My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay

Seven of our group met to discuss this book and did so uninterrupted for well over 40 minutes. Thank you Zoom!

This was an emotionally challenging story to read and, sadly, it's a factual account of Lemn's own childhood spent in the 'care' of his local authority. 

Lemn takes the reader through the files given to him by Wigan council in 2015: his files. He shares the reports and correspondence relating to his entire childhood from 1967 to 1985: 18 years. And he explains in detail the circumstances surrounding the documents. He changes no names. 

We talked around the story for a long time and yet it was a struggle for any of us to put into words how we felt about our reading experience. So this is a very short summary of our discussion. 

"Extremely frustrated for Lemn"; "So cross at the system". "Unbelievable". "I couldn't do anything". These are just words, and they do not really define how it feels to learn that authority took a child and condemned him to a life of bureaucratic decision making by arrogant white men in suits. And then there is the foster family Lemn lived with until he was 12, who let him down so very badly. There are no words for something we cannot even begin to understand. 

For Lemn though words, in poetry, gave him a way to express himself and shape himself and led him to where he is now. At the end of this book the reader is treated to just a few of his poems - don't put the book down until you have read them and read them again. 

The book ended but we want to know more. Here is a bit more:

Click on the link below for a post-publication discussion in which Lemn Sissay tells Alan Yentob what it was like to grow up as the only black child in a sleepy market town outside Wigan in the 1970s.

Imagine - an interview with Lemn Sissay

Would we recommend this book? Yes, it's a short read that is easier to read than to explain what it is like to read. It is powerful. 

You can't help but fall in love with Lemn Sissay -  his talent and his intelligence and his determination has led to him becoming an incredible asset to the country that so badly let him down. 

Our next book is: The Pants of Perspective by Anna McNuff and we will meet to discuss her travel adventures on at 8pm on Thursday February 18th 2021, almost certainly by Zoom.  

I hope you all manage to enjoy what will be an unusual Christmas and New Year.

Book choices for the start of, what we will hope will be, a much better year!

 The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin by Stepanie Knipper

In the spirit of Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s The Language of Flowers--and with a touch of the magical--The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin is a spellbinding debut about a wondrously gifted child and the family that she helps to heal.  

Sisters Rose and Lily Martin were inseparable when growing up on their family’s Kentucky flower farm yet became distant as adults when Lily found herself unable to deal with the demands of Rose’s unusual daughter. But when Rose becomes ill, Lily is forced to return to the farm and to confront the fears that had driven her away.

Rose’s daughter, ten-year-old Antoinette, has a form of autism that requires constant care and attention. She has never spoken a word, but she has a powerful gift that others would give anything to harness--she can heal with her touch. She brings wilted flowers back to life, makes a neighbor’s tremors disappear, and even changes the course of nature on the flower farm.

Antoinette’s gift, though, comes at a price, since each healing puts her own life in jeopardy. As Rose--the center of her daughter’s life--struggles with her own failing health and Lily confronts her anguished past, the sisters, and the men who love them, come to realize the sacrifices that must be made to keep this very special child safe.

Written with great heart and a deep understanding of what it feels like to be different, The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin is a novel about what it means to be family and about the lengths to which people will go to protect the ones they love.

Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide…

Growing up on her family’s Sonoma vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. The secret behind ending a fight: hold hands.

But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.

Georgia does what she’s always done: she returns to the family vineyard, expecting the comfort of her long-married parents, and her brothers, and everything familiar. But it turns out her fiancé is not the only one who’s been keeping secrets…

The Pants of Perspective by Anna McNuff

"When I ran, I ran for pleasure. I didn’t run for times, to win, to impress: I ran for me. When I ran my bum cheeks rubbed together, so much so that if I was going on a long run I’d have to ‘lube up’. I maintained that I was not a ‘real’ runner – I just liked to run so that I could eat cake." Anna was never anything like those ‘real’ runners on telly – all spindly limbs, tiny shorts and split times – but when she read about New Zealand’s 3,000-kilometre-long Te Araroa Trail, she began to wonder… perhaps being a ‘real’ runner was overrated. Maybe she could just run it anyway? Travelling alone through New Zealand’s backcountry for 148 days, she scrambled through forests, along ridge-lines, over mountain passes, along beaches and across swollen rivers. Running up to 52 kilometres in a day, she slept wild most nights, and was taken into the homes and hearts of the kiwi people in between. The Pants of Perspective is a witty, colourful and at times painfully raw account of a journey to the edge of what a woman believes herself to be capable of. It is a coming-of-age story which will lead you on a roller coaster ride through fear, vulnerability, courage and failure. For anyone who has ever dreamt of taking on a great challenge, but felt too afraid to begin – this story is for you.

We will meet to discuss our current book: My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay, and perhaps a little festive chat and tipple! at 8pm on 17th December by Zoom. 

Three Stories by Alan Bennett

I failed to count how many of our members joined this meeting but there was a good turn out. Lively and enthusiastic conversation flowed, and the group opinion of Alan Bennett glowed!

Each of the three stories were cited as 'my favourite' by different members. 

The Laying on of Hands takes the reader into a memorial service, full of colourful and high profile 'mourners' observed by an undercover archdeacon who takes great delight in following the highs and lows of the service. This is a 'comic' story. 

The Clothes They Stood Up In is an hilarious, and quite insane, story of a couple who find themselves in extremely unusual circumstance, and later (much to our amusement) in Aylesbury!  This is a 'funny yet sad' story.

Father! Father! Burning Bright containing black humour surrounding illness and death. This is a 'very sad' story that, for some of our group 'touched a nerve'.

All three stories were meticulous observations of human nature and written so well that it is difficult not to love the writing, even if you don't like the stories themselves.

