for work and food.

Orwell describes the friends he made and the characters he met during that time and his descriptions are vivid and bring the people to life. It is interesting to find that most of the time people pull together to help each other out, sharing what little food or money they have. I found it really interesting and readable and it left me with a greater appreciation of the hardships of the time.

This is a hefty book at over 500 pages and frankly it would have benefited from some more editing. I wanted to like it and from the blurb on the back I really thought that I would but it just didn't do it for me.

It is set in rural France under German occupation during the second world war. In the small community everyone knows everyone and all their business and the reader is introduced to most of the townspeople which can get a little confusing. The main character, Jacques, a farmer, manages to evade conscription to German factories and sees out the war in his village. As a response to various trials and losses he decides to move his house, stone by stone, from one side of the village to the other. This process continues day after day whilst life in the village with its various dramas, secrets and intrigues pass him by. As the war comes to an end we see what has happened to the community.

I found it hard to like any of the characters and that always stops me from enjoying a book as much as I might. Some of them were quite frustrating and I just wanted them to get on with it. There is also some fairly terrible writing about sex which grated.

All in all, could have been good but it just wasn't.

This is my last post of 2017 so Happy New Year. Here is to plenty of great reads in 2018. Is there anything that you are looking forward to reading?

What I read in May

Gosh, how am I behind on this series already?! I can't believe it is July! If you didn't catch the first post about my reading habits you can find the post for April here.

I have only read 3 or 4 Agatha Christie novels and decided I really needed to read some more seeing as she is one of the most famous and prolific crime writers. When this lovely copy turned up at my book group I knew I would read it. The story is interesting, all the action is based around a famous precious ruby called the Heart of Fire and it's new owner. Most of the story occurs on the Blue Train which is travelling from London to Nice and many of the passengers become involved in the drama. This is a Poirot story so we get to see him unravelling all the mysteries. I enjoyed the story and there were some interesting characters.

However, when reading old books there can be some uncomfortable/upsetting moments when your values/beliefs clash with those in the book and you come across what Mim at Crinoline Robot calls 'Attitudes of their Time' and she discusses this very well, probably better than I can. In this case this book published in 1928 displays some antisemitism with regards to some minor characters.

Next I switched to non fiction and picked this social history book. It is a collection of entries from a Mass Observation diary that a Yorkshire woman kept during World War Two. Her sister and brother in law were shop keepers in Dewsbury (which is relatively local to me) and Kathleen worked in the grocery shop with them. I have read quite a few Mass Observation diaries and always enjoy learning about ordinary people on the Home Front and their wartime experience. This one was interesting as I have read a lot about rationing and shopping from the shopper's point of view but nothing about it from the other side. Kathleen writes about the difficulties of keeping up with the changing rationing system, the trials of getting their share of supplies, the filling in of endless forms and the worries of letting down their regular customers. You find out how oranges can cause major disruption and how unpopular tea rationing was. Unlike some diaries there is very little of a personal nature so you don't get to know Kathleen very well but you do find out lots about shop and town life during the war.

One reason that I didn't read many books in May is right here. I have been trying to read this book, all about the fashion industry and in theory it is right up my street and I should be enjoying it. However, I am only on chapter 4 and that has been a struggle. It is interesting but I think the anti capitalist viewpoint is rammed home so strongly and constantly that I just found it a bit wearing. So I have decided it might be one to dip in and out of, reading a chapter here and there, rather than reading it straight through. I don't want to give up on it yet as what I have read has been of interest.

The final book I read in May was 'The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets" by Eva Rice. I was so efficient at passing it on to the charity shop when I had finished it that I didn't even take a photo of the front cover. In a way that is good though as the cover is one of those off putting pink sickly chick lit things which might make you stay away from a really enjoyable book.

It is set in the 1950's and reflects the recovery from wartime that is occurring and also the split between those who had a life before the war and those who were born during it so they are now just starting to have some fun. It follows the unlikely friendship of two quite different young women, Penelope and Charlotte and the lives that they are trying to build for themselves. There are financial worries about an ancestral pile, rock n roll, debutante type parties, memoirs, love affairs and guinea pigs. It was very readable and I really enjoyed it. It would be a great holiday book.

