Latest reads:
Menagerie Manor by Gerald Durrell
The story of setting up his zoo in Jersey. I always enjoy his writing and this was no exception.
Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention by Johann Hari
This is me. The last few years I really struggle to focus on anything for longer than a few minutes. This book had some really interesting theories about why that is and some helpful suggestions which I’m going to try and put into practice.
Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay
David’s wife disappears from a theme park but suspicion falls on David when there’s no evidence his wife was ever there. This is one of his earlier thrillers and it’s a good one.
Playing Under The Piano: From Downton to Darkest Peru by Hugh Bonneville
His autobiography. I did like this, although there’s less backstage gossip than I would have liked. There’s almost nothing in there about his personal life (wonder why?!!). Despite the title there’s not much in there about Paddington. The first half of the book is about his stage career before he moved into TV and film, which I was a bit less interested in.
Mrs Palfrey At The Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Mrs Palfrey is an elderly widow who moves into the Claremont Hotel and befriends a young man called Ludo who she pretends is her grandson. I really enjoyed the period detail of this and the descriptions of all the other characters who also live at the hotel.
Where Did It All Go Right? Growing Up Normal In The 70s by Andrew Collins
DD and I have started a book challenge. She’s written a load of prompts and put them in a jar, and each month we’ll pull one out. We each have to read a book that fits the prompt and discuss it. This month’s prompt was ‘A book with a question as the title’ which isn’t actually as common as you think! This was my choice and I think I got the recommendation from a previous incarnation of this thread. It’s the author’s memoir of his childhood, but as the subtitle suggests his childhood was perfectly normal. I didn’t love this - I’m a bit younger than the author so I didn’t get all the references to 70s childhood, and nothing much happened otherwise to hold my interest. I think I would have loved this if I was more of a similar age to the author though (or if I had grown up in Northampton!).
A Touch Of Love by Jonathan Coe
I’ve really enjoyed some of his later books so I’m gradually looking out his earlier work. This was his second novel. The writing is good but I didn’t really get the story - it describes the life of Robin, who’s trying to write a thesis, and a couple of his friends, and a lawyer who ends up representing him after an incident in a park. Interspersed with all this are four short stories written by Robin. This is one of those books where I’m left feeling that I’m just not clever enough to get the point of it.