The conversation flitted between the three stories but generally came back to Mr and Mrs Ransome and their relationship (or lack of it). We debated the Aylesbury ring-road comment as only locals can, but agreed that he chose his 'bland' town exceptionally well.

It is hard to work out what the authors attitude is to his characters, but we all agreed that he is 'waspish' toward them. He leaves the reader feeling quite uncomfortable about these feeble people but, we believe, that is alright and probably how he intended us to feel. 

Some read with Alan Bennett's voice in their head, some are ardent fans and enjoyed reading this book for a second (or possibly more) time. 

Now, I make an admission - I struggled with the first story, thoroughly enjoyed the second and couldn't finish the third. I expected a downbeat meeting of our book group. By the end of our discussion I realised that what I had read was high quality, inspired literature written by an author worthy of the huge following he has. This is a brilliant choice for a book group read.

Would we recommended this book? Yes.

Our next read is My Name is Why by Lemm Sissay. We will meet on 17th December, at 8pm, by Zoom to discuss and to choose our Christmas book from a selection of what will aim to be ho, ho, ho novels!

Book Group Choices for 2020 LOCKDOWN TWO

How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division by Elif Shafak

A political theorist and Booker Prize-nominated novelist – observes that, with rising unemployment, economic inequality, environmental catastrophe and now a pandemic, a parent can no longer assume their children will have more than they did. Indeed, before telling us how best we might cope in the face of assorted crises, the author explains how, given the extent of misinformation, polarisation, corruption, injustice and inequality at the moment, we are justified in feeling utterly depressed.

It is important to state that this book – which is just 90 pages long and was written earlier this year during lockdown – offers no magic solutions. What Shafak does provide is a calmly rational response to extraordinary circumstances, and validates our feelings of discombobulation without stoking them. Part polemic, part therapeutic tool, How to Stay Sane asks us to consider the emotions we are experiencing, which may include anger, apathy and anxiety, and accept them without yielding to them.

She also puts current events into a broader context, looking at power, wealth, technology and mental health. She argues that narcissism is less a problem of the individual than a collective affliction, exacerbated by social media, which creates ideological echo chambers and discourages us from engaging with theories and arguments that are not in line with our own. “If wanting to be heard is one side of the coin, the other side is being willing to listen,” she explains. “The moment we stop listening to diverse opinions is also when we stop learning.”

Identity is a recurring theme, a result of Shafak’s own experiences of an increasingly loud “us and them” rhetoric. She was born in France and raised in Turkey, but has also spent time in Spain and the US. Home is now the UK. Among the most common questions she is asked is: “Where are you really from?” “Belonging,” she explains, “is not a once-and-for-all condition, a static identity tattooed to our skin; it is a constant self-examination and dynamic revision of where we are, who we are and where we want to be.”

Ultimately, Shafak asserts, stories are what matter – “Whether it’s 5,000 refugees who have died or 10,000, the difference doesn’t and won’t register unless we know the personal stories behind the statistics.” Understanding breeds empathy, and empathy can lead to a collective desire to help.

Shafak also shows that to get through dark times, we need to understand how we got here, which takes energy and commitment. To ask for a quick solution to the rolling calamity is to ask for the Moon on a stick. But there is comfort in having a voice like Shafak’s to guide us. “It is,” she notes, “totally fine not to feel fine.”

Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S. by Jess Phillips

At a time when many of us feel the world isn’t listening, Jess Phillips offers inspiration to those of us who want to speak out and make a difference.

No stranger to speaking truth to power herself, she will help you dig deep and get organised, finding the courage and the tools you need to take action.

As well as bringing us hope through her own experiences Jess talks to the accidental heroes who have been brave enough to risk everything, become whistle-blowers and successfully fight back.

Entertaining, empowering and uncompromising, TRUTH TO POWER is the book we all need to help us call time on the seemingly unstoppable tide of bullshit in our lives.

My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay

At the age of seventeen, after a childhood in an adopted family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth. 

Here Sissay recounts his life story. It is a story of neglect and determination. Misfortune and hope. Cruelty and beauty. Sissay reflects on adoption, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. Written with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation's best-loved voices, this moving, frank and timely memoir is the result of a life spent asking questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

Kidd brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything.

Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother, Mary. Ana’s pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to Rome’s occupation of Israel, partially led by her brother, Judas. She is sustained by her fearless aunt Yaltha, who harbors a compelling secret. When Ana commits a brazen act that puts her in peril, she flees to Alexandria, where startling revelations and greater dangers unfold, and she finds refuge in unexpected surroundings. Ana determines her fate during a stunning convergence of events considered among the most impactful in human history.

Grounded in meticulous research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus’s life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring, unforgettable account of one woman’s bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place and culture devised to silence her. It is a triumph of storytelling both timely and timeless, from a masterful writer at the height of her powers.

Remember Remember: We will meet to discuss our current book: Three Stories by Alan Bennett at 8pm on 5th November by Zoom. Let me know if you haven't received the Zoom link .

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

10 of us Zoomed in to discuss Less by Andrew Sean Greer – with so many of us joining the conversation was lively and it took a little while to settle down and focus on our reading experiences.

The opening comment: “Is there a reason why we are holding off talking about this book?” was met with nods and chuckles of agreement. “Indeed” said another, “I’ll never get that time back!”.

This was followed by “it was boring” and “I was waiting for something to happen”.

But then: “It was better than I thought … my expectations were low.”

More laughter! None of us could understand the comments on the book cover: ‘You will sob with tears of joy’, ‘Marvellously, endearingly, unexpectedly funny.’ ‘A fast and rocketing read’. Really?  We just couldn’t agree with them. We can only think that it's funnier if you are American. 

In fact, she who selected this book as a prospective read said she had researched books to make you laugh out loud.  She (and we) wonder how on earth this book got onto such a list!