What have you been reading?

What I read in April

I have not really spoken much about my reading habits here except for in this bookworm post where I also answered a reading questionnaire. It has been seeming daft to me to not have been talking about books here as I love reading and if I'm relaxing I'm either reading or knitting. But not both, I haven't mastered that yet....

I think part of it has been thinking that I should write some 'proper' book reviews and every time I started that I just couldn't get going with it. So instead, I'm hoping to do a monthly round up about what I have read in that month and I'm just going to chat on like I would at my book group or at a cafe or at knitting group or at the pub.

I really wish that I had managed to decide this in January as it would have been pleasing to me to start this series at the start of the year but I've had a little chat with myself and May is perfectly acceptable instead!

I began this book in March and it was finished in April. I borrowed this from my book group, we swap books and chat about them rather than all reading the same one each month. I enjoy social history books and I am a WI member so I was eager to read this and find out more. Each chapter covers a certain period in the WI's existence and I was particularly interested in the ones covering the World Wars and the 1930's. It was great to read about what a bunch of very determined women can do. What I enjoyed most was realising just what a force for change and what a powerful campaigning organisation the WI has been since it's inception. I knew some of this but it was fascinating to know more. If you have an interest in social history, WI member or not, you will enjoy this.

I am currently addicted to modern crime/detective stories set in the 1930's due to my recent discovery of this author and the one that I will mention next. This is the second book in Nicola Upson's Josephine Tey series but is the third one I have read. In a very uncharacteristic (and frankly rather stressful once I realised) move I read the most recent one first. Part way through I realised it was part of a series but by then I couldn't stop and start at the beginning. So the first thing to say is that if you can cope with reading a series out of order then you can with these as each holds its own as a separate book although it is clear that the characters have a back story.

The character Josephine Tey is a writer who has written a successful crime novel and several well respected plays. In this book she goes to Cornwall to stay on the estate of a friend and write her second crime book. The friend, Inspector Archie Penrose, ends up investigating the goings on at the estate and Josephine gets drawn in. It is a super book, strong characters, interesting storyline, good period detail. I really couldn't put it down and I recommend it highly.

The Maisie Dobbs mystery books are my other current 1930's crime obsession. I am enjoying them so much, I'm torn between reading them one after another but then running out or rationing them so I have some to look forward to for a long time. This is book two of the series and I read book three straight afterwards as I couldn't wait! Also, loving the cover art. I don't choose books by their front covers but these definitely attract me and are reflective of the nature of the book.

Maisie Dobbs is a private investigator with an interesting background as the daughter of a London tradesman who went on to university and then became a nurse in France in World War One. The scars of the war are still to be felt both in Maisie and the other characters and there is a great sense of period and place in these books. In this novel Maisie is tasked with finding the runaway daughter of one of the country's wealthiest men and in doing so finds links to recent murder cases and to the war. It is both well written and gripping and I enjoyed it enormously.

This is Maisie Dobbs number three. It is set in London in 1930 and Maisie is asked to prove that an aviator shot down in France in 1917 is really dead, as was reported at the time. This means that Maisie has to return to France to lay some personal and professional ghosts to rest. This novel explores the sadness of that time wonderfully and doesn't flinch from looking at the aftermath of so much death and destruction. It was a really super read and Maisie is a fabulously drawn character.

Hmm. I still don't know whether I enjoyed reading this book or not. It is set in a small rural town in Australia and Tilly, who left under a cloud aged 10, has returned to look after her unstable mother. She returns as a couture dressmaker and makes clothes for the locals who are still both suspicious and hostile and relations are tricky to say the least. I found it very difficult to like any of the characters, including the main one so I found it harder to care about the story. But, the descriptions of the clothes that Tilly makes are just fabulous and you can really envision these designs and outfits coming to life from her machine. So if you like clothes a lot it is worth a read. I haven't seen the film yet, I wanted to read the book first so I'm going to watch that next and see what I think.

