Free books

Not World Book Night books, but a passed on present from my mother-in-law. She was given Nigella Lawson's Kitchen for Christmas but as she now does very little cooking (she will be 90 later this year) and wasn't very interested, she passed it on to me. I've got Nigella's How to Eat: the Pleasures and Principles of Good Food and her How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking, both of which I have cooked several recipes from. Although I've dipped into the other titles she's produced, I wasn't tempted to buy them. I was interested to see this latest title but have found it a little disappointing, as it has quite a lot of cake recipes, which I'm now not so interested in cooking. However if I were setting up a kitchen for the first time, the section at the beginning which tells the reader how to just that would be very helpful. One thing I dislike about modern cookery books is their sheer size and weight, which makes them impossible to read in bed. One very useful aspect of this book, however, is the notes which tell you if the dish can be made ahead or frozen, and the what to do with leftovers sections for some dishes are also excellent.

The other free book I received yesterday was Antonia Fraser's Must You Go, the story of her marriage to Harold Pinter. I've read an extract of this in NewBooks magazine and various reviews, so am looking forward to reading one of the great love stories of our age.

I was given a World book Night book - Seamus Heaney's New Selected Poems, 1966-1987- by a friend who was giving them out at her local library. I'm not familiar with his poetry, so am looking forward to becoming acquainted with it.

A sunny day at last

At last a sunny day. We visited my sister-in-law in Shoreham today and were grateful not to have to drive through rain, mist, drizzle or fog, which is what we've had as weather for most of the last week. And we had a beautiful sunset on the drive back home.

Preceding this visit, I've finished a few books, such as Susan Hill's Howards End is on the Landing, which I found more a collection of essays on reading and its importance than a totally coherent book, but interesting. Susan Hill starts from the premise of not buying any new books for a year, as when searching for a particular title, she finds several books she had not read, or wished to re-read but had forgotten about. This leads to a meditation on books and reading which for anyone with any interest in the literary is fascinating and enlightening. Her list of 40 titles she would read over and over again is not exactly my choice, although several of the same titles would be on my list.
Another recent read was Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd. A thriller in that a murder takes place, but as we learn quite early on who actually committed the deed, the plot is more of a why dunnit than a who dunnit, and the why leads the reader through some quite strange places, meeting some very odd people. The main character, Adam Kindred comes out of an interview for an academic post in London after spending time researching thunderstorms in the US, and falls into conversation with another man , a Doctor Wang, in a cafe. This simple event has the most awful of consequences for Adam, as he decides to return a file belomging to Dr Wang in person. On reaching the Doctor's flat, he finds him stabbed and dying, and thus starts a new life as a homeless down-and-out. There is a host of interesting characters whom he meets along the way, such as Mhouse, a prostitute and her young son Ly-on, the leader and congregation of The Church of John Christ and eventually Rita, a policewoman who lives on a boat with her disabled father. Although some of the characters verge on the picaresque, the plot is fairly easy to follow, as Adam eventually finds out why Doctor Wang's death occured and who was partly resposible. The theme of identity runs throughout the novel, as Adam changes his front respected academic to down-and-out and again to lowly hospital porter which again slides into undercover researcher into the failure of a drugs trial. A thrilling and engrossing read.

The Lacuna

I absolurly adored Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna. The story of Harrison Shepherd, a writer told from his own point of view as well as a one or two others, this is an absorbing story, taking in much of early twentieth century history, with that of the Aztecs and the Russian Revolution as sideshows. There are aspects of American history that I knew nothing about, such as the treatment of veterans of the First World War, and some aspects of Mexican history of which I was only just aware, such as the life of Trotsky with Diego Rivera and Frida Khalo after his flight from Stalin. With its major themes of identity, memory, loss, and how individuals both form historical events and are part of history. A rich and rewarding read, with amazing details, research, stories and colour. The writing at times has an almost filmic quality, such are the qualities of description, and the characters are living, breathing people It certainly deserved the win of the Orange prize for fiction last year.