This is a very visual book, there are lots going on and the writing is quite good BUT there is no plot. Yes, we liked the writing but not the story.

It is not laugh out loud funny, it’s sad: an aging man feeling sorry for himself. It was nonsense but in the sense that it was not sensible.

Then. A flicker of light. “Don’t dismiss as complete crap – it’s a dodgy plot but interesting.”

OK, let’s consider that…

Was there meant to be a parallel between this book and the book that Less authors in the story?

We enjoyed the German language – that was funny (but not laugh out loud funny).

It took me a while to get into it (the book) and some bits were better than others. It was as if the author really enjoyed writing some parts but not others.

We did learn how to pronounce ‘Pew-litzer’ who knew?! This book won the prize – how?

None of us could say we would read another book by this author.

Would we recommend this book? No, but we wouldn’t say it is rubbish, just not what we expected.

We have read worse but we’ve read better – here our focus on Less was gone. We moved on to better books we have read and enjoyed. Oh, and Only Fools and Horses.

We then spent some quality time discussing other books we had enjoyed over the Summer:

Bagehot: The Life and Times of the Greatest Victorian – don’t buy it, it’s really boring!

A novel in Spanish (I can’t remember the title) – was ridiculously hard!

The 19^th Wife – I’m tempted to put it on our list for next read.

Snowdrops by AD Miller

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

The Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

The Standing Pool by Adam Thorpe.

Ordinary People by Diana Evans

I finished A Sting in the Tale (previous read)

The Rosie Project by Graham Simsion

Bill Bryson books!

A wonderful evening of books, that’s what book group is all about. See you all next time:

Our next book is Three Stories by Alan Bennett. We will chat about our reading at 8pm on 5^th November – probably, well almost certainly, by Zoom.

 

 

Book Choices For Autumn

We will meet by Zoom to discuss  Less by Andrew Sean Greer at 8pm on Thursday 24th September.

Here are the choices for our next book:

"

Three Stories by Alan Bennett

Three Stories: "Father! Father! Burning Bright", "The Clothes They Stood Up in", "The Laying on of Hands

Here are Alan Bennett's hugely admired, triumphantly reviewed and bestselling novellas, brought together in one book for the first time: 

Father! Father! Burning Bright, the savage satire on a dying man's family reaction as he still asserts control over them from the hospital bed. Over 60,000 sold in small format. 

The Clothes They Stood Up In, has sold over 200,000 copies as a small novella and was 14 weeks in the Bestseller lists. It is the painful story of what happens to an elderly couple when their flat is stripped completely bare. 

The Laying on of Hands, a memorial service for a masseur to the famous that goes horribly wrong. Over 100,000 copies sold as a novella. Like everything Alan Bennett does, these stories are playful, witty and painfully observant of ordinary people's foibles. And they all have a brilliant and surprising twist; are immensely funny and profoundly moral.

Pine by Francine Toon

They are driving home from the search party when they see her.

The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men. 

Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she's gone.

In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren's mother a decade ago.

Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father's turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it's no longer clear who she can trust.

In spare, haunting prose, Francine Toon creates an unshakeable atmosphere of desolation and dread. In a place that feels like the end of the world, she unites the gloom of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times. 

The Thing About December by Donal Ryan

He heard Daddy one time saying he was a grand quiet boy to Mother when he thought Johnsey couldn’t hear them talking. Mother must have been giving out about him being a gom and Daddy was defending him. He heard the fondness in Daddy’s voice. But you’d have fondness for an auld eejit of a crossbred pup that should have been drowned at birth.’

While the Celtic Tiger rages, and greed becomes the norm, Johnsey Cunliffe desperately tries to hold on to the familiar, even as he loses those who all his life have protected him from a harsh world. Village bullies and scheming land-grabbers stand in his way, no matter where he turns.

Set over the course of one year of Johnsey’s life, The Thing About December breathes with his grief, bewilderment, humour and agonizing self-doubt. This is a heart-twisting tale of a lonely man struggling to make sense of a world moving faster than he is.

Donal Ryan’s award-winning debut, The Spinning Heart, garnered unprecedented acclaim, and The Thing About December confirms his status as one of the best writers of his generation.

A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson and The Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires

The high days and holidays of Summer saw just four of our group Zoomed in to discuss our latest reads: A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson and The Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires.

We started with Dave’s ‘Bee Book’.

“I tried it – it was boring” was quickly countered by “I wasn’t planning on reading a book about bees but found I couldn’t put it down” and “I was excited about reading this and all my expectations were met – totally loved it and couldn’t put it down” and “me too”. Our three ‘apologies’ also relished this book with one admitting to bombarding her husband with bee facts! The other two had started reading and enjoying learning about bees though one found it a slow read, and the other was reading it slowly as she could only absorb so many bee facts.

So, from a bad kick off we quickly moved on to discuss a book that the majority had found an enjoyable and/or interesting read. The passion that exuded from those that had read and enjoyed this book led to our member who found it boring admitting that she “went in with low expectations” and will “give it another go!”

This is a non-fiction book written by a man who has spent many years studying Bumble Bees and has published over 250 scientific articles on their biology. The dissenters can be forgiven for their low expectations but those who ventured forth were rewarded with a story that is both entertaining and educational. Who knew there was so much to learn about the humble bumble bee?

Dave himself is equally as humble, his writing passes on his learning in a way that engages the reader and as if being shared by a very ordinary person.

For anyone who cares, even just little bit, about ecology and nature, this is essential reading.

“I no longer feel guilty about the ‘weeds’ in my garden”, “I will never look at a bee again without thinking of Dave!”

Do we recommend it – YES!

We moved on to talk about The Heads of the Colored People. Just 2 of our 4 had read it. Both enjoyed the read: “It was brilliant, I read it again” and “I think it’s really good, I need to read it again”. Seems this is a book that deserves a second read (vs. a second chance).

