willoyd

I only hope they live up to expectations now! For future reference, if you're interested, I list all my six star reads in one of my introductory posts on page 1 of the thread. There's currently around 120 of them.

At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier **** Although this was specifically read for one of my book groups, it is actually a book that has been sitting on my shelves waiting to be read for a short while. Tracy Chevalier has never quite made it on to my 'favourite authors' list, but on the quiet I have found myself reading most of her books - it's only The Lady in Blue and The Last Runaway that I have yet to read. This has to say something about the general quality of her books, as it's not often I read such a high proportion of an author's work, particularly a modern writer. After a run of books set in England or the Low Countries, Chevalier's last two have taken her back to the country of her birth, most specifically Ohio. At the Edge of the Orchard is initially set in the Black Swamps, SW of Lake Erie, although it later moves to California. Set in the mid-19th century it focuses on the Goodenoughs, a family of settlers who for some not fully explained reason have settled in one of what sounds like one of the most inhospitable places in the mid-West. James and Sadie, the parents, have gradually descended into sullen antagonism which every now and again flares up into out and out anger, usually centred on James's passion for apple trees, in particular his efforts to grow eaters. Sadie's passion, it seems, is for alcohol. In the meantime the children, in particular the quiet, almost studious, Robert, are caught in the middle. Eventually (for reasons only later revealed) Robert leaves home and eventually finds himself in California, initially in the gold rush, but latterly working for plantsman William Lobb, using the knowledge he gained from working with his father. Gradually his previous life threatens, or is it promises?, to catch up with him. Chevalier has a penchant for writing historical fiction that has her characters interacting with real-life people and involved in discoveries and creations that can be seen today, and this is no exception. The legendary Johnny Appleseed features from early in the story, William Lobb (and his brother) is well documented, and others also come to the fore. The discoveries etc? That's part of the story! And Chevalier is a good story teller, often outstanding, bringing characters and situations to mental life. She doesn't always hit the bullseye (Burning Bright for instance was a disappointment), but she definitely succeeds more often than not, and is always worth trying! The first two-thirds of the book promised much, and by half way I was convinced this was going to be one of her best. In Robert Goodenough she has in particular developed a character of realy sympathy and depth. Others in the group were mixed in their views - I think it depends on how much one enjoys some of the detail that Chevalier brings in, and what one makes of her characters, although Robert was universally well regarded! For me, that detail helped bring the story alive (particularly when she describes James's and Robert's efforts in growing their apple trees - at the heart of the first part of the novel) and in itself produced some discoveries (I didn't know.....!), others felt it got in the way. But then, we moved into the last part, around one-third of the novel, and it was like moving into a different book. Suddenly the plot galloped along, characterisation and setting were put aside, and all the carefully built up atmosphere was subsumed to the mechanics of a fairly standard family saga with all too convenient events and coincidences. There were vestiges of the earlier parts of the book left, but what had promised so much unfortunately moved into the almost breathlessly predictable and mundane. It's almost as if an editor/publisher had told the author to get on with it and finish the book pronto. Whatever the cause, the novel sadly declined from one of Chevalier's strongest to the weaker end of the spectrum - better than Burning Bright, but below her others. It's still a good read, and so much better than some of the dross our book group has read recently, but she is capable of so much more. So, 4 stars (so still 'recommended'), but with Falling Angels at 6, and several others at 5, that's a relative disappointment. On the plus side though, Robert Goodenough will certainly feature as a candidate for my favourite character of the year come the end of year review!

Finished At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracey Chevalier. Chevalier is always good, and this was no exception, although by her own high standards, it went a little off the boil for me in the last third as it descended towards the conventional saga, having threatened to challenge as one of her best. 4/6 stars.

#12 Advise and Consent by Allen Drury for Washington DC ***** This was the twelfth book in my tour around the states of the US, Advise and Consent being set in the midst of Washington DC politics (yes, I know DC isn't a 'state', but it's included!). For many reviewers, this is the definitive novel about the government of America, and it's easy to see why. Fairly hefty, coming in at over 650 solid pages, and not always an 'easy' read, spending considerable passages of text working its way through the thoughts and feelings of characters, it nonetheless (or, perhaps, consequentially) proved a gripping read. It is a bit of an historical document, not least because of events subsequent to its 1958 publication date that turned out very differently to the way they do in the narrative, but it's also very pertinent to today, with much to teach us not just about how politics works, but perhaps how politics should work (goodness knows what Drury would have made of Donald Trump). I do like, though, how he never refers to Republican/Democrat, but talks of Majority/Minority parties, leaving the reader to work things out for themselves (and thus, not detracting from a book that might have been accused of political bias, which wasn't the point). Its historical-ness (if that's a word!) also comes through in some of the social mores portrayed, not least the prominence of male characters and the subordinate nature of the women in the novel (this is, after all, about 1950s American and international politics), but none of it detracts from what is a very fine, intricately developed, novel which I'd never previously heard about (in spite of it being a Pulitzer winner, and filmed) from an author of whom I'd never heard either - my ignorance more than anything else, but underlining why I started this tour, and the benefits of it! There are sequels which I'm definitely going to try out.

