willoyd

Thank you - I don't feel very retired yet, and hopefully won't as I'm now doing some voluntary work, both in local village and in conservation education, and will do some paid work to keep my hand in, but it's nice to have some space to breathe now, and to be able to enjoy evenings and weekends. Yes - I want to see that museum too!

One day.......

This week It's been a busy week: whilst no longer involved in the start of the school year (Hurrah!), I've been up to my eyeballs in domestic work, not least decorating the kitchen - an excellent opportunity to catch up with podcasts, CD series and even the odd audiobook, if not a lot of time to sit down and actually read. I've finished two books this week: Marilynne Robinson's Gilead was the audiobook - a set of 7 CDs that was part of a birthday present a couple of years ago and that has been waiting for a decorating project - which, whilst it took some getting into (the first 3 CDs seemed rather rambly), seemed to tighten its focus in the latter half and eventually proved a rewarding listen (if that's the right word!). I've now got stuck into David Reynolds's Radio 4 series from a few years ago and now on CD, Empire of Liberty, a history of the USA, with the aim of reading the book later: excellent listening and very enlightening. More conventionally, I also finished my book group's choice for this month, Clayhanger by Arnold Bennett. Having also read The Old Wives' Tale earlier this year, I am somewhat mystified as to Bennett's obscurity. He's a superb writer, and one that (according to the rest of my book group, all women) gets into the mind of women better than most men. This was another that took a bit of warming up, but eventually I really couldn't put it down, reading into the early hours of the morning. I did manage to pop into a couple of my favourite second-hand bookshops whilst on a mission to York earlier in the week, and came away with a fistful of books that were all on my wishlist and all at pleasantly cheap prices (I've had to cut back a lot on full price books now!): 3 of Roger Pilkington's Small Boat series, which I collect as and when, Apostle - Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve by Tim Bissell, and Taming the Flood by Jeremy Purseglove. I passed on a quite a few others! I also picked up my book group's next book, The Deaths by Mark Lawson - a really nice copy of the hardback at 50p! As a result of all this, am now at 38/52 on the Popsugar Challenge (Gilead - an audiobook, Clayhanger - book with a red spine), nicely on target at present, but am well down on my target of reading more books than I have bought during the year (20+ down now!). Must try harder!.

Two-thirds of the way through the year, and 46 books completed. A bit down on last year (54 at this stage), but that was my biggest year ever as an adult.

Oh, I remember Armada paperbacks. I think they were the ones that graded target reading ages for each book with different coloured dragons (red, green and blue?).

That exact omnibus is the first book I can ever recall owning and reading! My copy (and we're talking the early sixties here) was a darkish royal blue hardback, and was absolutely adored. I suspect it finally fell apart. I now have a 12-volume boxed set of Paddington Bears in hardback, published by Harper Collins "exclusively for the Folio Society" which I picked up in a special deal, and which look lovely. They are one of the very few "children's books" that I keep - I've barely two shelves worth - but are much loved. I used to have a larger collection but I find that most children's books simply don't engage me any more: too many years as a primary school teacher has left me needing more adult sustenance; I can rarely even read YA books now. What I do have seems to speak either to my childhood or to the adult in me. (I also have a couple of volumes of Paddington in German - certainly helps with the motivation when learning!). FWIW, in addition to the Paddington books, my children's books consist of hardback copies - mainly Folio Society editions - of the books below. You can see the sort of books and authors that influenced my early reading (plus a lot more of the likes of - off the top of my head - Enid Blyton, WE Johns, EE Nesbitt, Richmal Crompton, Alison Uttley and PL Travers)! I may have a few others (like the Twains), but shelve them as adult books. Alice books - Lewis Carroll The Dark is Rising sequence The Seeing Stone trilogy Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Wind in the Willows Kipling's Jungle Books and Puck of Pook's Hill books AA Milne's Pooh and complete Christopher Robin poems The Dark Materials trilogy The Swallows and Amazons sequence The Eagle of the Ninth trilogy Mistress Masham's Repose Ronald Welch's complete Carey Family sequence Flood Warning by Paul Berna Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book Kidnapped/Catriona and Treasure Island