This series of short stories is written in a fascinating style, that one of our readers described as ‘obscure’. It is, they felt, no about Black people in the USA (although it is) but could relate to any sub-group of society. One of our apologies also felt the same way about the subject group. 

There are many twists and turns, with unexpected endings. The reader is lured into the story and then ‘BANG’!

The stories are so varied: office politics, parental competitiveness, best friends backstabbing and so on. The authors ideas are ‘off the wall’. We wanted to know more about the author who seemed young but knowing. (I Googled her - she is 36 years old - I no longer know if that is young or old!). 

(Since our meeting I have started reading this book and am also really enjoying it and its quirkiness.)

Do we recommend it – another YES.

Our next book is Less by Andrew Sean Greer and we will meet (most likely by Zoom) at 8pm on Thursday 24^th September.

Book Choices To Take Us Into Autumn

We will meet to discuss our current books: A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson and Heads of the Colored People by Narissa Thompson-Spires  at 8.15pm on Thursday 6th August, by ZOOM. 

Here are our next choices:

The Sellout by Paul Beatty

All it takes is a day trip past Georgetown and Chinatown. A slow saunter past The White House, Phoenix House, Blair House and the local crack house for the message to become abundantly clear. Be it ancient Rome or modern-day America, you’re either a citizen or a slave.

A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court, The Sellout showcases a comic genius at the top of his game.

Born in the 'agrarian ghetto' of Dickens on the outskirts of Los Angeles and raised by a single father, a controversial sociologist, the narrator of The Sellout spent his childhood as the subject in racially charged psychological studies. He was led to believe that his father's pioneering work will result in a memoir that will solve his family's financial woes. But when his father is killed in a police shoot-out, he realises there never was a memoir. All that's left is the bill for a drive-thru funeral.

Fuelled by this deceit and the general disrepair of his hometown, the narrator sets out to right another wrong: Dickens has literally been wiped off the map to save California from further embarrassment. Enlisting the help of the town's most famous resident - the last surviving Little Rascal, Hominy Jenkins - he initiates the most outrageous action conceivable: reinstating slavery and segregating the local high school, which lands him in the Supreme Court.

Beatty’s fast-paced, hard-hitting prose is as eloquent as it is laugh-aloud funny. He is a master of his craft, riffing on the chords of contemporary black culture with a speed and deftness that leaves his readers breathless.

The Sellout is an outrageous and outrageously entertaining indictment of our time.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Less is the story of a 49-year-old writer, Arthur Less. Caught in a cycle of bad reviews and reduced to interviewing blockbuster-writing hacks for no fee, Arthur’s life is in freefall. Then, to crown his descent, he learns that his former boyfriend is about to get married. Determined to avoid the wedding - and heartbreak – at all costs, he decides to embark on a trip around the world, accepting invitations to a series of half-baked lectures and literary events.

From almost falling in love in Paris, almost falling to death in Berlin, to booking himself as the (only) writer on a residency in India, and an encounter in a desert with the last person on earth he wishes to see, Less is a novel about missteps, misunderstanding and mistakes.

Counting John Updike, Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers and John Irving among his many admirers Andrew Sean Greer has been steadily making a name as a writer to watch. Less is a tour de force offering; a book that will have you aching with laughter one moment and cut to the core the next. Excellent fun and endlessly surprising, it’s a novel about life’s unexpected turns and the resilience of hope. As the New York Times puts it, ‘no less than bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful’; it’s a joy to read.

A Confederacy of Dunces by Josh Kennedy Toole

A monument to sloth, rant and contempt, a behemoth of fat, flatulence and furious suspicion of anything modern - this is Ignatius J. Reilly of New Orleans, noble crusader against a world of dunces. The ordinary folk of New Orleans seem to think he is unhinged. Ignatius ignores them, heaving his vast bulk through the city's fleshpots in a noble crusade against vice, modernity and ignorance. But his momma has a nasty surprise in store for him: Ignatius must get a job. Undaunted, he uses his new-found employment to further his mission - and now he has a pirate costume and a hot-dog cart to do it with...

John Kennedy Toole (1937-1969) was born in New Orleans. He received a master's degree in English from Columbia University and taught at Hunter College and at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He wrote A Confederacy of Dunces in the early sixties and tried unsuccessfully to get the novel published; depressed, at least in part by his failure to place the book, he committed suicide in 1969. It was only through the tenacity of his mother that her son's book was eventually published and found the audience it deserved, winning the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His long-suppressed novel The Neon Bible, written when he was only sixteen, was eventually published as well.

The Familiars by Stacey Halls

9 group members met, on Zoom, to discuss our latest read: The Familiars by Stacey Halls. After a short chat about life in lock down we dismissed the 'Reading Group Questions' provided at the end of the book, just before the advertisement (oh, exlusive extract) for The Foundling by Stacey Halls and got straight into lively conversation and debate. 

We kicked off with a classic Ashendon Book Group diversionary tactic: "I didn't want to read a book on the subject, so I read The Foundling instead! and really enjoyed it". So, let's reconsider dismissal of aforementioned ad. and give it a go sometime. 

The comment was met with the reassurance that the book was more about misogeny than witchcraft. We didn't get into deeper discussion on this obervation other than to log the fact that (male) doctors did not like losing business to midwives and that it was less about witchcraft than about relationships. Following the meeting I googled 'misogeny and witchcraft 1612' and up popped this: 

https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-67763).

Back to the book: the story is based in the year 1612 and is about a young woman (aged 17), married to Richard Shuttleworth since the age of 13. Richard is a wealthy and successful local man, with realistic aspirations to be in Parliament and who needs an heir! Fleetwood has had several miscarriages and is desparate to have a child with Richard whom she loves very much. The story does touch on how this situation impacts their relationship but the main focus is on Fleetwood's relationship with a local midwife.

