Latest reads
267 Gerry & I by Jacquie Durrell
This was originally written in the 1960s and published as Beasts In My Bed, but was republished a couple of years ago with the new title and a new introduction by the author. I had read the original before but wanted to read the new intro and it was nice to reread anyway. Jacquie was Gerald Durrell’s first wife and was still married to him when she originally wrote this. It’s her side of the story on what it was like going on all those animal collecting trips and living with the Durrells. Definitely worth a read if you’re interested in Durrellania.
268 The Prisoner by B A Paris
This was terrible, avoid! A woman is kidnapped along with her husband and kept in a dark room for two weeks - but it soon becomes clear that nothing is as it seems, even her marriage. Even once I got to the end I didn’t understand the point of the kidnapping and what it was meant to achieve.
269 The Detection Collection by The Detection Club
Short stories by members of the Detection Club. I enjoyed these.
270 Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
This is the book that the film Christmas With The Kranks is based on. The Kranks decide not to bother with Christmas and go on a cruise, but the small town they live in isn’t happy with this and they become ostracised- until their daughter announces she’s coming home unexpectedly and they need to produce an emergency Christmas. Good fun.
271 Christmas With Anne Of Green Gables And Other Stories by L M Montgomery
I misread the Amazon blurb and thought this was a separate AOGG story but it’s not, just an extract from the book, then more book extracts/short stories. I did enjoy them but they were all quite similar after a while (better off characters help those less fortunate have a good Christmas).
272 The Extremely Embarrassing World of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby
Read this so DD could talk to me about it! Told in diary style by Lottie who is starting secondary school and struggling to fit in. I did enjoy it although I’m obviously not the target market and I can see why DD loves it.
273 Appetite: A Memoir In Recipes of Family and Food by Ed Balls
Ed tells us about his life but centred around food. He’s a very keen home cook. Nice enough but I would have liked more Strictly gossip. Also I listened to this on Audible read by Ed himself and I didn’t like his narration - usually I like authors narrating their own books especially when it’s an autobiography, but he kept making a sniffing sound between sentences which was really irritating.
274 Gifts by Laura Barnett
Each chapter features someone buying or making a gift for someone, who then features in their own chapter next so it’s a sort of chain of people and presents. I liked this and the way all the connections between people were gradually revealed.
275 Clothes Pegs by Susan Scarlett
Read this following recommendation in the previous thread. I loved the period detail (it was written in 1939) and the idea of a clothes shop having four full time models whose job is to show the clothes off to customers! Does that still happen now in posh shops I wonder?
276 Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries
This was a bit of an odd read, by turns really dull and really interesting. Some entries are just mundane, about where he’s travelled that day, but others where he’s talking about friends and colleagues can be fascinating. It’s VERY name-droppy, inevitably (it’s full of entries like: ‘4pm Dan Day-Lewis turns up to play tennis.’). It’s also a bit odd in that sometimes there is a footnote explaining who someone is and other times there isn’t - I assume where there isn’t a footnote we’re meant to know who it is but I didn’t always, which doesn’t help the reading experience. Overall an interesting read.