Four more reviews to bring me up to date this month A Point of View by Lisa Jardine ***** A Point of View was the BBC's answer to the retirement of Alistair Cooke, and the loss of Letter from America. It's an interesting series, with a variety of contributors reflecting on a topical issue of their choice (and often taking off at an interesting tangent!), but it's never, for me, quite hit the consistent heights of Cooke's broadcasts. Except for Lisa Jardine. I could virtually guarantee when her name was mentioned that I would spend the next 15 minutes completely wrapped up in her crystal clear exposition, a voice of calm, sensitive but scientific reason, in a world that all too often feels anything but calm, sensitive or rational. This book is a collection of some twenty-one of her radio essays, and they made equally easy and pleasurable reading. I will, inevitably, return to them, and go to her other collection Another Point of View. Sadly, there will be no more, but I can still hear her voice, made for radio, in those written words, even without the aid of the podcasts. The Timeless Way? by Peter Clarke *** The author describes a walking route from the Butt of Lewis to the southern end of the chain of islands that make up the Outer Hebrides, using ancient paths and trackways as much as possible. It was written in around 2006, partly with the aim to stimulate the formal development of a walking route, something that has since come to fruition with the advent of the Hebridean Way. That doesn't lessen the potential interest of the book in any way though, especially as the final route is significantly different. There are two significant problems though. The first is that Clarke gets thoroughly bogged down on occasions in the minutiae of the route description. This is probably because he wanted to definitively describe a walk for people to follow. In that context a detailed description was necessary, as the maps used to illustrate the book are as close to useless as any I've come across, but at least it's possible (as I did) to follow the route pretty accurately on the relevant OS sheets (I used the 1:50k maps), as long as you can translate from his Anglicised versions of names to the OS's Gaelic labels. Following the route in this way certainly added significantly to the interest. The other problem is that, perhaps trying to be clear, the writing is on occasions quite monotonous in structure: a string of simple sentences starting with pronouns or noun phrases, barely a connective in sight. The result is a strongly staccato rhythm that does not flow easily when read. It's noticeable that on the occasions he does move away from the route finding and goes into the history (particularly of the local hostels en route and their villages) he adopts a more discursive style, which makes for a much more interesting read. It's a pity that this is not the norm, and that he didn't reverse the proportions taken up by route description and background. More About Paddington by Michael Bond ****** One of the very, very few authors who is almost guaranteed to make me laugh outright. That probably says something about my maturity, but Paddington Bear is in my view one of the great inventions of children's literature; as with all great children's books, there is also much for adults to appreciate and, indeed, learn from. These books may have been written 50 or so years ago, but they remain remarkably topical, particularly when bearing (!) in mind that Paddington is an immigrant. On a lighter note, I'm currently in the throes of decorating our kitchen, and the description of Paddington's efforts with his bedroom left me completely helpless. The original illustrations, by Peggy Fortnum, add much to the text. Overall, this is pure, unadulterated, genius. The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller **** Read as part of my US Challenge (my fourth, just another 47 to go!) , this is the book for Iowa. It's probably not the sort of book I would normally pick up, but in the event it proved a moving and involving story, and I'm glad it was part of the challenge. It may not have wowed the critics at the time, but I can completely understand why it has proved such a best seller, written at a very human, and humane, level. Incidentally, I can totally see how Clint Eastwood fitted the role of Robert Kincaid in the film, but I couldn't match up my image of Francesca Johnson with Meryl Streep, however much I admire her - I'll have to see how that works sometime.

I read Eiger Dreams whilst staying in Zermatt on a mountain holiday. Not quite the same as, say, Grindelwald, but it seemed appropriate, and certainly added to my appreciation and enjoyment of the geography around me!

Funny how we can come at things from completely different directions. I came to Into the Wild from Krakauer's book Eiger Dreams and knew of Into Thin Air and its background story long beforehand; I always thought of him as a climber (he also advised on Meru). I always regarded ITA as Krakauer's best known book, so interesting to see a different perspective. A really good writer!