Although based on a true story, Stacey Halls makes no secret that this book is fiction. So Fleetwood is presented as a feisty girl who gallops around the county on a horse, with a huge dog in tow, and makes day trips to Lancaster (about 40 miles away) - this in itself is improbable and Fleetwood was heavily pregnant at the time! It made the story interesting but some of our group found 'flying in the face of historical reality' frustrating. Those of the group who wanted more historical fact were disappointed. This is not an historical novel. It is almost as if the author wanted Fleetwood to be living in modern times. 

There were though 'nods' to history, such as references to travelling players performing Shakespeare (including the popular Macbeth) but overall the book failed to give insight or conclude the purpose of 'the nod'. It feels as if the author has a few bits of information from her visits to Gawthorpe Hall and Wikepedia and has dropped them into a story with no clear purpose.

Going back to this not being an historical novel, there was a feeling that more insight to the Pendle Witch Trials would not have gone amiss. Compared to Year of Wonders by Anna Frith, another 'not historical novel' based on historical fact that we have read as a group, we felt that The Familiars lacked depth. Even the concept of Familiars was inadequately explained or followed through in the story - we imagined they are similar to Phillip Pullmans Demons - luckily we had already read that!

Interesting fact from Sue: In 1652, George Fox (Founder of The Quakers) climbed Pendle Hill in Lancashire, where he had a vision of a “great people to be gathered” waiting for him. The beginning of the Society of Friends (Quakers) is usually dated from the day, soon afterwards, when Fox preached to large crowds on Firbank Fell, near Sedbergh, in Cumbria. We wonder what drew him to Pendle Hill?

Would we recommend this book? No, unless you don't want to know about the witch thing and are looking for an beach read. It is luke warm and there are better books to use your time on. 

The group did not agree on the book as a 'good read', one reader felt it was a 'page turner' and couldn't put it down (despite it not giving what she wanted), others felt it 'dragged on'; was 'longer than expected' and one member of our group even fell asleep while reading it. Then we had: 'I wouldn't choose to read another book by the same author', followed by 'Oh I would!' and 'The Foundlings is a good read'.

We couldn't choose between 2 of the 3 books proposed for our next read so we are going to read both and meet again in 6 weeks on Zoom (or possibly in small groups + Zoom). So our next reads are: Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires and A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson and we will meet to discuss these on 6th August. 

Book Choices for SUMMER 2020

Here are our choices for what could be a very hot Summer.

Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires

In this crackling debut collection Nafissa Thompson-Spires interrogates our supposedly post-racial era. To wicked and devastating effect she exposes the violence, both external and self-inflicted, that threatens black Americans, no matter their apparent success.

A teenager is insidiously bullied as her YouTube following soars; an assistant professor finds himself losing a subtle war of attrition against his office mate; a nurse is worn down by the demand for her skills as a funeral singer. And across a series of stories, a young woman grows up, negotiating and renegotiating her identity.

Heads of the Colored People shows characters in crisis, both petty and catastrophic. It marks the arrival of a remarkable writer and an essential and urgent new voice.

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman's struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.
Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist--and confidante--to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own...

Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow--a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.

A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson

A popular science book about bumblebees and about life as a field biologist.

Dave Goulson has always been obsessed with wildlife, from his childhood menagerie of exotic pets and dabbling in experimental taxidermy to his groundbreaking research into the mysterious ways of the bumblebee and his mission to protect our rarest bees.

Once commonly found in the marshes of Kent, the short-haired bumblebee is now extinct in the UK, but still exists in the wilds of New Zealand, descended from a few queen bees shipped over in the nineteenth century.

A Sting in the Tale tells the story of Goulson’s passionate drive to reintroduce it to its native land and contains groundbreaking research into these curious creatures, history’s relationship with the bumblebee, the disastrous effects intensive farming has had on our bee populations and the potential dangers if we are to continue down this path.

Here is some good news:

https://www.hugofox.com/community/ashendon-parish-council-10421/news/buckinghamshire-libraries-launch-new-request-collect-service-36642

We will meet to discuss our current read: The Familiars by Stacey Halls at 8.15pm on Thursday 25th June, by ZOOM. Before then I'll be:

The Switch by Beth O'Leary

9 of us met via Zoom for yet another lively discussion about our shared reading experience of what was declared: an enjoyable pleasant piece of Chick Lit. 

Despite comments such as “I wouldn’t put literature in the same sentence!” and “it’s one for the beach” and “well, there were no surprises”, we all agreed this was a refreshing book by a young author and all the better that she is an Oxford Graduate in English Literature!

Beth took a nice approach, showing how a young person thinks and cares about the elderly, and she handled the subject of bereavement well.

One of our group declared her love of ‘Chick Lit’ (describing it as her ‘dirty’ secret) and gave us a break down of the formulas for success. This book met much of the criteria, and the writing wasn’t awful, so she gave it ‘middle of the road’ classification and a thumbs up.

Those of our group who had already enjoyed her first novel ‘Flat Share’ felt that was a better story and, perhaps her editors had put her under pressure to produce The Switch. 

Overall we felt this was a good choice for ‘lock down’ reading in the garden and would recommend it to anyone as a nice bit of light reading. 

Our next book is The Familiars by Stacey Halls, which we will discuss on Thursday 25th June, at 8.15pm, on Zoom. 

Reading Choices as Lock Down Eases a Little

We will meet for the third time (where did that time go?) by Zoom on Thursday 21st May, for our virtual meeting.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

A tender and humane dissection of what happens to a relationship when unforeseen events conspire to sabotage it. Tayari Jones’ handling of her protagonists’ emotions is a masterclass in authentic characterisation whilst the story subtly probes issues of race and justice with a piercing emotional intelligence and colossal heart.

Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of the American Dream. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. Until one day they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit.

Devastated and unmoored, Celestial finds herself struggling to hold on to the love that has been her centre, taking comfort in Andre, their closest friend. When Roy's conviction is suddenly overturned, he returns home ready to resume their life together.

A masterpiece of storytelling, An American Marriage offers a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three unforgettable characters who are at once bound together and separated by forces beyond their control.

Novel On Yellow Paper by Stevie Smith

Stevie's alter ego Pompey is young, in love and working as a secretary for the magnificent Sir Phoebus Ullwater. In between making coffee and typing letters for Sir Phoebus, Pompey scribbles down - on yellow office paper - her quirky thoughts. Her flights of imagination take in Euripedes, sex education, Nazi Germany and the Catholic Church, shattering conventions in their wake.

The Familiars by Stacey Halls 

Strikingly evoking the heartland of seventeenth-century industrial Lancashire, Stacey Halls’ accomplished debut is a haunting novel of two women struggling to fight against the expectation and superstition of their age. Told with an infectious passion for the period, Halls’ blend of compelling plot and vividly drawn landscape crafts an unforgettable story of bewitching power.
In a time of suspicion and accusation, to be a woman is the greatest risk of all...

Fleetwood Shuttleworth is 17 years old, married, and pregnant for the fourth time. But as the mistress at Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child, and her husband Richard is anxious for an heir.

When Fleetwood finds a letter she isn't supposed to read from the doctor who delivered her third stillbirth, she is dealt the crushing blow that she will not survive another pregnancy. Then she crosses paths by chance with Alice Gray, a young midwife. Alice promises to help her give birth to a healthy baby, and to prove the physician wrong.

As Alice is drawn into the witchcraft accusations that are sweeping the north-west, Fleetwood risks everything by trying to help her. But is there more to Alice than meets the eye? Soon the two women's lives will become inextricably bound together as the legendary trial at Lancaster approaches, and Fleetwood's stomach continues to grow. Time is running out, and both their lives are at stake. Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.

We will meet to discuss our current read: The Switch by Beth O'Leary at 8pm on Thursday 21st May, by ZOOM.

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

Ten of us met on ZOOM to discuss our 'lock-down' reading of this very short memoir of time spent in the countryside. Once again we all agreed that this was a great read. We loved it.

This is a perfect book group read, and one that few of us would have read had it not been a group choice. Some of our group watched the film, made in 1987, starring Colin Firth being very Colin Firth - it wasn't well liked!

The book though is exquisite. The writing style is accessible and matter of fact. There is a lot to read in every sentence and it is an easy read. The descriptions are beautiful and the humour wonderful. It tells the story of two young men returned from the trenches of WW1 who find specialist work in a small Yorkshire village. The story alludes to many things about the 'war experience' in a subtle and gentle manner, and it doesn't dwell on things.

There is no plot and there is no reason to 'rush' through the 100 pages and yet it is a page turner.

The timing of this read gave us the opportunity to reflect on our own experience of 'lock-down' in a small village. We are in a small universe, just like Oxgodby, we can function without the big wide world and we are finding just how therapeutic the countryside can be. It is easy to imagine now how much good the pace and community of a small village would have been for two city dwelling men, broken by war, to spend some time in. Our French member brought our conversation to a lovely close by announcing 'I love the English countryside in the Summer.' Our Australian member agreed and the rest of didn't dispute it!

Our next read will be The Switch by Beth O'Leary and we will meet in a month, once again virtually, on 21st May at 8.15 pm. After our rather abrupt enforced ending of this meeting, a use of full ZOOM account has been offered and Sue will set us up and send invites.

Until then here's a little about J.L. Carr from a resident of Ashendon who knew him:

40 years ago, I was an undertaker, working in the family business, in Kettering , Northamptonshire: the county of "Squires and Spires". I did meet Carr from time to time on various funerals. But that was not where we first became acquainted. The local art shop 'Dinsdales', a frequent haunt of mine, was full of prints, tints and watercolours of local  Churches, some with stupendous skyscraping skylons, others, with squat towers as if trying to fold back into the countryside and hide for fear of offending the county's signature edifices Among these pictures I first came across some print oddities, described by the proprietor thus: “ That's by Carr, he does them himself, he used to be a local headmaster.”

It  cost more to frame, than to buy his prints... Unlike The Dan Dare print hanging next to Carr’s, by local Cartoonist Frank  Bellamy (who had just died) and was described  as a  “Renown Nationally Newspaper Illustrator”. His proofs fetched hundreds. But I preferred the idiosyncratic J.L. Carr.

Kettering was then, a boot and shoe town. The headquarters of the British Shoe and Allied Trades Research Centre (SATRA) was and still is based there today, as are the scatterings of some high brand boots and shoes manufacturers. If you look at Kettering's coat of arms, you'll notice a slave with a broken manacle and a leather hide. That's where it all started, the leather industry, a rural economy, marked by  a strong allegiances  to  non-conformism. Everywhere countryside. a massive park donated by the local engineer and philanthropist Charles Wicksteed vies on It's outskirts with a massive private estate belonging to Britain's largest (by acreage) landowner. Then even more rolling countryside.

So hopefully, you've now got the picture of a market town with little to distinguish it from rolling acres of countryside but Carey the Baptist, Knibb the freer of slaves, Wicksteed park, possibly the Duke of Buccleuch , an incredibly inspiring spire and an awful lot of footwear.

Gently undulating hills on vast tracts of farmland in Northants. separate a half a dozen very large towns. Few villages, means  traveling  several Miles between settlements is not unusual.
Kettering was a self important fish of a town in a modest pond.  It felt bigger than it was.  Surrounding villages were exceptionally modest despite being endowed with churches of outstanding character, full of under appreciated architectural gifts that  took the talent of J.L. Carr to prevent them being obliterated by time and vandalism and lost from consciousness .

