to both Betts and Noodle. How lovely to have someone's beloved books. My parents seem to have passed on their own childhood favourites (CS Lewis, Eric Linklater, Just William) to me but got rid of all the ones that I loved (no S&A or Little House!). I also have some books that belonged to my grandfather who I never knew. There's something so personal about holding a book which you know someone read and enjoyed.
Monthly deals I have mainly avoided, as a lot of the best ones I have already. I did buy Beneath the Streets as I'd heard it talked about recently on the radio, and will go back for The Age of Wonder after the recommendations here.
55. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
Finished the read-along :) Have posted my thoughts on that thread but this was an excellent read, improved, I think, by reading it in instalments.
56. The Western Wind, Samantha Harvey
This was a good book read at the wrong time. I was feeling rather under the weather last week and needed a simple, cheerful book - this one is definitely neither of those things.
Set in February 1491, in Oakham, a village cut off from its surroundings by the river. The isolated villagers are both poverty-stricken and backwards in their thinking. Thomas Newman, a popular and wealthy local man, has gone missing and there are rumours that he was seen going into the river. The priest, John Reve, who was a friend of Newman's, struggles to find out the truth, worrying about Newman's soul, the possible guilt of his fellow villagers and the interference of his superior, the Dean, who has arrived in the village with unexpected haste to investigate.
This is a dreamlike (nightmarish?) and lyrical book, steeped in mud and cold, fear and religion (medieval Catholicism, hints of the new coming Protestantism, and strong strands of older, more earthy beliefs). The action takes place over four days and is told in reverse, so you need to piece the story together from allusions and deductions. I think I probably need to re-read it when feeling more alert to do it justice.