A few more mini-reviews. These seem to be becoming a habit, but if I'm going to write a full review, I need to write it almost immediately after finishing the book. As the earlier ones of these were read almost a month ago, I'm going to stick to the smaller versions for now! Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie **** The original black and white film is one of my all-time favourites, but for some reason I've never got around to reading the book. It's based on real events, the original of the SS Cabinet Minister in the book being the SS Politician which sank off Eriskay during the war when it landed up somewhere it shouldn't have done! As we were heading off to the Western Isles and intending to visit the area, it was surely about time that I read the book! I have to be honest and say this is one of those rare occasions where I think the film is better than the book. The latter is an enjoyable, light-hearted, read, and certainly kept me thoroughly entertained, but it suffers in comparison with the genius of the film, not least in its pace - all the film action taking place in a couple of days, rather than the months of the book, which reduces the impact and the comedic value. Both good, but the film is an easy 6-stars, whilst the book is a steadier 4 stars. (The more recent film starring Eddie Izard was fun, but not a patch on the original). Great Northern? by Arthur Ransome **** The last novel in the Swallows and Amazons series, bringing all the children together into one adventure set on the Isle of Harris. Again, a book that I've never got around to reading (in spite of being a passionate fan of the S&As), and another must being up on the island for our holidays this summer (we visited the place where Ransome stayed - Uig on the west coast). A classic S&A story, even if not quite as enthralling as the earlier novels. I think that's partly down to the structure - there's a point where Ransome is trying to handle three parallel strands and it's just a mite too repetitive for my taste - and partly down to the rather weak characterisation of the 'natives', but the main plot is a good one (trying to protect a rare breeding pair of Great Northern Divers from a professional egg collector), and it's good to see the younger ones being given more important roles, particularly as I've always empathised with Dick. I'd love to know though whether the main setting has any foundation in the real world, as his Lake District and East Anglian settings do. I can't find any trace of that, but it wouldn't surprise me. Sea Room by Adam Nicolson ***** Another book in my Hebridean thread. Adam Nicolson, the son of the publisher Nigel Nicolson, and the grandson of Vita Sackville-West, is a well-known writer in his own right on a wide range of subjects. His father bought the Shiant Islands (off the east coast of the Isle of Lewis/Harris, and previously owned by Compton Mackenzie, above), which have now passed into his hands. The islands have not been permanently inhabited since the start of the twentieth century, but it is used for sheep pasture, and is one of the most important breeding grounds for seabirds in the UK. Nicolson stays on the island regularly, in a very basic bothy, and obviously has a deep passion for them. This book is his paean to the islands, covering much of the archipelago's history, archaeology and ecology. It's fascinating stuff, and shows deep respect for both the islands and those who have lived there or made their living from them. (It was written ten or so years ago, and Nicolson has since passed the islands on to his son Tom. The islands remain a major haven for birds, particularly since the black rats, which are a significant feature in the book, have now been cleared after considerable debate and effort). Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie ***** The Outer Hebrides feature (there's a particularly interesting chapter on St Kilda), but this collection of essays is rather more broad-ranging, although retaining a strongly Scando-Scottish feel, with chapters on gannets, a whale museum in Bergen, storm petrel surveys, the island of Rona, and memories of a Scottish archaeological dig amongst others). I loved the lyricism and effortlessly readable prose of Findings, and this was more of the same. Kathleen Jamie is probably better known as a poet, and she brings her skills fully to bear on her prose. Although her language never feels complex, it is always engaging and flows beautifully. It is an absolute joy to read. I just wish there was more.

Rattled through three or four books in the last few days, all of them pretty short, including The Timeless Way by Peter Clarke, More About Paddington (read for the Popsugar challenge category, a previously read book guaranteed to raise a smile - more like an out and out howl of laughter!), and The Bridges of Madison County. Now a change of pace, as have started Arnold Bennett's chunky Clayhanger, this month's choice for my book group - to be discussed next Monday!

I have a little book called What's in a Name? by Cyril M Harris that I bought a few years ago at the London Transport Museum that does the same: "The origins of the names of all stations in current use on the London Underground and Docklands Light Rail with their opening dates." First published in 1977, mine was the 4th edition (2001) reprinted in 2008, published by Capital History. A simple reference book of some 84 pages, amply illustrated with B&W photos. Thoroughly recommended! I read this as a teenager, as it was a set book. I was underwhelmed then, and not a lot more impressed this time round either. Average is a good word! I gave it 3 stars too.

