February reading…

 

I confess I’m rather enjoying documenting the books I’m reading - it’s making me think more about not only the story or subject matter of the books themselves, but also about what I’m picking up to read next. I mostly read fiction - crime/mystery are favourite subjects, I particularly enjoy series that follow a central character from book to book - Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie novels, and Mark Bellingham’s Tom Thorne, those possibly appeal because they are often set in areas I know reasonably well, Edinburgh and London. I also like a novel which although fiction, has a basis in true events as well, which brings us on to the first book of this month…

Fern Britton is a name many will know from her TV work- but she is also a prolific novelist. The Good Servant takes the late Queen Elizabeth II’s governess Marion “Crawfie” Crawford as it’s central character, and deals with her story from her appointment to the Royal Household when the young princesses were just 6 & 2 years old, following her life through until her departure from the household once the Princesses had come of age, and her fall-from-grace following the publication of a book "The Little Princesses" for which she appeared to have knowingly sold personal stories against the wishes of the then Queen. The story is fiction based on fact, and extrapolates out what is known into a story of misplaced love and broken trust - and who knows how close to the real story that is? A good read anyway - I'll set this one aside to make its way to my Mum who also enjoys Britton's books. 

A change of pace and genre next - back to old favourite Lee Child's Reacher series and Echo Burning - found in a charity shop for 50p a few weeks back. It's harder and harder to find books from this series that we haven't read previously, on this trip we actually found two, the other is still on the shelf to be read in due course. I found this a little slower to get going than some - the first third of the book felt a little disjointed somehow - but once the story started playing out it turned into the usual good read with all the classic a child hallmarks - the good guys won the day, the bad guys mostly ended up dead, exactly what you expect from a Reacher book! 

Full non-fiction for my third book of the month - Spitfire Kids by Alasdair Cross deals with those remarkably young people involved with the building, flying and maintaining the poster-boy aircraft of World War II.  An absolutely fascinating read - in good part because it deals with the stories you rarely hear, about the people who are so often forgotten. From the young employees at the Supermarine factory in Southampton, to the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary via plotters and pilots, it is at times a tough read, but for anyone who enjoys learning more about the “behind the headlines” side of World War 2  history I would highly recommend it. This one has gone onto the shelf with the other books of a similar genre. 

Elly Griffiths’  “The Woman in Blue” was next off the shelf, set in the North Norfolk area so I was back to a book where I knew the basic geography of the area if not the specific location. I’ve read at least one of Griffiths books before although she isn’t an author I know well. She writes a good story though, balancing the plot with the personal lives of the characters nicely, and including just the right amount of suspense. Thoroughly enjoyable, and I will be setting this one aside to pass to Mum. 

Finally for the month another favourite author - Val McDermid - with 1979. Picked up in a charity shop, this one was set in Glasgow in 1979, and although rather different from the other works of McDermid’s I’ve read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lead character Allie is a Junior reporter on one of the Scottish nationals, and her determination to see success along with a chance meeting on a train leads her to hook up with colleague Danny Sullivan to work on several stories with increasing levels of danger. When the worst happens, Allie finds herself first a suspect, then turning detective in a bid to track down the culprit and see justice done. A fast paced, easy read with the added interest of looking back on how things were quite so different so relatively recently (homosexuality still being illegal in Scotland, for example!). This one will make its way to the shelf with the others! 

I managed to avoid too many additional book purchases this month but did cave in to a charity shop visit on Saturday using £2 of my personal spends for 4 additions to the To Be Read pile - including 2 Lee Child’s we didn’t already have - one of those will become my first book of March. 

Robyn