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller ****** I came to this with high hopes, the author's earlier Pure being one of my few 6-star reads. Whilst it perhaps didn't quite live up to that, I was certainly not disappointed, and Andrew Miller is nudging towards a favourite author status. Set in the period immediately after the retreat from Spain in the early parts of the Peninsular War (early 1800s), the opening scenes describe the unexpected return of the half-dead Captain John Lacroix to his home in Somerset, where he is tended to by his long term housekeeper, Nell. Within a few pages, the quality of writing and the atmosphere generated had pulled me into the centre of a narrative that never let go - story telling at its best. We soon find that Lacroix has a past in Spain, a past that threatens in the shape of a particularly nasty character, Corporal Calley, to catch up with him. Unknowingly, although avoiding recall to his cavalry regiment, Lacroix sets off to the Outer Hebrides, with Calley (and partner) on his tail. The story unfolds as effectively two interwoven tales. Although other demands on my time meant that I had to read this in relatively short bursts (other than the final 150 pages, consumed in one sitting), I can only describe this as unputdownable, or, perhaps more accurately, addictively pickupable. The plot is not overly complex, but then good stories often aren't (something some writers forget), but the strong development of characters (including a host of minor walk-on, but essential parts), and places means that the novel is never less than richly alive, whilst the plot still leaves one hankering to find out what happens next, and not just in terms of the inevitable denouement. I also like the fact that not all ends are tied up neatly - some are implied and need careful reading, one or two (not unimportant) ones are left loose - but neatly judged not to detract from the story (if anything, otherwise). All in all, a cracking read that fully deserves its five (out of six) stars. Thoroughly recommended (it would make a really good book club read too - plenty to discuss). Probably the best book so far in a year where quality is currently superseding quantity. (Later edit: upgraded to 6 stars - this one really has stuck out in the months after!).

Absolutely not! I'm reading them in publication order, but chronologically they are all over the place. Having said that, trying to put an accurage chronology on them would, I think, be nigh on impossible, although I'm sure I've seen it being tried somewhere.

Completed Allen Drury's Advise and Consent and Georges Simenon's Signed, Picpus - the latter one of the Maigret series. Reviews on my book thread. Have now moved on to Andrew Miller's Now We Shall Be Entirely Free, which I'm consuming quite quickly - superbly written. I'm also dipping into Tim Flannery's Europe: A Natural History, but it's all about the dinosaurs at present, and I'm not overly interested, so am hoping it moves on to more recent times soon!

I think we all suffer from this now and again. Just don't force it is all I can suggest. Hope you recover it soon.

Didn't spot that you were asking for opinions! Views on the ones I read (grading is out of 6 stars). To Kill A Mockingbird ******: superb, an absolutely brilliant book, one of my all-time favourites. My son, who introduced it to me after he read it (aged 14 at the time!), also loved it . Cloud Atlas *: most people like it, I did not! Just found it went nowhere very slowly. TBH, I couldn't finish it. Of David Mitchell's other work I've read, I loved Thousand Autumns (******), and enjoyed Bone Clocks and Slade House (****), so this is a bit out on a limb. The Lord of the Rings ******: I normally dislike fantasy, but LOTR is the huge exception. Have read it twice, once as a teenager and then again thirty years later, and ripped through it both times. The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy *****: Quirky, off the wall, and whilst I never laughed out loud, I loved the humour (although the radio play was better!). Divergent *: In my opinion, badly written drivel, but for some reason it's sold loads, so what do I know? I found it cliche ridden, tediously frenetic, and totally predictable. One of my most disliked books in the past few years, but then I'm definitely not the target market! You ask if there are any books you shouldn't read yet. I can't think of any, just try books out and see what you make of them; you don't have to finish them after all (I used to try and finish everything I started, then realised there was far too much good stuff to read to keep persisting with books I didn't like). All I would say, is don't dismiss books for ever. Quite a few books I didn't like in my teens, I've come back to like and indeed love. And what is one person's love is someone else's hate, so if you read these books and think differently, that's great, and one of the joys of reading (I belong to a couple of book groups, and it's the books where we disagree that provoke the best meetings!). Just please come back and tell us so!