Lisa Jardine lived up to all expectations, A Point of View being a collection of thought provoking essays from the eponymous Radio Four programe. They are a little bit dated, mostly from around 2006, but most still have something strong to say about life and events today. 5*. Have now moved on to Peter Clarke's The Timeless Way, in which he puts together a walk the length of the Outer Hebrides based on old tracks and ways. Interested as have just returned from there.

A hundred books to date this year is pretty phenomenal, but particular congratulations on finishing the English County Challenge. How appropriate to do it with your hundredth book! (I'm looking forward to your comments on/review of the challenge now you've finished - favourite? least favourite? etc etc!).

I loved The Running Hare too. I gave last year's winner, The Outrun, 6* when I read it last year, and wondered why I originally 'only' gave TRH 5* (excellent, but not quite a favourite at that point). My mini-review written when I read it in May last year might explain: Beautifully written account of a year turning a field in the midst of barren agribusiness in Herefordshire back to traditional farming methods, and the dramatic and immediate effect it had on the wildlife. I'd have enjoyed it even more if the quotes had been less chunky - I sometimes wondered who was meant to be the writer, which was a pity as I usually preferred the author's own words. A message of hope before it's too late - but we must be on the cusp in some places. Having said that, I later upgraded to a six - it had certainly got under my skin, quotes or no quotes! I can thoroughly recommend The Seabird's Cry by Adam Nicolson - will be very unhappy if it's not short-listed, especially having given it a six as well! Most of my other nature reading this year has been of older books (Sightlines, Sea Room, The Sparrowhawk's Lament etc), but one other recent publication I've read is Richard Smyth's A Sweet, Wild Note. I enjoyed it, and do recommend it as a good read (4*), but it's not quite a Wainwright contender for me.

Yes, I read it a year or so ago. Gave it 6 stars. I suspect the only reason I gave this 'only' 5 was that I read it in smaller chunks, and thus didn't quite get as involved in it in the same way as I did Findings. I'm not good at keeping more than one book at a time going. I also thought it was bit more straightforward than Findings, which I remember as being slightly more contemplative, but that may just be a trick of memory. Splitting hairs really, whether it's 5 or 6 it's still an excellent read, the 6 simply meaning that something about it made it a personal favourite. I usually hold fire on awarding a 6 anyway, and wait to see how I remember a 5-star book longer term, so it may well get promoted in the future.

Went to see Dunkirk this weekend. Agree with most reviewers here in giving it the thumbs up. Any historical nitpicks completely subsumed into the overall impression which was, to use Claire's succinct comment, 'Magnificent'. Loved the non-linear interwoven narratives, loved the minimal dialogue, loved the tight focus on almost completely unidentified individuals to represent the totality, loved the music. Particularly struck by the incorporation of original little ships. Both Rylance and Branagh shone simply by not trying to be stars, and well balanced by the younger actors. Either I'm getting less discriminating, or we've just been blessed with some excellent films recently, but I seem to have been to see a string of them this year: Hidden Figures, Jackie, Manchester By The Sea, Elle, Certain Women, Letters from Baghdad, The Handmaiden, and now Dunkirk (I'm sure I've missed at least a couple of others too!). Other good ones too, these are just the best.

Two series jump to mind immediately. The first book or two in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series are good, but it's not until book 3 that the series really gets off the ground. I've yet to read to the end, but this is certainly a series where the middle outdoes the start. The other series is Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence. The first volume, Over Sea Under Stone is OK, but the second, The Dark is Rising itself is infinitely better. As I write, I've thought of another couple too: Barchester Towers is IMO a much better read than The Warden, and I prefer some of the middle books in the Swallows and Amazons series to either the first or the last.

Just back from the fabulous Outer Hebrides, a holiday full of wildlife, wonderful beaches, beautiful skies, and landscape to fall in love with. The islands were not full of people (unlike Skye!!), but we found everybody really friendly and welcoming. I could go back tomorrow. Didn't read as much as expected, but managed to complete two books on the trip, and the bulk of two others, all related to the islands. Having loved the film Whisky Galore ever since I first saw it (and the new one is OK but not a patch on the old B&W version), I thought it about time I actually read the book (and we went to see where it all happened too!). The same with Great Northern? - for some reason, in spite of being a Ransome fan as a youngster, I had somehow never got around to reading this last of the Swallows and Amazons novels. Finished, and enjoyed, both (4 stars each). Brought home to finish two others: Sea Room by Adam Nicolson, all about the Shiants (islands just off the East coast of Harris/Lewis), which his family has owned since the 1950s, and Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie, a series of short essays mostly based around the natural world of the Scottish islands (and Norway). Even better reading, both rating 5 stars (excellent, if not quite getting on to my short favourites list). Now to work out when I can next get back to the islands......

