Now this is getting somewhere... I picked up this Elly Griffiths for some light relief but found it a more solidly enjoyable book than her earlier accNow this is getting somewhere... I picked up this Elly Griffiths for some light relief but found it a more solidly enjoyable book than her earlier accounts of Ruth Galloway, archaeologist, mother and overweight but not quite Vera Stanhope person. The book is a mass of triangles which Griffiths describes superbly well. It's difficult subject matter - giving over the care of your child to another person and what that means for you, and for the carer, what rights are retained and what conferred. It is both desperately sad and exhilaratingly happy....more
You can guess the moral of the story from the title, but this was a thoroughly warm and likeable children's story from the multi-talented David Walli You can guess the moral of the story from the title, but this was a thoroughly warm and likeable children's story from the multi-talented David Walliams with lots of nice touches. I like the way the character of the newsagent Raj has popped up in all the stories we've listened to so far....more
I think someone had a gun or a staff or an impello to Ben Aaronovitch's head to get him to finish this overdue instalment and it shows. However, it waI think someone had a gun or a staff or an impello to Ben Aaronovitch's head to get him to finish this overdue instalment and it shows. However, it was a welcome endeavour and taking Peter Grant off to the country was the right thing to do at this point, proving the strength of the basic concept of the magical police procedural....more
A thought provoking book. I didn't love it (although David Mitchell's introduction as the parent of a child with ASD was very moving) but found no resA thought provoking book. I didn't love it (although David Mitchell's introduction as the parent of a child with ASD was very moving) but found no respectable cause for the generalised carping and cynicism of the Spiked generation of contrarians.
The book does what it says on the tin.... but not more. And that's fine. It is written by a 13 year old boy and rings pretty true of 13 year old boys (varied as they are - and of course Japanese culture is different to British) alternately ponderous and shoulder shrugging and occasionally trite. Of course, given the nature of his particular and severe communication difficulties, the book comes to us through the medium of Naoki's family, and then author David Mitchell and his Japanese wife's translation so there is potential for distortion and embellishment. Maybe A Brief History of Time isn't an authentic depiction of Stephen Hawking's thoughts on physics.... Even if the book was totally made up, aside from the betrayal of trust involved in portraying it as something else, I still feel this would be a worthwhile contribution to the massive industry that is autism these days.
I liked the variety of his responses to the odd set of questions (I would have liked to know who asked them - him, imagining what we might want to know, or someone else) I liked that sometimes he goes off into flights of fanciful speculation and other times says "I don't know". I liked that he doesn't leap wholeheartedly into the 'It's just a difference, everybody has differences" camp.
And I wanted to cheer, loudly, when he explains that actually he really, really doesn't like visual timetables!
Another daft but deft comic children's romp with a heart of gold by David Walliams. I particularly liked the way he showed how people can be hard to hAnother daft but deft comic children's romp with a heart of gold by David Walliams. I particularly liked the way he showed how people can be hard to help....more
I thought this would be a book I'd gallop though (and if Miranda Hart approves of anything, it is galloping) So I was surprised to find it took a whilI thought this would be a book I'd gallop though (and if Miranda Hart approves of anything, it is galloping) So I was surprised to find it took a while to get through it, despite it being every bit as endearing but verging on irritatingly silly as her on-screen persona. It was quite an interesting approach to 'autobiography' - intensely personal in some ways but in practice perhaps giving away little....more
I still can't make Jack Monroe's personal history quite add up - it *is* relevant to this second book but, whilst less focused than her first, it is I still can't make Jack Monroe's personal history quite add up - it *is* relevant to this second book but, whilst less focused than her first, it is another joyful thing. The recipes are still enticing in the all-important "I think I'm going to make that" unfussy, 'you've probably got the ingredients in already' way (some that appeared in the blog I have already tried) and the book beautifully produced.
I despise the use of the term mac 'n' cheese and ribolitta? My foot! Otherwise, dig in!...more
Atul Gawande has written a book which feels like the final volume in a trilogy. He moves into rather more crowded territory (end of life care) than prAtul Gawande has written a book which feels like the final volume in a trilogy. He moves into rather more crowded territory (end of life care) than previously and so initially I thought he might not be saying anything new, albeit that he was saying it predictably eloquently. However, ultimately I did think he had some new things to say - I feel he is right about the complications of 'informed decision-making', that the model of giving information and telling the patient it is their decision... "Tell us when you've had enough" is inadequate. I recognised some of the scenarios from professional experience all too painfully - the failure of patients to be able to make the leap to true understanding so they are unable to make decisions which represent their deepest wishes. His account of a medical encounter where all participants are doctors of considerable experience is telling. I feel he fails to acknowledge the way medical mealy-mouthedness may create this situation, though I accept it might happen anyway.
