Books: January - March 2022

Of Human Bondage by William Somerset Maugham

The peril of opting for a kindle read is not knowing you are embarking on an epic 700 page book when you start! So, I felt like I was living Phillip Carey’s life for most of the winter. And what an unfortunate start he has: a boy with a club foot orphaned at a young age and sent to live with his clergyman Uncle.

For about 60% of the book, I wasn’t really enjoying it. Phillip makes so many bad choices in his life and drifts from place to place squandering money and potential careers at each turn. He has only a few redeeming features. However, I did get won around in the end: I mean who doesn’t make mistakes in life?

There are some fantastic characters in this: the mean uncle who just won’t die, the wonderful Athelny family, the tragic figure of talentless Fanny Price to name a few.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

A glorious saga of a Korean girl, Sunja, who falls pregnant and finds a new life following a Christian minister to Japan. Although her baby’s wealthy father cannot marry her, he does want to support them, but her stubborn refusal sets off a chain of events which have repercussions on her family through the years. 

(Note: I have just seen that there is a new series of this on Apple TV).

The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs by Tristan Gooley

I started this one on my lovely trip to Sedbergh in September, and just picked it up again recently. I really do love a walk, and nature, so this is a perfect book for me to dip into. I’m now just waiting for storms to pass so I can get on with a walk armed with my new found knowledge.

The Battered Body Beneath the Flagstone and Other Victorian Scandals by Michelle Morgan

An eclectic collection of Victorian scandals, some clearly more scandalous than others. Some faintly amusing and some breathtakingly horrendous (the tale of the woman kept in a pitch black outbuilding with a roof too low for her to even stand!). It was an interesting listen, especially as I was doing a lot of decorating and driving at the time.

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler

I’ve always been a big Anne Tyler fan, she just writes so well about the complexities of real life and families. Micah is a man who likes a routine and his family regard him fondly as a bit odd. When Brink (the son of a long lost girlfriend) arrives on his doorstep, he takes him under his wing. In helping him, he starts to unpick the things that aren’t working in his own life. 

Middle England by Jonathan Coe

This is the third book in the Rotters Club series, this time the group are middle aged and are dealing with referendum which led to Brexit. Very sharply written.

The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd

I purchased this to accompany our trip to the Cairngorms in September last year (which was not to be). Nan lived and grew up in the Cairngorms, and in this slim book records her experience with the beautiful and raw landscape.

The Mummy at the Dining Room Table: Eminent Therapists Reveal Their Most Unusual Cases and What They Teach Us about Human Behaviour by Jeffrey A Kottler and Jon Carlson

This kind of book both fascinates and appals me. I picked it up in Westwood Books, Sedbergh when we visited last year because once you read a title like that, you really can't put it back! However, although this collection of unusual cases told by therapists is very interesting, it is also almost unseemly voyeuristic. I can't help but feel that some of the tales are so detailed that the subjects would recognise themselves.

Curious Pursuits: Occasional Writing 1970 - 2005 by Margaret Atwood

I love Margaret Atwood. I did not love this book. I know it is just occasional writing but it really does feel like a hodgepodge of any old writing she had lying about shoved together to become a book. I have been dipping in and out of it for the best part of a year, but refused to skip any parts (when will I learn)!!

Love Mrs Jones x