Two books finished in quick order in the last day or so, both started whilst away on holiday in the Hebrides. One on the Kindle - Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie, a series of short essays that I could read in bed (after lights out!), and the other in paperback - Sea Room by Adam Nicolson, all about the Shiants, a small group of islands just off the coast of Harris/Lewis, and almost visible from where we were staying for the second half of the holiday. A brilliant holiday, and two excellent books, both on 5 stars. A bit of a loss as to what to go onto next, but have provisionally plumped for some more short essays, this time A Point of View by the late and great polymath, Lisa Jardine.

Some more shorter reviews: Footsteps by Katherine McMahon **** A novel with two timelines interleaved. In the present day, Helena Mayrick's husband Michael is killed in a walking accident, and, dealing with the aftermath, she is asked to help research and take on the writing of a biography of her grandfather, Donaldson, a well-known Edwardian photographer. The relationship between her grandparents and their child, Helena's mother Joanna, is a bit of a family mystery, and Helena, reluctantly but increasingly involved, starts to investigate. Played out in parallel to this is the story of Donaldson and Helena's grandmother, Ruth Styles. This story is complex but intriguing. As some reviewers have complained, it's not a gallop by any means, but I found the slower pace was thoroughly effective at pulling me into the time period, in enabling the stories to become fully intertwined, and in properly establishing the claustrophobic atmosphere that Ruth is captured by. The slower place also enables the various complexities to be played out to the full, with several small subthreads that provided valuable texture. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed what proved a fascinating family mystery that so accurately echoed my own (if somewhat less dramatic!) experiences in investigating my family tree. A good story, well told. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson *** Set on a fictional island (San Piedro) off the coast of Washington State, Japanese-American fisherman Kabuo Miyamoto is in court, accused of the murder of one of his fellow fisherman at sea. Whilst the story is mainly set in the courtroom, it is largely told in flashback, through which Carl Heine's death is seen as the culmination of the rocky relationship between the Heine and Miyamoto families, whilst local attitudes are influenced by prejudices based on Japanese involvement in WW2, with perhaps wider implications? I have to say that whilst this is generally highly regarded, and it is certainly well written, it took a long time before I got 'in' to the story, and it wasn't until the flashbacks caught up and the story started to be told almost completey in real-time that I was fully engaged. Before this, it all seemed rather long-winded, and we were told too much. In particular, the story of Isaac and Hatsue's relationship, whilst central to the novel, seemed to drag on for ever. In the end, the denouement came well before the end, and whilst the last pages filled detail out, we reverted to learning every little detail. There are times when less is more, and this felt to be one of them. All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai ** Basically a time travel story, and one that tries (unsuccessfully IMO) to address the paradoxes of travelling back in time. With wafer-thin characterisation, a chronology that simply didn't hold together, and an author bogged down in his ideas and pseudoscientific explanations, this was, in hindsight, lucky to achieve two stars. My reading group (this was our July selection) certainly didn't agree with me - I think I gave it the highest mark of all of us. Personally, I think there was quite a good story trying to get out, but it needed more emphasis on story and less on clever-clever plotting for that to happen. Certainly, one of the weakest books I've read this year to date. The Seabird's Cry by Adam Nicolson ****** Nicolson has a long-standing interest in seabirds, and is the (lucky!) owner of the Shiant islands, lying just off the coast of Harris in the Minch (and written about in Sea Room). He is also a superb writer. Each chapter focuses on one species or family of seabirds and within that tends to concentrate on one major theme or aspect of them (for instance, the navigation systems used by albatrosses, social relationships between guillemots). The result is a book that I found totally fascinating and a joy to read. My only problem is that I will have to keep going back to it, a chapter at a time, simply to absorb all that he says, there's so much to take on board. This was one of those rare books that within a half-dozen or so pages, I just knew it was going to be a favourite. I must go off now and read Sea Room properly - something I haven't yet done (I've no idea why - maybe because it's actually OH's book and sits on her shelves, so I've simply never got around to it?) Callanish by William Horwood *** I really picked this up (a) because we're off to the Outer Hebrides later on this summer for our holidays, and (b) I needed to read a book from a non-human perspective for this year's annual Popsugar challenge. I have fond memories of this book, read at least 20 years ago, and it proved a quick and easy read. My memories of it were that I enjoyed it, but not as much as some of Horwood's other books (especially Skallagrigg and The Stonor Eagles), and this confirmed that view. It was just a bit too heavily leavened with semi-religious mystique for my taste, something I might have stomached quite happily at one time, but which, TBH, made the book feel a wee bit dated now. Enjoyable enough though!

