Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck

I have a lot of love for John Steinbeck though have not read any of his non-fiction before. This book is very reliant on his personality as well as his ability to describe scenes and luckily his personality and the way he looks at his own country and it's people is not a disappointment. Unsurprisingly Steinbeck has an ability to read both situations and people and to draw out stories. This is a very beautiful and poignant portrait of America in 1960, though it also looks at solo travelling and growing older. It's refreshing to read a travel book by someone who is looking for something outside of themselves; who is secure with themselves and the things they have achieved, and is nearer the end of their working life than the beginning. It was a different perspective for me and is up there as one of my favourite travel books.

The Color Purple, Alice Walker

This novel has an incredibly strong voice; it is written as if by Celie herself, an uneducated young woman, which brings you closer to the character though it is sometimes difficult to see exactly what is happening, both to the other characters and to her. It seems much more real because of this; there's no all seeing eye.
The narrative itself is difficult, Celie suffers every kind of abuse throughout her life and the other female characters don't fare so much better. The beacon throughout the book is the relationships Celie forms with the other female characters. Even if there are some rocky starts and tensions they lift up and support each other. It feels important.

Dear Lupin; Letters to a Wayward Son, Roger and Charlie Mortimer

Dear Lupin is a collection of letters written by Roger Mortimer to his son Charlie, starting from when Charlie went to school to Roger's death in 1991. There is a lot in here that a reader just doesn't understand as the letters are wonderfully natural; Roger relies on Charlie's prior knowledge of all his friends and acquaintances, but the letters are none the less delightful and funny. They are moving too, showing a more or less distant and stressful relationship with a son who hadn't turned out quite as they were expecting, but the love and support of the parents and son (mostly) shines through.

Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte

Agnes Grey is predictable but none the less lovely, we follow Agnes as she leaves home for the first time and begins to work as a governess. Bronte obviously wanted to expose the impossible task governesses faced at the time. In both her positions Agnes is expected to keep a tight reign on her charges, without being able to hold any authority over them. Agnes can be very annoying, she is puritanical and thinks a lot of herself when it comes to her morals, though she isn't dislikable, rather we can sympathise with both her struggling with her students and her students struggling with her. It's a comfortable, easy read.

Black Holes The BBC Reith Lectures, Stephen Hawking

I bought this out of curiosity and in the hope that I would be able to understand some of the science. It is surprisingly intelligible, and has notes from the BBC's science editor who helps give some background. It is amazing in that it is so magical; the theories are difficult to get your head around but seem exciting, far fetched and fictional. 

Mothering Sunday, Graham Swift

Mothering Sunday is beautifully and sparsely written with an incredible atmosphere. The story mostly takes place on Mothering Sunday, March 1924. We follow Jane, a maid who has been given the afternoon off to go and see her parents, though she is an orphan. She is called to see her lover, and we spend the morning with her as she watches him get dressed, and leave. She thinks this will be the last time they see each other in this way. It is incredibly observed, the room and house are tangible and it's very relatable. 

The story of the day in March melds into the telling of the beginning of the affair and the rest of Jane's life; which is all revealed slowly and organically. It is a very personal story but does a really good job of giving a sense of the time and the changes someone would see if they were in their 20's in 1924 and lived to be 90. The only criticism I have is that towards the end there is some 'thinking about writing' and it seems to be an indulgence on the part of the author, the story loses a bit of it's authenticity. 

Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Compelling, written in the first person and so very personal, with a real change in tone in the last chapter. The characters are fully drawn, completely real and rounded. The story is a dramatic one but is told stoically and without drama or fuss, it feels quiet, like the narrator and asks questions.

Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel, Jerome K Jerome

I thoroughly enjoyed both these stories. Jerome is very funny and has a really easy writing style. The first story follows Jerome and his two friends; Harris and George as they row up the Thames, camping out along the way. It's not so much about the journey as about observations on friendship, camping, travelling, packing, locks etc etc. It is the human experience laid out in an easy, funny way. Three Men on the Bummel is even less about the journey / bummel, and is more linked stories and observations.

Jerome is very loveable, sarcastic and plays dumb. He's an unreliable narrator but what is really going on is always quite clear, he seems not to take the job seriously and chats as if he is writing to a close friend. It's easy to see why Three Men in a Boat is as famous, referenced and well-regarded as it is.

Selected Short Stories, Guy de Maupassant

Maupassant's short stories are very vivid, they were written in the 19th Century and apparently were too risqué for the British at that time. I can see why that would have been, Idyll is still uncomfortable reading (though why is hard to answer) and Boule de Suif has lost none of it's moral arguments; the same distasteful, hypocritical honourability and respectability still pervades. Some of Maupassant's stories are beautifully drawn, the events happen off-screen and we see, not even the aftermath, but relatively small human decisions. All have a moral question or a heartbreaking observation.

