I’ve read some great books recently, but the trouble is, when I find a great book, I read it like a whirlwind, addictively, lost in it until it’s finished. Then of course, I’m searching round for something else to read. The books which so grabbed me include ‘Avenue Cars’ and ‘Nik the Swift: A kidnap, a highwayman, and vengeance’, both by Chris Speck are stunningly good books – I had to read ‘Avenue Cars twice it’s so good. I’ve already written about the extraordinary ‘Undercurrent’ by the stunning writer Natasha Carthew, a wonderful book which made me think about my own writing, the process and the product. Another was my favourite, Damien Boyd’s latest – ‘Death Message’, as usual a gripping, interesting, and very satisfying read.
Now in a strange way, I can’t settle reading to one book, and have several, very diverse books on the go. I’m not sure if after such a frenzy of fabulous reading I have to reread in small chinks, then take a break to read a different small chunk from a different book, but these are what I have under my bed and open on my Kindle at the moment:
- Silverview – John le Carré
- Set in Stone – Robert Goddard
- A Fez of the Heart – Jeremy Seal
- The Wreck at Sharpnose Point – Jeremy Seal
- My Life, Our Times – Gordon Brown
- Operation Pedestal – Max Hastings
I confess that the last two have been pushed to the back of the line, but the other four I am reading each night before I snuggle down to sleep.
John le Carré is my favourite author, I think he is/was an absolute master of every aspect of writing a novel and I am in awe of his talent. I have read nearly all of his books, really loved some of them, enjoyed most of them, and admired all of them. I still have a few more to read, which I will, but now I’m tackling his last published novel, ‘Silverview’. It’s not a long or dense book compared to most of the others, but I am struggling somehow, it isn’t gripping and holding me, I feel a little distanced. Most of his books are complex, and they make the reader work, they conceal so much until it’s the right place for the reveal, but with ‘Silverview’ I somehow feel baffled. Maybe its because it was his last book, I haven’t read any reviews to know what others feel, and I will finish it – and maybe by the end I will have fully engaged. I will report back!
I have read a couple of Robert Goddard’s novels, and always enjoyed them. He is very good at establishing place and location, something which I struggle with in my writing. The first one I ever read by him was set near the Avebury Neolithic site, and I was recommended it when I visited it with my cousin. He’d read it and without giving the plot away, he pointed out where certain scenes had taken place. Now I am reading ‘Set in Stone’ because that starts somewhere I recently visited, Morwenstow, in Cornwall, just north of the seaside town of Bude. Morwenstow is situated on the coast, a desperately dangerous coastline where many ships have come to grief over the centuries.
This same coastline and the area near Morwenstow is also the location of ‘The Wreck at Sharpnose Point’ by Jeremy Seal. This is a factual book about one of the many wrecks at Sharpnose Point:
The nearby coast is hazardous to shipping and the corpses of drowned sailors were laid out in the churchyard and then buried. Hawker buried over forty who were washed up within the parish boundaries.
One of the memorials in the churchyard was the white figurehead of the “Caledonia”, a brig from Scotland that sank on the perilous rocks of Higher Sharpnose in 1842. The captain and crew are buried in the churchyard. In 2004 the figurehead was removed for conservation, with the intention of placing a replica in the churchyard and the conserved original inside the church.
The Wreck at Sharpnose Point by Jeremy Seal (June 2003) is a novel based on the wrecking of the ‘Caledonia’.
Wikipedia
Jeremy Seal is such an excellent writer, that having got his book because of the Morwenstow connection, I looked him up and found he’d written other books and he describes himself as ‘a travel writer, teacher, broadcaster and tour guide with a life-long fascination for Turkey.’ Although I have never been to Turkey, it’s on my list of places to go, and Turkish food is my favourite cuisine. Having looked through the list of what Jeremy has written, I had to buy his first published book because of its intriguing title, ‘A Fez of the Heart: Travels Around Turkey in Search of a Hat’. This is what the Amazon blurb says: ‘Inspired by a dusty fez in his parents’ attic, Jeremy Seal set off in 1993 to trace the astonishing history of this cone-shaped hat.’ Google books says of it: ‘the quintessentially Turkish headgear became the key to understanding a country beset by contradictions.’ This book needed to be read – and I thoroughly recommend it; Jeremy is an amazing writer, and at times I had to stop reading because I was laughing so much, at other times I couldn’t stop reading despite being so tired, because it was just so intriguing.