He took on his own mission, to prevent one particular local, yet remote and derelict village church from bring made redundant. In this, the ex-teacher partially failed, though not to annoy church authorities. But that church, who’s actual fabric he helped preserve became a field centre and another local church followed suit to become a training school for stonemasons, something else that Carr turned his eccentric attentions too.

A curate of that aforementioned Kettering Church , with the landscape dominating Spire, who self importance had obvious rubbed off on himself, visited JL Carr at home. Carr had carved some statues at the church out of old curb stones to replace ones lost in the reformation. Despite my curate friend’s right wing pretensions, he was very offended when Carr concentrated his energies on trying to get him to purchase some of his prints, disdaining just how small Carr’s bedroom cum print shop was.

It would have been water off a ducks back. Carr was used to disdain. Have a look at his Wikipedia entry, where he described himself.

If you have any doubt about his interest, indeed passion for church architecture, compare two of his prints below hanging in my house.

The quirky Northants. map left ; then the print of local Northampton-shire church stone work (The Soke of Peterborough was part of Northants., pre-boundary changes).

Enlarged sections of both follow below.

I hope you can enjoy this additional glimpse into J.L. Carr .

You may like to add him to that list of Kettering’s distinguishing graces...

Richard (Phillips)

Reading Choices to Lighten Up Unprecedented Times

We will meet for the second time by Zoom on Thursday 23rd April, for our virtual meeting. Our book choices are the result of Sue's research into 'uplifting' books for a period of lockdown. Here they are:

What Ho!: The Best of Wodehouse: The Best of P.G.Wodehouse 

We all know Jeeves and Wooster, but which is the best Jeeves story?
We all know Blandings, but which is the funniest tale about Lord Emsworth and his adored prize-winning pig? And would the best of Ukridge, or the yarns of the Oldest Member, or Wodehouse's Hollywood stories outdo them? This bumper anthology allows you to choose, bringing you the cream of the crop of stories by the twentieth century's greatest humorous writer.

There are favourites aplenty in this selection, which has been compiled with enthusiastic support from P.G. Wodehouse societies around the world. With additional material including novel extracts, working drafts, articles, letters and poems, this anthology provides the best overall celebration of side-splitting humour and sheer good nature available in the pages of any book.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

On 21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol.

But instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely.

While Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval, the Count, stripped of the trappings that defined his life, is forced to question what makes us who we are. And with the assistance of a glamorous actress, a cantankerous chef and a very serious child, Rostov unexpectedly discovers a new understanding of both pleasure and purpose.

The Switch by Beth O'Leary

Leena is too young to feel stuck.
Eileen is too old to start over.
Maybe it's time for The Switch...

Ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, Leena escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some overdue rest. Newly single and about to turn eighty, Eileen would like a second chance at love. But her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen... So Leena proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love, and Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire.

But with a rabble of unruly OAPs to contend with, as well as the annoyingly perfect - and distractingly handsome - local schoolteacher, Leena learns that switching lives isn't straightforward. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, and with the online dating scene. But is her perfect match nearer to home than she first thought?


We will meet to discuss our current read: A Month in the Country by JL Carr at 8pm on Thursday 23rd April, by ZOOM.  Jitsi was also suggested as an alternative to Zoom because it offers unlimited time, but having sent details out to various members of our group by various methods I was concerned someone would get missed if we changed tack this time. So, the meeting will only last 40 minutes, limited by the software licence so please try to join 5 minutes before, with choice of beverage to hand, so we can make a prompt start. We can always take a quick break and start another session if we need/want to. And let's discuss the Jitsi option if we have time, hopefully I will have managed to test it between now and then.

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

A dynamic book group meeting was had this week. I reckon that's the best word to describe how our little group stood up to COVID-19: by being positive in attitude and full of energy and new ideas. The new idea turned out to be a complete success and we held our first ever 'virtual' book group meeting.

Sorry Sue - we know you were there.

Following the national clap for our NHS, 7 of us logged into Zoom and had a lively discussion about our most recent read 'Prisoners of Geography'.

And thanks to Zoom giving us a special gift of unlimited time we were able to natter on for more than our allocated 40 minutes!

Everyone agreed that this book is brilliant. We thought it might be heavy going, we expected it to be a challenging read and perhaps a bit technical. It was none of those things, it is a very well written, thoroughly enjoyable book full of facts and clear explanation of world history and geopolitics.

Our conversation started with Russian Politics and ended with homelessness in Aylesbury! In between we explored the Middle East, Africa, Europe, America, Iran, Pakistan, India, China, Japan and Korea.

There is so much information between the two covers that, we agreed, it is impossible to take it all in. This is a book to dip in and out of and one to read more than once.

Do we recommend it? yes, of course, and we hope that Tim Marshall updates it too because we need his take on the world after Trump.

Our next book is A Month in the Country by J.L Carr and we will review our read in April. I have set up a Zoom meeting for 8.10pm on Thursday 23rd April. If you haven't received an invite and would like to join in please let me (Sian) know.

Reading Choices to Combat Corona Virus Boredom

We will meet this month but not in the usual manner - please check details at the end of this post and get in touch with me (Sian) if you want any help setting up for our meeting.

Our book choices for quarantine and self-isolation are as follows:

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

For years, rumours of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say.

Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens.

Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

First published in 1980 and nominated for the Booker Prize. The book won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1980.

A sensitive portrayal of the healing process that took place in the aftermath of the First World War.