Will be interested to see what you make of this. I loved The Essex Serpent, but I gather this is quite different.

Completed two books in the past couple of days: Signed, Picpus by Georges Simenon **** A typically slim and atmospheric example of a Maigret story, although the plot was a mite more complex than the norm. For most of the book, I thought this was heading towards a rating above the Maigret norm, but for me the ending was just a little unsatisfactory, almost deus ex machina, so 'just' sustains the Maigret average (but above average for most!) of 4 stars. I continue to be amazed how Simenon squeezes so much into such a small space; it's aided by a writing style that at times is so abbreviated as to be almost meaningless if you're not paying attention (but, of course, you are!), but which itself adds to the atmosphere and adds to the feeling of being inside Maigret's mind. Totally addictive. Advise and Consent by Allen Drury **** This was the twelfth book in my tour around the states of the US, Advise and Consent being set in the midst of Washington DC politics (yes, I know DC isn't a 'state', but it's included!). For many reviewers, this is the definitive novel about the government of America, and it's easy to see why. Fairly hefty, coming in at over 650 solid pages, and not always an 'easy' read, spending considerable passages of text working its way through the thoughts and feelings of a variety of characters, it nonetheless (or, perhaps, consequentially) proved a compelling read. It is a bit of an historical document, not least because of events subsequent to its 1958 publication date that turned out very differently to the way they do in the narrative, but it's also very pertinent to today, with much to teach us not just about how politics works, but perhaps how politics should work (goodness knows what Drury would have made of Donald Trump). I do like, though, how he never refers to Republican/Democrat, but talks of Majority/Minority parties, leaving the reader to work things out for themselves (and thus, not detracting from a book that might have been accused of political bias, which wasn't the point). One area where its historical-ness (if that's a word!) also came through was in some of the social mores portrayed, not least the prominence of male characters and the subordinate nature of the women in the novel (this is, after all, about 1950s American and international politics). I have to admit, that this irritated me somewhat, exacerbated by the fact that none of their characters were ever really developed - they remained carboard cutout supports throughout, to the detriment of the novel as a whole. This caveat aside, Advise and Consent proved to be a well drawn, intricately developed, novel, one I'd never previously heard about (in spite of it being a Pulitzer winner, and filmed) from an author of whom I'd never heard either, underlining why I started this tour, and the benefits of it! There are sequels which I am likely to try out.

My recollection is that this was standard practice; I remember the stacks of boxes in our local Morrisons, which then disappeared - something to do with safety (?!). It's really scary how plastic has taken over when it comes to wrapping. We've stopped shopping in our local Waitrose simply because they wrap so much in plastic (doubly so when it comes to meat - tray and film), and are making an effort to use the local market (can get there now retired!), and to shop around for loose produce. It's a pity that none of our local butchers do free range chickens etc. When we were in France back in February, pretty much all the fruit and veg in all the supermarkets was loose, with paper bags to put stuff in. That was specifically mentioned at one point. I'd better get reading some of them! As you can see, I'm reading a bit more non-fiction at present, although it's slightly distorted in that I'm getting a lot of fiction from the library.