Save our libraries day

As a retired librarian, and I retired when my job description was going to change into something that no longer required the skills of a qualified librarian, I feel immense depression at the level of cuts proposed by many library authorities. Even my local authority is proposing two cuts of smaller part-time branches, replacing them with a mobile srvice. The particular branch libraries were built on large council estates during the early 1960's and were originally designed to offer a service to children, opening in the afternoons around school closing times. Over time, some had their opening hours extended so that they could offer a bit more, such as story times for pre-school children and some adult services, later computers for public use were included. The people using those branches will be denied easy access to books, free public computers and so on and the children on the estates will have one less place to go to find help with homework and leisure reading. Libraries are rarely the most expensive part of local government, but because they are a service and can't generate income, are an easy target for cuts, despite the requirement under law that the service provided should be comprehensive and efficient..
I've made my comment on the voices for the library site a while ago and also took part in the campaign to save a local branch library a few years ago, when its closure and sell-off was proposed - it is still open and well used.

I've been reading Maggie O'Farrell's The Hand That First Held Mine, just finished it and it was a can't put it down sort of book. Difficult not to rush it, but worth a slower read as there is so much to absorb. I haven't for some reason read any of her other titles, but will be searching them out soon. The story has two areas of focus, Lexie and Elina, Lexie leaving home and eventually becoming a respected and successful journalist, Elina a generation later, already a fairly successful artist, becoming a mother at the start of the story. The difficult birth of Elina's son and its consequences for her , and how she gradually recovers are gently and subtly revealed. Slowly the link between these two women is revealed, along with complex family stories and relationships. With its themes of love, loss, identity, marriage and the importance of creativity in an individual's life, I found this a superb read. I found that Maggie O'Farrell captured the feeling of the 1950's and 60's very well when telling Lexie's early life and affair, a time of freedom and infinite possibilities. A wonderful rich read of a book.

Foodie books

I picked up Clarissa Dickson Wright's memoir, Spilling the Beans for 50p at a Christmas Fair, as I was intrigued to read about her connection with the Books for Cooks bookshop in London. The whole of her life story is fascinating read, even the tale of her descent into alcoholism. I had picked up snippets of her story from watching the Two Fat Ladies cooking programmes and bits of reading, but the story straight from the horse's mouth is obviously more revealing and more interesting.
Another book about food which I gathered on a library swoop just before Christmas was The Foodie Handbook: The (Almost) Definitive Guide to Gastronomy by Pim Techamuanvivit. The author writes a food blog, Chez Pim, which is quite interesting, although somewhat American in recipe detail. The book does include recipes as well as all sorts of advice on how to eat, drink, cook and be a 'foodie'. Some of the recipes reveal the author's Thai background, but as ingrediants for Thai cooking are now more easily available everywhere, there is no problem sourcing them. The tone of the writing is chatty and friendly and the photographs are lovely, although not every recipe is illustrated. Although Pim is US based, her foodie recomendations have a world wide spread and appeal.
It's not the first foodie handbook I've read: in the mid 1980's Ann Barr and Paul Levy produced the Official Foodie Handbook, which although I haven't read it since then I seem to recall as being somewhat more dictatorial as to what to eat and drink to be considered a foodie.

Some alliteration

I've recently been dipping into Elspeth Thompson's Wonderful Weekend Book with some interest. There are some suggestions that could be off-putting to some readers, such as how to go about looking for a country weekend cottage, but many others are things that I and others of my baby boom generation have been doing most of our lives, along the recycling, handmade route. It's an inspiring book, but I wouldn't recommend following up every suggestion, just those that are really within your own personal reach of time, energy, and money and then only one or two at a time. There are also lots of useful suggestions of ways of involving children in weekend activities as well.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport, by Cathleen Schine is an interesting take on the theme of Sense and Sensibility, but set in modern day America. Joseph Weissmann decides to divorce Betty,his wife of over forty years and to kick her out of their apartment in Manhattan, for which she made the down payment. His two step daughters, Miranda and Annie, for a variety of reasons, move in with their mother when she is offered a cottage in the summer resort of Westport on Long Island. The story follows the vicissitudes of the lives of the three women and their circle of family and friends, including a trip to a desert resort with Cousin Lou and his wife, which offers a nice contrast to winter in Westport, as well as the ups and downs of romances of Miranda and Annie. I enjoyed this as a read and found it very amusing in places.