A damaged survivor of the First World War, Tom Birkin finds refuge in the quiet village church of Oxgodby where he is to spend the summer uncovering a huge medieval wall-painting. Immersed in the peace and beauty of the countryside and the unchanging rhythms of village life he experiences a sense of renewal and belief in the future. Now an old man, Birkin looks back on the idyllic summer of 1920, remembering a vanished place of blissful calm, untouched by change, a precious moment he has carried with him through the disappointments of the years.

Adapted into a 1987 film starring Colin Firth, Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Branagh, A Month in the Country traces the slow revival of the primeval rhythms of life so cruelly disorientated by the Great War.

On the Beach by Nevil Shute

After the war is over, a radioactive cloud begins to sweep southwards on the winds, gradually poisoning everything in its path. An American submarine captain is among the survivors left sheltering in Australia, preparing with the locals for the inevitable. Despite his memories of his wife, he becomes close to a young woman struggling to accept the harsh realities of their situation. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from the United States and the submarine must set sail through the bleak ocean to search for signs of life.

On the Beach is Nevil Shute's most powerful novel. Both gripping and intensely moving, its impact is unforgettable.

Here's to happy reading and to staying as fit and well and as positive as we can be.

We will meet to discuss our current read: Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall at 8pm on Thursday 26th March, by ZOOM. OK so this is an experiment and I hope everyone can get the software downloaded and sign in before the meeting - join by voice only or if you have video then turn it on. The meeting will only last 40 minutes, limited by the software licence so please try to join 5 minutes before, with choice of beverage to hand, so we can make a prompt start.

I have emailed the invite to our ZOOM meeting - if you have't received one, I'm sorry, please let me know: sian@impetus.co.uk

Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing service you can use to virtually meet with others - either by video or audio-only or both, all while conducting live chats.You can join these meetings via computer audio with, or without, webcam or using your pad or smart phone.

To download and install the Zoom Application: Go to https://zoom.us/download and from the Download Center, click on the Download button under “Zoom Client For Meetings”. This application will automatically download when you start your first Zoom Meeting.

Early One Morning by Virginia Baily

A lovely turn out for the start of the year with nine of us sat around the big table in our local pub, enjoying a drink and chatting about our latest reading experience.

Our discussion started like this: "I LOVED IT".

That was almost, but not quite, unanimous and those that didn't 'Love It' were just a tiny, tiny bit less enthusiastic. We all agreed it's a lovely story and a very enjoyable read.

Some of us know Rome well enough to visualise the area where much of the story takes place. One of our group even has a cousin who was brought up in Rome during WW2 and who had her own stories to tell. Others, having never been to Rome (or Italy), didn't feel at a disadvantage because the descriptions were so good - one of our group said she felt as if she had already been!

So was there anything not to like? just that it wrapped up too quickly and we wanted more detail. Let's hope Virginia decides to write a sequel, as there is so much more story to tell.

When we chose this book there was some concern that it could be a gruesome story of WW2 horrors in Rome. But that worry did not bear out. This book is mostly about relationships, and offers a very different take on the war. The story evolves around 3 key characters (Chiara, Daniele and Maria), each bringing their own relationships, and issues. It begins with a incident - early one morning - during 1943 and we left them at sometime in the 1970's.

Our favourite characters:

• Gabriel - a silent gentle hero
• Assunta - brings an element of comedy
• Nonna - a lovely old lady - just how a grandmother should be
• Simone - a rock 

The many underpinning themes such as: 'sense of duty', 'gut feeling', 'morals', 'mothers', 'faith' 'trust' and 'love' all make for great group discussions.

Would we read another Virginia Baily? most of us would, and especially a sequel to this book. We think the book would make a brilliant film too.

Would we recommend this book - definitely.

Our next read is Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall which we will discuss at 8pm on Thursday 26th March at The Hundred of Ashendon.

Reading Choices to Kick Start the New Decade

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade - here's to a continuation of friendship, convivial chatter and our reading adventures. We will meet at 8pm on Thursday 16th January in The Hundred of Ashendon to discuss Early One Morning by Virginia Baily and then choose our next book from the below.

At Home by Bill Bryson

In At Home, Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose and masterful storytelling that made A Short History of Nearly Everything one of the most lauded books of the last decade, and delivers one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live.

Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote a lot more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - eating, sleeping and merely endeavouring to get more comfortable. And that most of the key discoveries for humankind can be found in the very fabric of the houses in which we live.This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, wandering from room to room considering how the ordinary things in life came to be.

Along the way he did a prodigious amount of research on the history of anything and everything, from architecture to electricity, from food preservation to epidemics, from the spice trade to the Eiffel Tower, from crinolines to toilets; and on the brilliant, creative and often eccentric minds behind them. And he discovered that, although there may seem to be nothing as unremarkable as our domestic lives, there is a huge amount of history, interest and excitement - and even a little danger - lurking in the corners of every home.

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall 

All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture.

If you've ever wondered why Putin is so obsessed with Crimea, why the USA was destined to become a global superpower, or why China's power base continues to expand ever outwards, the answers are all here.

In ten chapters (covering Russia; China; the USA; Latin America; the Middle East; Africa; India and Pakistan; Europe; Japan and Korea; and the Arctic), using maps, essays and occasionally the personal experiences of the widely travelled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an essential insight into one of the major factors that determines world history.

It's time to put the 'geo' back into geopolitics.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Intuition is not some magical property that arises unbidden from the depths of our mind. It is a product of long hours and intelligent design, of meaningful work environments and particular rules and principles. This book shows us how we can hone our instinctive ability to know in an instant, helping us to bring out the best in our thinking and become better decision-makers in our homes, offices and in everyday life. Just as he did with his revolutionary theory of the tipping point, Gladwell reveals how the power of ‘blink’ could fundamentally transform our relationships, the way we consume, create and communicate, how we run our businesses and even our societies. You’ll never think about thinking in the same way again.