For all the worth-while questioning in some of the stories there are some in which the role of men vs. women is problematic - with unflattering stereotypes of both male and female roles. There are probably fewer stories like this though and more which are beautiful and unabashed looks at the way people think, act and justify themselves. Many of the stories are just as relatable now as they were when they were written.

I Bought a Mountain, Thomas Firbank

This was a really interesting find, it was first published in 1940, this edition is 1965 and needed a lot of glue and very careful page turning to read, worth the effort though.

Firbank bought a Welsh mountain farm when he was just 21 and knew very little about farming. The book tells of his experiences learning about the trade, the rhythm of the years and a plethora of ventures, some more successful than others. 

Firbank is forthright and eloquent, adept at building the atmosphere and feel of the farm and the mountains. The love he has for the people, way of life and mountain landscapes is palpable. 

This is a guardian article from 2010 when the farmhouse was opened as a holiday cottage by the National Trust. Sad to read that Firbank moved away from the farm when he split with his wife Esme, you could sense the love and admiration for her just as much as the land in the book.

This is Firbank's obituary, surprising after reading I Bought a Mountain, though lovely to read 'he described his life as a series of reincarnations'.

Playing to the Gallery, Grayson Perry

I am a huge fan of Grayson Perry. He tries to bring a new audience to contemporary art, not by talking down or dumbing down content but by cutting through a lot of pretension and speaking plainly.
This book is based on his Reith Lectures for the BBC, it is funny, engaging and brings in lots of ideas and quotes from elsewhere. One to re-read and re-read.

Moon Palace, Paul Auster

This is a great book, of fathers and sons, single mothers and stories within stories. It eventually tells the stories of a disparate, separate family of extraordinary individuals. 

It also seems to be self aware and self critiquing but manages to do this without interfering with the story. There are layers and layers in this novel and I think it's one of the very few that would benefit from a re-read when I have half-forgotten the story. Really gripping, interesting and feels literary in an accessible, readable way.

The Wood, John Stewart Collis

This is an absolute delight of a book. It is another in the Penguin's English Journeys series and is an extract from Collis' most famous book The Worm Forgives the Plough.

The Wood tells of Collis' time in the Land Army during the second world war. He thinned and cleared an ash wood, by himself and using hand-tools. He found he loved the work and is eager to share his experiences and revelations with the reader. He tells of the pleasure of sitting in the sun, the satisfaction of a physical job outside and he talks of trees as 'tangible pieces of sunshine' in that they convert sunlight into growth. His musings still resonate all these years later.

The book is written beautifully, the words don't get in the way of what he is saying and he is constantly aware of a 'reader'. We feel as if Collis is chatting to us, as he would in a pub or over a meal. It is a quiet joy of a book.

Travels with Myself and Another, Martha Gellhorn

I hadn't heard of Martha Gellhorn until I found this book, though she was a renowned war correspondent, travel writer and novelist. She had an extraordinary life and I'm very interested to read more of her writing. This book follows her on five awful journeys; through China, the Caribbean, Africa, Russia and Israel.

The most striking thing in this book is Gellhorn's personality. I wonder how much of a different impression I would have got if I was reading about her thrilling experiences, rather than her hellish ones. She is searingly honest and doesn't try to be likeable, which is hugely freeing to read.

Gellhorn is extraordinary, she is very strong and whilst she complains a lot in this book it's not without reason. She never whines and isn't irritating, instead she is short tempered. She expects a lot from people and has no time for those she sees as incompetent or weak. She certainly has some prejudices too; sometimes her opinions and comments are difficult to take. She was fierce and I found the book refreshing.

The Sisters Brothers, Patrick DeWitt

Eli and Charlie Sisters make their living killing people for their boss; we follow them on a job and gradually find out about their lives, work and their relationship with each other.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Sisters Brothers, it is both an entertaining adventure story, and a musing on what it is to live a fulfilling life. It's funny, bloody sometimes poignant and is very entertaining.

Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie is a very beautiful, true story of Albom re-connecting with his university professor as the professor (Morrie) is dying. There are no great revelations in the book, but the story of what the men mean to each other and Morrie's desire to pass on his feelings about the most important things in life are very compelling. Morrie is a great man in alot of ways, though you feel there are many men and women like him, who live good lives with and for other people. It is well-told by Albom, the story is simple with little interludes. A meaningful and somehow tranquil, though sad, book.

Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

This is the best book I have read in a long time, it is a magnificent story and an absolute pleasure to read. The scope of the novel is huge, it spans over 10 years before, during and after the American Civil War.
We follow Scarlet O'Hara as she wills her way through war, poverty and society's disapproval fuelled by a powerful selfishness. She is a difficult character, she is unlikeable and incomparably selfish, but it is difficult not to admire and root for someone so driven and strong. She is eminently practical and unsentimental. She is fascinating.
Scarlett is the daughter of a plantation owner and race-relations is a huge part of the novel. It's worth saying that the way the novel handles race is very difficult, the opinions held by the protagonists are not ok and make for uncomfortable reading.

Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell

I'm familiar with Orwell and think 1984 is brilliant, but I always get the feeling I wouldn't have liked Orwell himself and so wasn't sure whether I would like Homage to Catalonia. I am living in Spain at the moment though and wanted to know more about the Spanish Civil War.  I came away with a reasonable picture of the infighting between the unions, communists and anarchists at the time.

The book recounts Orwell's time on the front line in the Spanish Civil War, for the most part around Huesca. Orwell was in Spain for around 8 months and saw two rounds of service. He was invalided out of the army owing to a bullet wound to the neck and had to leave Spain in a hurry as the POUM, who he was fighting for, was named illegal by the Government (who were on the same side 'against fascism').

Overwhelmingly the feeling in the book is one of disorganisation, boredom, confusion and futility. He talks a lot about politics and socialism but doesn't match the ideas with reality. Throughout the book I was wondering what on earth he was doing there, essentially doing nothing much but being cold and hungry for months at a time.

There are no characters other than Orwell himself, he references others by name but never introduces the reader to them, we don't know or care about anyone else. We don't even know the name of the woman he calls 'my wife' or know what she is doing besides living in a hotel in Barcelona, patiently waiting for him to come back from the front. This all contributes to the thin feeling of Homage to Catalonia. It's hard to care about the extras in a film suffering and dying, it's much easier to care about the protagonists. Orwell doesn't bring the war down to a human level.

On the back cover of the book there is a quote from Antony Beevor 'An unrivalled picture of the rumours, suspicions and treachery of civil war'. The blurb says Orwell writes with 'bitter intensity'. I don't think I read the same book.

Olive Ketteridge, Elizabeth Strout

Olive Ketteridge is a beautiful, rich portrait of ordinary lives when they don't play out as we might have thought. It is full of people dealing with disappointments or the aftermath of small tragedies. A quiet sadness pervades the novel yet it's not depressing. I concentrates not on the disappointments or tragedies themselves but the resilience of people and the way in which they carry on with their lives. A lot of novels deal with happenings and then leave the characters to cope, but Strout addresses the coping and it is refreshingly human.

I think the book is trying to be a 'whole' novel, though it reads as if it were originally written as a collection of short stories. Olive Ketteridge is the main protagonist for most of the stories, though in some she is just mentioned in passing. It is more a portrait of lives circling around each other in a town than a portrait of Ketteridge. This expectation only comes from the title, it would feel very different if the expectation wasn't there, if there was a different title. I did like the short-story format, I'm a huge fan of the short story, but I thought this book didn't commit to either being a collection of stories or a flowing novel. Aside from that it is a full, well rounded portrait of lives and is well worth a read.

The Five People you Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom

I loved this, it is such a gorgeous, thoughtful, effortless novel. Albom presents both a beautiful version of a life and a beautiful version of heaven. Albom imagines that after death, everyone will meet five people, some of whom have affected our lives and others whose lives we have affected. Through these people we will come to understand and make peace with our lives, and so be released from the emotional baggage of our lives.

We meet Eddie on the day he dies and follow him through his five meetings. The meetings are interspersed with snapshots of some of Eddie's birthdays over the years. Albom's effortless writing gently unravels Eddie's rather ordinary but wonderful life. 

This is another book I've been reading in the library. I read it in two days, not only because the weekend was so wet, but because the novel is beautifully, quietly and heartwrenchingly human.

Peaches for Monseigneur le Curé, Joanne Harris

I read Blackberry wine a few years ago and really enjoyed it, I loved the the way taste and food is integral to the lives of the characters. Her novels, maybe unfairly, feel like guilty pleasures to me, which is why I chose this one to read on rainy afternoons in the library.

This is the latest in the series which started with Chocolat. We follow Vianne Rocher as she returns to the village of Lansquenet. A community of muslims have moved into the area and there are tensions between the locals and the new settlers. Rocher sets out to reconcile the two communities and uncover mysteries. It is very intriguing with a good storyline. The writing is a little annoying at times, featuring obvious musing and rhetorical questions from Rocher, and the protagonist herself can be a little too much, though this is picked up on by some of the other characters and is perhaps intentional, it certainly makes her a little more human. Good for rainy days.

Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson

Bryson makes a study of the English Language entertaining and easy to understand. He points out small histories and foibles in chapters with their own theme; accents and dialects, the difference between spelling and pronunciation and word games to name a few. The book is just in depth enough for a curious mind rather than a linguist, though it throws up question after question. Whether spelling follows pronunciation or vice versa seems to be a chicken and egg problem.

I find the same problems as I did with Neither Here nor There in that I find Bryson too negative and dismissive. Particularly here when he is talking about amateurs who dedicated years of their lives to investigating or cataloguing some part of English. They obviously made enough of an impact to be remembered & recognised in Bryson's book yet still he throws negative quips in their direction. The balance between readable informative writing and negativity tips in favour of the latter though, it's well worth a read.