Some of the book made me want to rail at the, to me intolerable, American health care system and feel desperately protective of the British NHS... which still gets it wrong but in a way I find easier to accept. Yet he had some inspiring American examples and I felt he made some great points about other places and their imperfections...especially the impact of assisted suicide legislation on palliative care, managing to be both incisive, realistic and compassionate. However, I found myself wondering.... this isn't about the limits of medicine in the sense of 'can we cure people, should we be looking at quality of life?' (of course we should) but partly I was wanting to say "Actually, isn't this partly about butting out?.. this is not the province of medicine very much at all, this is about nursing [I would say that], this is about social care"... but such is the power of medicine in most societies that sometimes it takes a medical person to be clear sighted about what 'risk' and 'safety' mean and to be more sanguine than non-health professionals.
I'm afraid laughed when he got giardia, it was the first thing I thought of poor man, bless him, downing prophylactic antibiotics. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is in his account of his own family that Gawande's stellar thinking and writing shines most brightly....more
Walden is a book so frequently referenced that I had to get round to reading it.
First, the edition which arrived via library request was weird. Out ofWalden is a book so frequently referenced that I had to get round to reading it.
First, the edition which arrived via library request was weird. Out of copyright, it is fair game but what has been done here is to photocopy a college library book, complete with issue label and annotations and underlinings by the ill-mannered borrowers. And then a very strange modern cover slapped on it - I am not sure whether it is a common cover representing books or specific to Walden representing trees.
For a good chunk of the book I found Thoreau extremely irritating - a stream of contradictory iconclastic smug consciousness. More recent writers of course often tend to the 'modern life is rubbish' and I was braced for that even in in the first half of the 19th century, but this was something else, flip flopping from chapter to chapter. And so much did not add up. Certainly anyone looking to this for some kind of survivalist/minimalist living manual would be sorely disappointed.
I felt he was on stronger ground with more conventional nature writing and enjoyed some of his close observations, particularly of the ice, which dispelled any illusions he is writing about somewhere with a similar climate to the UK. I could see why he has been such an inspiration, even if I didn't find him inspiring myself.
At over 500 pages, I feel this is getting a bit plump. However, the plot didn't drag and I felt the story was a sensible interlude after the deeply peAt over 500 pages, I feel this is getting a bit plump. However, the plot didn't drag and I felt the story was a sensible interlude after the deeply personal O is for Outlaw. And although I missed the neat 'Respectfully Submitted' at the end, that's pure sentiment on my part.
It was a fairly workaday set of plot strands in all honesty but enjoyable to see Kinsey Millhone plodding on....more
I'm not sure I often think of Sue Grafton's series as film subjects but this one was very visual. Not especially remarkable in the whodunnit and a sliI'm not sure I often think of Sue Grafton's series as film subjects but this one was very visual. Not especially remarkable in the whodunnit and a slightly odd detour into Kinsey's family history which surely didn't need to disappear quite as totally as it did (I am sure it will be back). However, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read, with Kinsey teaming up with two sick cops, each trying to give the other a reason to live and to take care of themselves. Bodies that are not identified always make for an especially gripping story - two mysteries for the price of one, whodunnit and whoisit, as well as being especially poignant. The author's note at the end about the writing of the book was interesting and moving....more
I've been waiting to try this Alaskan crime series for a long time. The danger with starting at the beginning is that it is often not the author's besI've been waiting to try this Alaskan crime series for a long time. The danger with starting at the beginning is that it is often not the author's best work, and that might be the case here. I felt that it was such a particular and unfamiliar setting, with such a lot of characters and detail that Kate had far too complicated a backstory to include in a first outing.
It was an interesting enough environment I'd give the series another shot but can't say I especially enjoyed my first toe-dip in the freezing waters....more
The first time I tried this book it left me cold, seeming just too superficial. However, I am glad I hung onto it and tried again, perhaps in a betterThe first time I tried this book it left me cold, seeming just too superficial. However, I am glad I hung onto it and tried again, perhaps in a better mood as it was fun, just as the description on the front cover promised "A collection of ear-tickling fun" Brilliant illustration by Babette Cole. It was rather like being present at a primary school poets visit....more
Interesting in some ways but not particularly enjoyable. It's a carefully structured story with linked themes of inheritance - the House of Lords is cInteresting in some ways but not particularly enjoyable. It's a carefully structured story with linked themes of inheritance - the House of Lords is changing and losing most of its hereditary peers of which the narrator is one, and as a biographer he is researching the history of his ennobled ancestor, a doctor with a specialist interest in haemophilia. Meanwhile, his second wife is desperate for a child and he, having a son already, is ambivalent.