I think what you are looking for is a structure that became most prevalent during the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. I would suspect that more recent detective writers have left this formula behind *. I'd therefore agree with Little Pixie about Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham. I've recently tried the latter (The Crime at Black Dudley, the first Albert Campion book) and actually criticised it for being so formulaic!! I'd also suggest looking at the British Library Crime Classics series - I've tried a couple and they are all very much of a time and, I suspect, type. Most recently, Murder in White (J Jefferson Farjeon) might, I think, fit the bill (TBH, I'm not enamoured with the genre, but I think they might fit the need). There's also a number of short story collections, which might help accessibility? Aside from these, a couple of other names that might be worth looking at: John Dickson Carr, who is best known for his 'locked room' mysteries, and Ellery Queen (actually a pseudonym for the combined efforts of two cousins), perhaps the best known American equivalent of the Golden Age writers. Overall though, I don't think you can do much better than Agatha Christie. She's always been massively popular and has remained so for a very good reason! I do know that my son absolutely loved these books as an 11-14 year old, and built up an almost complete collection. * Later edit: Actually, the recent spate of 'Cozy Crime' stories, such as MC Beaton's Agatha Raisin series might meet the bill. I dislike them intensely, so am probably not the best person to comment, but from the ones I've tried, I think they might fit the formula you are looking for. They are also from what I remember likely to be very approachable for your age group.

This could start a massive thread! A few that I can remember off the top of my head (all real pubs): Tom Brown's Schooldays: The Peacock Inn, Islington (Tom's departure point for Rugby) Pickwick Papers: in addition to the Bull in Rochester that Janet mentions, PP is stuffed with pubs/inns. They include The Angel Inn in Bury St Edmunds (scene of the election), The Leather Bottle in Cobham, Kent (Tracy Tupman's refuge after being jilted), The George and Vulture (headquarters of the Pickwick Club), The White Hart in Southwark (where Pickwick meets Sam Weller, now demolished) - also mentioned in Henry VI Three Men in a Boat includes a few - usually where the three friends stay or eat. The Barley Mow (where precisely?) is one, The Bull in Streatley is another. The Tabard, Southwark, in Canterbury Tales. The Boar's Head in Henry IV parts 1 and 2. The George, Southwark, appears in Little Dorrit

Thank you all! I like the comment MRTR given your forum name I'm hoping to have more time for reading - but OH is determined to keep me busy! I found myself helping in her school today with their leavers' assembly, so sorting will have to wait a day or so! I'm expecting to do some work (mostly tutoring and supply) and some voluntary work locally. In the meantime I certainly intend to get stuck in to some reading this summer, starting this weekend!

Yesterday was a big day, as I formally retired! I won't be packing in work completely, but intend to work a lot less and do more of what I want to do, including some voluntary work. It was also the last day of term, and amongst the lovely pile of gifts from children in my class, I acquired four books, all of which were on my wishlist(!): Wonderland by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss Wild Kingdom by Stephen Moss Foxes Unearthed by Lucy Jones A Natural History of the Hedgerow by John Wright That's set me up well for the summer! Today has to be a big sorting sort of day, as there's a substantial pile of possessions and gifts from school to work my way through and find a home for. It's going to be fun, but it's going to feel very weird at times! Even saying the words "I've retired" sounds odd.