Reading catchup Ooh, it's almost a month since the last post - just been so busy with spring bird surveys and other voluntary stuff, holiday (when I got virtually no reading done at all, other than on the plane!) and building up cycling distances; seems I'm even busier than when I was working! So a brief catch up to try and bring things up to date. I've completed just two other books since The History of Modern France, both fortunately very enjoyable. Miss Buncle's Book by DE Stevenson was as light as a feather, but full of character and humour, just the sort of reading to relax into and beautifully written, within the framework of time and genre (it reminded me of Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day). Definitely want to read the follow-up. An added bonus was this was a Persephone book, which are beautifully produced and so handleable. 5 stars. The second was Land of Plenty by Charlie Pye-Smith, a personal exploration of farming in Britain, where the author visits a range of farmers (and farms!) as he takes a look into the state of farming today. It was short (perhaps a bit too short) and felt just a wee bit on the superficial side at times (primarily, I think, because he was trying to keep things fairly straightforward for the lay reader), but I still felt I learned a lot - but then, like money, I don't know much about farming (which is why I was reading the book!) . He touches on some of the big issues raising their heads, not least the environmental impact of various practices (good and bad), and appears to try to present a balanced viewpoint, although how balanced it was I'm not really qualified to tell. I came away feeling that many farmers are just as concerned about what is happening to the countryside as any environmentalist, and are trying, within financial limits, to do something about it (whilst trying to sustain their business - not easy, especially with pricing pressures), but that society as a whole has to take a long hard look at itself and at what is expected from our domestic food producers. Amongst the supermarkets, Morrison's seems to come of it better than most! A very worthwhile read - but I feel I've still got a lot to learn, and there's room for something in more depth. 4 stars I'm currently reading Advise and Consent by Allan Drury, Pulitzer prize winner, and the book for Washington DC in my Tour of the United States challenge - one of those books on my list where I'd heard of neither book nor author before starting the challenge. I only read two books for this last year, and have completed just 11 of the 51 so far, so need to get stuck in a bit more this year. A good read to date, centred on Washington politics and set in the late 1950s (when it was written) but at over 650 pages is keeping me well occupied! Overall, this year's completed book list stands at a mere 9 so far - the lowest in years. I'm averaging far more pages than usual (over 360), but even using that criteria, I'm way behind other recent years. No problem - but I do feel as if I want to pick up the reading a bit from here on. We'll see. Books acquired for reading in March - all from charity shops or sales. The Tin Drum by Gunther Grass Appointment in Arezzo by Alan F Taylor (memoir of Muriel Spark) Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey (book group read later this year) Lancaster and York by Alison Weir The Collector of Lives by Ingrid Rowland (biog of Giorgio Vasari) Eruption by Steve Olson (story of Mount St Helens) Bloody Brilliant Women by Cathy Newman Why You Eat What You Eat by Rachel Herz The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs by Stephen Brusatte The Wood by John Lewis-Stempel

Can only agree with you about Free Solo (had to watch some of it through my fingers!), although I think I'm a bit unusual amongst the people that I know in slightly preferring The Dawn Wall. They are, of course, fairly similar in style, being both by the same directing team (I can thoroughly recommend Meru if you haven't seen that and enjoyed these two). Whatever, they have both been standout films for me recently too.

Finished Jonathan Fenby's The History of Modern France earlier this evening. An interesting read that has still been a bit of a haul: 484 pages with much detail. 4 stars, review to follow. I feel the need for a solidly good story after a series of non-fiction books, or fairly dire pulp fiction for my reading group, and am trying Miss Buncle's Book by DE Stevenson, part of the Persephone Press series.

Currently, and unusually, have two books on the go, even more unusual in that both are non-fiction: Having had a few days on the northern French coast at the end of last month, I realised how little I knew of modern (post-Napoleonic) French history, outside the world wars and a smattering of other bits and pieces - certainly no coherent framework. So started Jonathan Fenby's A History of Modern France. It's a solid and interesting enough read so far, although his style of writing is a bit abrupt for me, and because some of the names are unfamiliar, I have little handle on much of the detail. I am putting that freamework together though1 The other book is Charlie Pye-Smith's Land of Plenty, about farming and food production in this country - rather topical with the exercise in national self-harm swirling around us. Lucidly written, it's enjoyably educational!

Went to see Mary Poppins Returns with OH at the weekend. Actually surprised myself by loving it. Emily Blunt outstanding. Not sure about Ben Whishaw (I'm usually a bit of a fan), but the rest of the cast practically perfect (in every way!). Lovely homage to the original, whilst carving out just enough of its own space.

I think my problem is that I find most thrillers somewhat predictable, by their very nature. It doesn't help that most sacrifice any depth of character to plot and the desire to create that thrill. Conversely, I quite enjoy thriller-style films, at least the once, but then they only require a couple of hours of investment, and holes are easier to gloss over.

I surprised myself by loving Howards End (By the way, there's no apostrophe - something I only learned recently), rather more than A Room with a View, which is meant to be lighter. Haven't even tried A Passage to India yet. Sounds a bit of a challenge! Finished The Art of Not Falling Apart by Christina Patterson, for one of my book groups. Had looked forward to this as something a bit different to my usual reading, and blurb looked interesting, but sadly disappointing. Two stars.