Lots of contemporary detail here and I enjoyed the element of the book which is about the House of Lords and what it is like to be a Lord (which must come from Ruth Rendell's own experience as a Life Peer). But other people's genealogy can make the eyes glaze over and there is a lot of it here. I also felt toyed with over the big mystery about what Henry Nanther the doctor had done....more
Perhaps predictable in the end but it was good to be with Kinsey Millhone again and an engaging story. Story rather than just plot as we learn more abPerhaps predictable in the end but it was good to be with Kinsey Millhone again and an engaging story. Story rather than just plot as we learn more about the PIs past life....more
Can't complain about the title. But if I say that I dislike the term 'girl' applied to females above, say, 25, that it tends to bode ill, you'll know Can't complain about the title. But if I say that I dislike the term 'girl' applied to females above, say, 25, that it tends to bode ill, you'll know that I was probably not going to be wowed by the book (although I was ready to be). I felt as though I'd already read this book twice this year, although last time it was sailing and the time before that it was cod spirituality (I think?) and I could have lived happily without reading any of them. I found being dragged up, down and around the mood cycles and ephemeral epiphanies of a 30 something female journalist as wearisome as ever. (Still at least none of them were having babies and writing enraging books about it)
Whilst Heminsley's Running Like a Girl and my running like me are poles apart, it was definitely an OK book rather than one I didn't enjoy at all. The accounts of the support within a long distance race were reasonably moving, and I'd known little about the history of women gaining access to events previously. The back section which was less memoir and more tips deserved a lot more work (references!) but contained worthwhile bits and bobs for one who has little appetite for reading lots of books, magazines or internet devoted to running or fitness. I found her attitude to running gait refreshing, she banged on surprisingly little about shopping for running clothes given her profession, and think she has a point about leaving your issues with the colour pink at the running shoe shop door to save yourself from insanity....more
Not my usual sort of crime fare but admirable. I liked the variety of angles on the contract killing of a drug dealer. I was reminded of Christopher Not my usual sort of crime fare but admirable. I liked the variety of angles on the contract killing of a drug dealer. I was reminded of Christopher Brookmyre but this was less of a romp and more clinical....more
I braced myself to be disappointed by the latest relaxing instalment of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency... Alexander McCall Smith is a good writer bI braced myself to be disappointed by the latest relaxing instalment of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency... Alexander McCall Smith is a good writer but on motherhood and babies he often gets it wrong, so with Mma Makutsi about to give birth, I felt on edge, waiting for a series of clangers. Thankfully he just about passes muster so there's no disruption to the usual enjoyment of Botswana life. The main mystery felt fairly meaty too.
This was an engaging enough children's book, well read by its author with some characteristically exaggerated and slightly dubious assistance from hisThis was an engaging enough children's book, well read by its author with some characteristically exaggerated and slightly dubious assistance from his Little Britain sidekick Matt Lucas. Difficult material (cross-dressing) was deftly if probably hopelessly overoptimistically handled.... although Walliams didn't fall into the trap of making *everything* turn out alright in the end....more
I clung to this book like a drowning woman to a lifebelt, in need of something to absorb me. It succeeded pretty well in my mission for it, and I feelI clung to this book like a drowning woman to a lifebelt, in need of something to absorb me. It succeeded pretty well in my mission for it, and I feel it shows promise for the Shetland series to carry on whilst not being the finest. ...more
I don't remember the TV original of this. The alien Sensorites must have been quite a spectacle as whilst they conform in some ways to the weird stereI don't remember the TV original of this. The alien Sensorites must have been quite a spectacle as whilst they conform in some ways to the weird stereotypes we have for aliens there were some quirky details, particularly around the feet.
I don't much care for First Doctor stories - William Hartnell's Doctor is not the most cuddly of incarnations, very brittle, and his companions wooden (of course they had no idea of their legacy) This started fairly wearisomely, but in the end I felt it was a good tale raising questions about trust and whether it is better to trust and be disappointed or to be always suspicious and yet still lose something along the way....more
It was fascinating to read this memoir by Ben Watt coming soon after a memoir by his wife Tracey Thorn.... and a very long time after his superb book It was fascinating to read this memoir by Ben Watt coming soon after a memoir by his wife Tracey Thorn.... and a very long time after his superb book Patient about his experience of a rare life-threatening complication of asthma. They really do both write so well, movingly, insightfully but unsentimentally... like their music.