This is one of the books in the Persephone Books series. They publish neglected works of fiction and non fiction by mostly female writers of the mid twentieth century. The authors range from well known like Noel Streatfeild, E.M. Delafield and Winnifred Holtby to the less well known. There are 122 books in the series, covering a breadth of topics, this is the eighth that I have read and I have enjoyed them all. The books are beautifully bound with endpapers that are copies of fabric designs. Each book comes with a bookmark in it's endpaper design which is a wonderful touch. This design is Farm Scene, a 1930's dress fabric.

Dorothy Whipple (1893-1966) wrote eight books, two of which were made into films. This is the first of hers that I have read and I enjoyed it greatly so would look out for another by her. High Wages was  first published in 1930 and is set in 1912. The main character is Jane, a young woman with no family behind her who starts a new job in a better class of haberdashery as a shop girl. The story follows Jane's progress in the shop and in the world within the constraints and class structure of the time. Jane is both intelligent and motivated with an eye for fashion and plenty of ideas and it was interesting to see what became of her.

As well as the story the novel is a commentary on both the lives of shop girls and the shopping habits of the times. I learnt a lot from a social history point of view. There are also lovely descriptions of fabric and clothes and accessories which bought the shop and the customers to life. It is a lovely read.

What have you been reading recently? Anything I should add to my reading list?

A bit of a bookworm

I love reading. It is one of my most favourite things to do. I love the way that a book can take you into another world, inside someone else's head, inside someone else's life and to places that you have never been or will never be likely to go. I like the way that they can make you happy, sad, excited, scared, intrigued and fascinated. You will never be bored if you can read and if you have access to a book. You can read for pleasure, to escape, for formal education, to learn something for yourself or to inspire. Sometimes, I get worried about how I will have to time to read all the books in the world that I want to read!

I have enjoyed reading ever since I was a little girl. I remember being in Class 5 and being able to choose my own book from the harder books on the shelf. I can remember standing by the side of my dad's chair reading my school books to him. I remember my mum choosing books to read as bedtime stories to my sister and I. I remember the day that I could choose books that weren't from the children's corner in my local library. I remember going to the library before our summer holiday and carefully picking six books to last me through the week away. I remember getting a bedside light for Christmas so that I could read in bed without disturbing my sister with whom I shared a room. I remember going round to my neighbours and choosing the next one in the complete Nancy Drew series that she had. I remember as a teenager working my way through my auntie's Thomas Hardy collection of which I was allowed any except Jude the Obscure. I remember reading Jilly Cooper's books all the way through studying for my Masters for some light relief. I remember collecting my boxes of childhood books from my parent's loft when they moved house.

My bookcase on the upstairs landing. Each shelf is double stacked.
This is the waiting to be read bookcase.

When I was nine or ten I started a list of books that I read, writing them down each time I finished one on lined paper in my red with white polka dots file. I know that 60-90 books a month was not unusual for me. I wish I still had that list so that I could see what kind of books I was reading. I no longer read that many books a month, too many other things get in the way when you are grown up. In 2008 I did start my reading list back up, I write it in an A5 hardback notebook and I enjoy flicking back through it every so often.

One of the sets of shelves in the living room.
A number of these shelves are double stacked with
my books from my childhood behind.

A few weeks ago Jessica from the fabulous Chronically Vintage wrote this post about her reading habits and answered a set of questions about them. I so enjoyed reading about Jessica's joy of reading and it inspired me to write this post of my own and to answer the set of questions.

My bookcase in our spare room. This has all my
vintage craft books, vintage fiction books and
my modern knitting and sewing  and fashion
history books.

Do you snack while you read? If so, what is your favourite reading snack? 

I tend to read and eat all the time, especially if I am on my own. I eat and read at breakfast and at lunchtime. I don't necessarily snack and read but if I was going to, my preferred snack would be some chocolate. 

What is your favourite drink while reading? 

My favourite drink while reading, indeed my favourite drink is a good cup of tea, in my favourite mug.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? 

The idea of doing anything to my books except for keeping them pristine horrifies me! I don't really even like the spine getting creased unless the book is so large that it is unavoidable. When I am buying a book I go through the whole pile in the bookshop and choose the one with as near perfect a cover as possible. I caused great hilarity at one of my book groups, which runs as a book swap, by buying a copy of the book I wanted to swap from a charity shop so that I didn't have to risk my copy going out into the world and getting wrinkled!