The last two books on the list I am currently reading, by Max Hastings and Gordon Brown, are non-fiction. Gordon Brown’s is autobiographical – he’s a former Labour MP, Prime Minister and the country’s longest-serving Chancellor; he was born in 1951 and in office 2007-2010. Max Hastings is a journalist and military historian, born in 1945, and the book I am reading, Operation Pedestal, is subtitled The Fleet that Battled to Malta 1942.
I’m sure it will be a while before I finish all of these!
Lois Elsden 
Hi Lois
It seems only fair that I should write to you as I am really enjoying your daily vignettes, reviews and thoughts on what you are currently reading.
I was intrigued to see that you are a member of a writers, agents, publishers etc group – can anyone join or is it rather exclusive – I’d deffo be interested!
Also I was wondering if it was time for a meet up and coffee as I feel it is getting perilessly close to mince pie time.
I would also like to hear what John is doing – has he started or intending to start any other groups?
… and I am sure we would find other things to talk about.
My Storyworth ouvre is going quite well, just finished chapter 42! It is amazing what you find when you dig back into your memories.
Anyway, perhaps you could let John and myself know when is a good time for us to meet ups?
Hope you are keeping well
Best wishes
Richard
>
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Dear Lois
I am just reading four books at the same time. It’s not usual that I read so many books at once. Usually I read one non-fiction and one fiction book at the same time. I noticed that there is a difference how we read or what we expect from a book. I like to keep distanced that makes me enjoy a book much better. I don’t like identification like in Hollywood films. I expect that fiction is presented as fiction and not as a picture of a reality.
We all wish you a happy week
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Dear Fab Four, interesting that you are a multi-book reader sometimes too. It’s not something I usually do, and in fact I’m enjoying it and it seems to be making me a more conscientious reader – too often I rush along through a book but reading in short chunks makes me concentrate better!
I hope you all have a happy week too!
Best wishes from your friend in the west x
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Good morning, dear Lois,
I always read more than one book at the time and listen to another book as well. I noticed I listen to crime but I hardly ever read crime novels.
Your friends from the east wishing you an easy day
xxxx
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Thank you! I’ve spent the day with a very young friend at a country park where we had a very enjoyable time, looking at animals, going on a little boat with a water-squirting feature, and climbing a wooden castle! I hope you have had an equally exciting day! And it’s quiz night at the pub this evening! All good wishes, dear friends!
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We have here Pirate’s Day. Very entertaining with walking the plank, boat race, music and Punch and Judy etc. A lot of fun.
Wishing you good luck for the quiz night.
We wish our dear friends a happy evening
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Pirate’s Day sounds great fun! Thanks for the good wishes – we won a round at the quiz!
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Dear Lois
Congratulations.
The Pirate’s Day is always great fun. Especially the kids loved it. It was great seeing so many kids as in our village hardly any kids are around. These were mostly the kids of the tourists. The biggest attraction is the canoe race with a lot of capsizing and ‘walking the plank’.
All the very best to our friend in the west
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Thank you!!
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If you are into espionage do read and where possible view on screen these best in class espionage thrillers. They are all must reads for espionage cognoscenti.
Fiction – Soon to be adapted for the celluloid screen – Ungentlemanly Warfare by Howard Linskey and The Snakehead by Patrick Radden Keefe. Other good fictional reads include The Chase – hopefully, a film will emerge next year based on this fast and furious thriller by a civil servant – Ava, Emma or Christi – take your pick! Then there’s Harry Palmer in Funeral in Berlin – shame they chose The Ipcress File for a remake rather than this. Also read about and watch the fictional Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses in The Slough House series. An anti-Bond masterpiece laced with sardonic humour.
Fact based – Edward Burlington in Beyond Enkription – an unadulterated noir sui generis novel described as ”up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake” but not for John le Carré disciples who idolise his delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots. Before reading, first research some of the latest news articles on TheBurlingtonFiles website. Also read about Oleg Gordievsky in The Spy and The Traitor described by John le Carré as “the best true spy story I have ever read” and Kim Philby in A Spy Among Friends, both by Ben The Times Macintyre.
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