I felt he had something new to say about parents aging and our understanding of our own parents' lives when they were 'in their prime' before we were born or before we were old enough to see them as individuals....more
Often when I read a police procedural, my favourite subset of crime novels, it is the police I am most interested in. They are the long running characOften when I read a police procedural, my favourite subset of crime novels, it is the police I am most interested in. They are the long running characters. It was good to be back with Vera, a most interesting woman but she and her colleagues were not the point for me this time. At one point there is a threat and I did not feel as much tension there as there should have been. The pleasure in this novel was in the plot and these one-off characters in a sad little North-Eastern coastal town. The identity of the killer and what leads to the realisation by the police is excellent. There are no cardboard cut-outs merely serving as backdrops to the personal development of individual police officers or the team here....more
I think I really only found out about and bothered to read this book as a result of Jack Monroe, austerity cook par excellence, moving in with the autI think I really only found out about and bothered to read this book as a result of Jack Monroe, austerity cook par excellence, moving in with the author. Which made some of the other relationships mentioned in the book and acknowledgements a little uncomfortable.
However, I really enjoyed the book and its premise, moving through life from the kind of things you make with children, through student food (umpteen things to do with toast), impressing, Sunday lunch and grown up posh puds. It is something of a memoir, a tribute to a mother who died when McEvedy was a not especially happy 17 year old anyway... and to her food legacy. I know very little of the career and earlier books, but found this mouthwatering and cosy. ...more
I think Clare Balding has probably attained National Treasure status and although I am not familiar with a lot of her media work, I do like her RambliI think Clare Balding has probably attained National Treasure status and although I am not familiar with a lot of her media work, I do like her Ramblings series on BBC radio where she goes for a walk with different people and was in the mood for a memoir.
I suppose it was predictably jolly hockey, or rather lacrosse sticks with the addition of assorted animals. Actually not really that assorted, all horses or dogs. Her family seem to have been a curious mixture - Clare was not exactly the centre of her parents world and there was no 'nonsense' about fostering self-esteem but taken as a whole she effectively conveys that when they remembered, they were looking out for her and had what they thought were her best interests at heart. I loved her mother's view that growing up believing that boxer dogs are beautiful would result in believing the world was a beautiful place. And any mother who has that as an aspiration for her child has a good deal going for her.
The book fizzles out rather - perhaps just at the point where she feels she was grown up, but I am puzzled that she didn't carry her named animal themed chapters forward to Archie the Tibetan Terrier instead of having a bit of a ragbag called an epilogue
There is something majestic about this series. A little way into the book I was wondering if having read further ahead, combined with the supernaturalThere is something majestic about this series. A little way into the book I was wondering if having read further ahead, combined with the supernatural themes was going to kill my pleasure. Fortunately not. There were lots of lovely little touches and I found Three Pines slightly less tooth-rottingly sweet than I sometimes do....more
I imagine some people would not take to Terry Darlington's style and it did get a bit exhausting at times but I enjoyed this book and laughed a lot. II imagine some people would not take to Terry Darlington's style and it did get a bit exhausting at times but I enjoyed this book and laughed a lot. I always thought the "Narrow Dog" was the name of the Darlington's canal boat but it turns out it refers to Jim the whippet....more
I've not been let down yet by the 'end of term' Derbyshire poet laureate collections and I enjoyed this one too. That said this time I think it was thI've not been let down yet by the 'end of term' Derbyshire poet laureate collections and I enjoyed this one too. That said this time I think it was the prose descriptions of the experience that most engaged me. Painful to read the poem about mobile libraries when the service has been savagely cut back and most vehicles taken out of service when the theme is their dependability.
There's the usual inclusion of poetry written with the Laureate. I loved the tree poem's 'bird airport' and the poem made to the tune of California Dreamin' with people with learning disabilities. Wolton's own title poem is a gem....more
I was recommended Eavan Boland's poetry by a poet I respect, so I was disappointed not to enjoy this more. I could see that she was writing on interesI was recommended Eavan Boland's poetry by a poet I respect, so I was disappointed not to enjoy this more. I could see that she was writing on interesting topics from unconventional angles, but none of it really spoke to me....more
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