That said, I did do A level English Literature and had to write in my books then. So my copies of Middlemarch by George Elliot, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf do have written notes in them. But only in pencil!

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open? 

As you can probably gather from the above answer dog ears or laying a book open flat are big no no's for me. A bookmark every time. Not always the same bookmark though, I like to vary them with the books I read. I think somewhere I probably have my childhood bookmark collection, I always used to get a new one from historic houses and museums that we visited.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both? 

Both! I like many different genres of fiction and tend to give most books a try if someone has recommended them to me. My least favourite are science fiction and fantasy. I always keep an eye on what new titles are coming out, I like reading the book charts and reviews in the Sunday papers and just browsing in book shops. I read lots of social history books, particularly Second World War diaries and books about women's experiences and changing roles. I also enjoy books which cover the 1920's-1950's and I like to read about fashion history.

Are you the kind of person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere? 

I can stop anywhere but I prefer to stop at the end of a chapter. It is rare that I don't do that, it probably only happens if I am reading in bed and am too tired to get to the chapter's end.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you? 

I wouldn't do anything which would damage a book but I have chucked one across the sofa or to the bottom of my bed if I am irritated. This is most likely to occur when I find the ending of a book unsatisfactory. I don't like to be left hanging, I like a proper ending!

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away? 

I would like to say yes as it is always good to expand your vocabulary but actually, no I don't. If I can guess or it doesn't detract from the sense of the story then I probably wouldn't stop to look it up.

What are you currently reading? 

I am currently reading a non fiction book A Home Front Diary 1914-1918 by Lillie Scales. The last few books I have read are The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller, When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant, Ravenscliffe by Jane Sanderson, Last Chance Saloon by Marion Keyes and Poor Cow by Nell Dunn.

What is the last book you bought? 

It wasn't just one book! I had a couple of gift vouchers for Waterstones so I went and had a lovely happy time looking at everything and then making my selection. I love being in a book shop, I find it so relaxing and I love gift vouchers because they are completely guilt free shopping! I only bought one fiction book, the rest are social history.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one? 

When I was younger I would often have two or three books on the go at once. Now though I only really read one book at a time. I might have a fiction book that I am reading and a non fiction book that I am dipping into now and again.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read? 

I read all the time, whenever possible so I don't really have a favourite time to read. I like to read in the bath, in bed, on the sofa and on an old leather chair of my parents that we have in our spare room. My other favourite place to read is in my parent's cosy little summer house in their garden.

Do you prefer series books or stand-alones? 

I would say that I read more stand alone books but I am not against a series if I find one that I enjoy. For example; Philippa Gregory's books on the Wars of the Roses are a series but can be read and enjoyed as individual books. I really enjoyed Philip Pullman's Northern Lights series.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over? 

This is a really difficult one. I think if someone was to tell me the kind of book that they liked to read I would have no problem recommending one but I don't have a particular favourite that I would always recommend. Some authors whose books I would always read include Sarah Waters, Margaret Forster, Penelope Lively, Andrea Levy, Pat Barker, C J Sansom, Kate Morton, Kate Mosse, Joanne Harris, Maggie O' Farrell, Sebastian Faulks, Tracy Chevalier and Patrick Gale.

How do you organise your books? (By genre, title, author's last name, etc.) 

I order my books in several different ways. My social history books are ordered by time period and also in the order that I have read them. My knitting books are all together as are my sewing books. I separate out children and young adult's fiction and they are arranged by author. Classics all go together, by author. Then with my fiction books I order them by author and then by who I think they would get along with! That isn't based on anything other than a strange gut feeling that this sort of book would like that sort of book if they met each other! Occasionally my books are ordered only by where I can manage to get them to fit on an already packed shelf!

I really enjoyed thinking about my reading habits to answer these questions and to write this post. I was also pleased to be able to combine my love of reading with my love of vintage knitting patterns as I went through my collection to find the patterns that featured women reading or with books. Actually, there aren't as many as I had thought that there might be. Plenty of posing with flowers, chairs, umbrellas and random backgrounds but not so many books. A gap in pattern cover styling I think!