February Review A solid month's reading, with four books completed, and another into the last few pages, although I still fell short of my 2000 page per month target (in fact, only read 2000 pages over the first two months) - setting targets always proves fatal! Quality was rather mixed, ranging from 1 to 5 stars, with no books receiving the same grade. I just wish that my book groups would avoid choosing so-called thrillers - most of them are utterly predictable, and partly as a result, as dull as ditchwater, as they rely so heavily on the plotting. This becomes even more painfully evident when read in the wake of writers of the quality of Anthony Trollope! Figures are those for this month, unless stated otherwise, with figures in brackets being for the year to date. Books read: 4 (5) Pages read: 1560 (2150) Average pages per book to date: 381 Genre: 2 (2) fiction, 2 (3) non-fiction Gender: 2 (2) female, 2 (3) male Sources: 2 (3) owned, 2 (2) library Format: 2 (3) paper, 1 (1) ebook, 1 (1) mixed media TBR list: 1380 +2 for month, +4 for the year Books acquired for reading: Around India in Eighty Trains by Monica Rajesh Origins by Lewis Dartnell Faster by Michael Hutchinson Europe, A Natural History by Tim Flannery The Wild Life by John Lewis Stempel Along the Divide by Chris Townsend

After a slow start to the year, two books finished in two days! The Big Necessity by Rose George *** Essentlally, a series of essays on how sanitation (or the lack of it!) affects people's lives, and various projects attempting to tackle what is a worldwide problem. Fluently written and easily readable, the author covers a fair amount of ground in a relatively small space; a considerable amount is pretty eye-opening (and eye-watering!) - there are many interesting and illuminating insights. Having said that, even in a relatively short book, it did become a mite repetitive, and the last chapter's brief overview of sanitation in space came as something of a relief in its different view of what is certainly a fundamentally important issue. Does make me realise how wasteful (in more ways than one!) our water based sewage system really is! The Widow by Fiona Barton * A psychological thriller read for one of my book groups. The story is based on the narrative of the widow of a man killed in an accident who had been accused of child abduction - possibly murder - told mainly from her perspective, but occasionally switching to that of a reporter trying to secure exclusive rights to her story and the detective in charge of the abduction investigation. Did he, or didn't he? What does she know? This is the sort of book that flies off my local library's shelves, with long reservation queues on first issue, and a large section of the library devoted to such crime/thriller novels. I have to admit that I find the vast majority of those I've tackled vastly over-hyped and anything but thrilling, and this was no exception. It was certainly an easy enough read - it took up a few hours one evening - but at the end I felt not the slightest jot of satisfaction nor any sense of it having been time well spent.

I rarely rate a book straightaway as a six - most sixes have initially been graded five, then I see how I feel after a week or two, sometimes longer. For me, favourites are books that live with you, and I can't always tell straightaway how I'm going to feel long term. Having said that, much as I enjoyed this, think it's really well well written, and am definitely going to read more Trollope in the near future, it's not got anything that particularly makes it a 'favourite'. One measure I use is would I be happy to read the book again? The answer here is probably not, at least not in the foreseeable future. Up to five stars, these are the grades I'd give a book on, say, Amazon; a six is reserved for something that for me goes that bit further on a personal level (and it doesn't have to be a great piece of literature!) - it's all about gut feeling. This, good as it is, doesn't quite go there. But then, only some 120 or so books have ever done so!

Just finished James O'Brien's How To Be Right...in a world gone wrong. Interesting, thought provoking, and illuminating. Chapters on Islam and Islamism, Brexit, Trump and others admittedly simply confirmed a lot of my opinions, particularly on unevidenced claims in our right wing press and the febrile atmosphere they deliberately create, but the chapter on 'The Age Gap' (especially being in an older generation myself now) really made me sit up and take note, as I needed to rethink some things.

It's taken just over a month, but have at last finished The Way We Live Now. A great book, a monumental read, even if, perhaps, not quite making it onto the favourites list (so, 5 out of 6 stars). We had a brilliant discussion at my book group about it - almost two hours back and forwards, especially as so much remains relevant today - the mark of a real classic I suppose. Have now started something completely different, Jim Flegg's Time to Fly - an introduction to bird migration.

In short, I'm loving it. I'm around 650 pages in, with around 200 to go. It's taken me longer than I expected because I've had a fairly huge project on, and been reading less than I've done for quite a few years. However,I've sent all the paperwork in today, so should be able to get back into it. It's quite like Dickens, with multifarious subplots, and of course all the Victorian characteristics (and the propensity to write big books!), but in this instance I find his characters more 'real' (Dickens tend to caricatures), especially his women. Dickens couldn't really write real women, and it's interesting that all those in my reading group - I'm the only man - said that Trollope was one of the few male writers who 'got' the female gender. The language, whilst still Victorian - which I like - is rather less convoluted. That''s neither good nor bad, just a characteristic (and I actually like the Victorian tendency to prolix). It's also a bit more satirical and a bit less worthy. None of which makes him better or worse than Dickens. Dickens is a long held favourite, Trollope is coming up on the rails. Whether Trollope matches him, or even gets a nose in front, I don't know, and actually don't really care, but what I'm glad about is that there's an awful lot more of him out there to read!