A Few Good Reads

I had the photos loaded and was all ready to write something after our book club meeting this week, determined not to leave it so long between blog posts but then suddenly it was all systems go! Youngest son viewed a room in a flat last weekend, decided he was moving out so it involved a trip into South London to sign contracts etc. Then we viewed a house too, the first we've seen and have decided we love it so it has become a matter of urgency to get ours on the market. The horror of the extent of our downsize is gradually hitting us... so much stuff to sort and get rid of!

 

Today I'm driving Jacob and some of his 'stuff'' to the south London flat (I'm not even thinking about everything that he's leaving behind)... but tensions are running high so I'm keeping out of the way and thought I would make a start on this while I wait for him to sort himself out. We were meant to be leaving twenty minutes ago but unusually for me, I'm keeping myself busy and my mouth shut! Instead I'll tell you about our bookclub book for this month, The Running Hare by John Lewis-Stempel.

The book is part diary and part nature book and is in many ways lovely. Full of beautifully written prose it tells of a year where John cultivates a small field, Flinders, using traditional methods without chemicals. He introduces long forgotten wildflowers and wildlife to his wheat fields. I enjoyed the descriptions of his farming metods and his day to  day activities but the book is also full of lists and literary references that I found interrupted the flow of the book, so I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I would have liked.

His list of different birds that came to Flinders was breath taking and made me realise that despite living in the countryside for nearly thirty years I am hopelessly ignorant. I can recognise some very common birds and this time of year I am familiar with the sound of larks soaring above the fields when I'm out walking... but could I recognise a lark? Not a chance!

He also constantly references corncrakes and to be honest not only do I not know what one looks like but I'm not sure I've even heard of them before. I guess the book made me feel a little bit stupid... ignorant of my surroundings and although I'm happy to learn more I guess none of us like to be made to feel ignorant. So yes a good book, especially if you are interested in the effects of intensive farming and wildlife but not a great book for me.

I seem to have read a lot this month, much of it easy reading escapism that I have obviously needed. I finished Hygge and Kisses which was very light and frothy but enjoyable enough and I immediately followed it up with another chick lit 'Faking Friends' by Jane Fallon. I admit, I couldn't put this one down! It is about getting revenge on a cheating boyfriend... one who was cheating with a best friend. I just happened to have a few heated exchanges with my ex husband at the time I was reading this so lets just say the thought of revenge was indeed sweet!

I've also managed to read a couple of somewhat more serious novels - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet was excellent and eye opening. It tells of the many Japanese American citizens who were evicted from their homes and sent to camps in the US during the second world war, which I found quite shocking. It is a fictional love story set in Seattle where some of these atrocities took place and I can definitely recommend it. The Patrick Gale book The Whole Day Through centres on a single day in the lives of Laura and Ben, a couple reunited and given a new chance of happiness together after twenty years apart. It is about caring - Laura is living with her ageing mother, Ben with his gay Downs Syndrome brother - and about the choices we make. Again I can recommend it.

But sometimes what you need to read for pure escapism is a page turning crime thriller and I confess to be rather addicted to Mark Billingham's rebellious detective Tom Thorne. I couldn't put this one down!

I am now back home after my trek south of the river and Jacob is set up in his room in his flat. There was a a slight panic as we headed down the A12 through Stratford to be faced with signs saying the Blackwall tunnel was closed. Jacob tried to find an alternative route on Google maps while I stressed ever so slightly about how I was going to get south of the Thames but it turned out that the tunnel wasn't closed at all and we got there without too much of a hitch. 

Tonight it feels strange that he's not here and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious about how he will cope on his own given the difficulties he has had over the past year but I need to let go. And maybe this will be just what he needs.