The Sealwoman's Gift, Sally Magnusson

This was a good story, a re imagining of a historical incident in which 400 Icelanders were captured and taken into slavery in Algiers in the 1600s. Lots of things seem improbable and then turn out to have been true. It has a strong sense of place, both in Iceland and in Algiers. A brilliant portrait of people's different ways of reacting to being torn away from lives and loves. How people adapt to circumstances and build lives with whatever they are given. Levels of resilience.

I'm not sure what I thought of the writing though, it was a little stilted and try-hard and a little bit like chick lit (lots to read into re. why that makes it less worthy - because female?) I much preferred the way the afterword was written, very engaging and made me think that  a first draft might have read better.

Let Us Now Praise Famous Gardens, Vita Sackville-West

I bought a small collection of these gorgeous editions in a Bristol charity shop a few years ago and am just getting round to reading them. Mostly bought for their beauty and the range of cosy and very British themes, they are lovely snapshots in time. 

This one is a collection of Sackville-West's gardening columns for The Observer, which she wrote for 15 years. It is certainly from a different time, there is one entry 40 years to the day before I was born, nevertheless it is a lovely read, full of gardening advice as well as snapshots of the writer's triumphs, failures and imaginings, and descriptions of her neighbours' gardens, or those she has seen. It's all very light-hearted and friendly in tone and is definitely something to read if you've just acquired a garden and need some inspiration. I'm lamenting the lack of space on my balcony for a quince or almond tree.

The Stranger in the Woods, Michael Finkel

The Stranger in the Woods of the title is a man, Christopher Knight, who disappeared into the woods in Maine, USA in his 20's and lived in complete solitude for around 20 years. He lived in close proximity to a number of summer cabins, and some all-year-round residents in a small town and survived by breaking into cabins and stealing supplies. Finkel is a journalist intrigued by Knight who corresponded with him and visited him in prison. 

It is a fascinating read and Finkel does a good job of telling Knight's story whilst tying it in with historical accounts of hermits and research on isolation. He tries his best not to romanticise Knight and to give the residents who were burgled for years a say, though I'm not entirely sure he's impartial. It makes for uncomfortable reading towards the end of the book, where Knight and his family repeatedly tell Finkel to leave him alone, before he eventually does. 

Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

As with so many books, not what I was expecting, both funnier and didn't actually make me laugh, reminded me of A Brave New World in tone. Terrifying and damning and absurd, entertaining. 

The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion

A phenomenal book, lucid, disjointed, personal and universal. It is incredible that Didion could write so well, honestly and clearly about such a loss. Must re-read. 

The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred Year Old Man, Jonas Jonasson

This was everything I expected from a follow on from The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared. It's quirky, unexpected, joyful and silly, though I didn't enjoy it so much as I did the first one. It's a little less rich, there was less of the back story of Allen's life, and it was more of a known entity.

Saturday, Ian McEwan

Saturday is one Saturday in February 2003 seen through the eyes of Henry Perowne. Perowne is an affluent, experienced neurosurgeon living in central London with his wife and son. On this Saturday his father in law and daughter are coming from their respective homes in France for dinner, a family reunion. 

I found it fascinating to be in the head of Perowne; there are revelations and events on this Saturday which are dramatic but part of the Saturday is spent running errands and playing a game of squash with a colleague. McEwan captures trains of thought the everyday and minutiae really well. 

Perowne strikes a balance between being an understandable, known type of person and an individual, he isn't a grotesque. An artful, slick novel commenting on everything; family, society, politics, relationships, masculinity and London.