Reading

The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr

A book set in Donegal about a fishing town. It struck me as I read it that there are I don’t know how many stories about Irish farms but almost none about fishermen. Where are all the fishermen’s children’s stories? This was a reasonably enjoyable story about a very wealthy fishing village, the winners and the losers and, of course, the boy who washed in from the sea.

The Legendary Scarlett and Browne by Jonathan Stroud

The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

Ptolemy’s Gate by Jonathan Stroud

I think I’ve read all of Jonathan Stroud’s output at this point. In my view the Scarlett and Browne stories set in a post-apocalyptic Britain are better than the trilogy about a magical Britain with demons but he is a great writer for children and adults who like this kind of thing.

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar

A further text on why the car is going to be the ruination of us all. A bit American focused but interesting all the same.

Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert

Well, this was depressing. While I was busy having children, pornography was taking over the internet and feminism was taking a back seat. Interesting but not cheering.

The best address in town: Henrietta Street Dublin and its first residents 1720 to 1780 by Melanie Hayes

I enjoyed this very much. It’s a bit niche, however, and if you are unfamiliar with Henrietta Street, it may not be for you.

Fair Play by Louise Hegarty

A meta big house cosy crime novel. I quite enjoyed it until the end when the meta took over and it lost me.

A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm

A non-fiction account of an English man just about keeping body and soul together while working as a waiter in Paris. It would discourage you from ever eating in a Parisian restaurant again.

The Names by Florence Knapp

This book was a big hit last year. It’s about three alternative narratives depending on what name has been chosen for a child. Clever and well paced but I found the Irish bits rang false and that was irritating. Also domestic violence is a tough theme.

Empty Nest: Poems for Families edited by Carol Ann Duffy

Florence Knapp said that she read this frequently as she wrote “The Names” as her children were leaving home and as I am in the same situation, I was curious to have a look. My first born was a bit sniffy about Carol Ann Duffy but I found this a lovely selection and quite touching. I got it out of the library and have indicated that it would make a very acceptable present but so far no dice.

The House in Cornwall by Noel Streatfeild

I’m a big fan of Noel Streatfeild’s children’s books and I had not read this previously. It features mystery and derring do but it wouldn’t be my favourite of her books.

The Children of Green Knowe and The River at Green Knowe by Lucy M Boston

Another children’s author. I had never heard of her until recently and tried these books. They are inspired by her Tudor house and appealing in places but a bit lacking in plot – children from previous ages meet the current children but there isn’t a great deal of danger or excitement.

Memory in a House by Lucy M Boston

This is Lucy Boston’s description of the house she set her children’s novels in and how she bought it and restored it. I found this rather charming although she was clearly nutty as a fruitcake.

The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith

Another ludicrously enormous tome so elaborately plotted that I had no idea who the suspects were even while I was reading it. Clearly the author is now too famous for an editor and more’s the pity. But, you know, grand – more Cormoran and Robin will they/won’t they; the author’s research on masons and a complicated plot feature.

The Bargain Hunt Spotter’s Guide to Antiques by Karen Farrington

I got this as a present and enjoyed it far more than I expected to – it’s a kind of hilarious mix of high and low culture and takes you on a whistlestop tour of every kind of antique you’ve ever heard of. So entranced was I that I even watched an episode of the TV show to which it relates but I regret to say that it was not for me.

When the Going was Good by Graydon Carter

This got very good reviews. It’s about Graydon Carter’s life but it really focuses on his time as editor of Vanity Fair. I didn’t know lots of the dramatis personae but some were familiar (Princess Margaret anyone?). There were some very funny stories including his tale of getting Christopher Hitchens to get a “back sack and crack” wax so that he could write about it for the magazine which made me laugh out loud. But yet, ultimately, it was a slightly unconnected round up of anecdotes.

Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell

John Donne was very odd is my overall conclusion from reading this and also that relics seem incomprehensible and a bit creepy to non-Catholics. A surprise was that Isaac Walton, the “Compleat Angler” guy, was Donne’s first biographer. Small world and all that. The author also mentioned that one of Donne’s sons “served in a spectacularly unsuccessful British siege in 1627, the Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré..” Having heard about it on my holidays last summer, I was entertained to see it in print and connected to Donne. Small world redux.

Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel

This is about four young female boxers in America. Boxing is not a world I know a great deal about but this was a really excellent book. Beautifully written and very engaging.

Lyra’s Oxford by Philip Pullman illustrated by Chris Wormell

I think I got a present of this. Short and not bad but I may be tiring a bit of Philip Pullman

Just Kids by Patti Smith

This took me forever to read but it was really, really interesting. I have to say I know almost nothing about Patti Smith but Robert Mapplethorp’s photographs were very popular when I was at college and this was my way in. It’s a fascinating read about a particular place and time.

L’art de Perdre by Alice Zeniter

Mr. Waffle recommended this and I read it, very slowly, in French. The French was easy so I felt I should try. It’s about an Algerian family in France. I would not say that the French cover themselves in glory. It’s a really interesting insight into French colonialism and the experience of the Algerians about which I know shamefully little. Recommended.

What does it feel like? by Sophie Kinsella

A friend’s sister died of the same brain tumour as Sophie Kinsella and I thought I would try reading this book which is a (lightly fictionalised) account of her experience. Very, very sad.

Emma by Jane Austen

I’ve obviously read “Emma” before and I’ve never liked it much but I really enjoyed it on this re-reading. I used to find Emma impossible and annoying but I really took to her this time, now that she is so much younger than me and I felt her faults were the faults of youth and that she was really charming. The whole Jane Fairfax/Frank Churchill subplot remains a disaster though.

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

The latest adventure for the pensioners of Cooper’s Chase. Grand. I would definitely read another one.

The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson

This was a delight though some attitudes have changed since it was written (in the 80s, I think). It’s a children’s book about a Russian countess who escapes the revolution and ends up working as a maid. I really enjoyed it and will try some more of her books.

Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession

I got a present of this and resisted reading it for a long time. It’s about two slightly gormless men who are good friends. I kept thinking something bad would happen but nothing bad happens. Relaxing.

Leaving Home: A Memoir in Full Colour by Mark Haddon

This is the opposite of relaxing. Mark Haddon had a difficult upbringing and some aspects of it are unique to him and his family set up but I think he fails to appreciate that even parents who loved their children and were glad to have them around did some of the things his parents did. It’s really sad and you can see that he and his sister have spent a lifetime trying to get over it.

No Way to Treat a First Lady by Christopher Buckley

This is terrible. It’s about the first lady being tried for murdering her husband. It’s supposed to be funny and witty in the style of someone like PJ O’Rourke. It’s not.

One of Us by Elizabeth Day

This is a novel about how the establishment get away with things in England. Well written but did not float my boat.

Sister Wake by Dave Rudden

I like Dave Rudden’s books for children and thought this was one of them. It’s not, it’s for adults and despite the positive reviews, it’s terrible. It is a fantasy world with countries that seem very like Ireland and England (or possibly Wales, you’d have to read another volume to find out and I won’t be doing that) and the old gods come alive in Ireland and they fight the English (or possibly Welsh). Definitely not for me, but maybe for you?

The Trees by Percival Everett

I really enjoyed the Huckleberry Finn retelling that Percival Everett did and thought I’d try this. I loved it. The conclusion is a bit unsatisfactory but otherwise it is superb. It’s basically a detective story with extra moral content.

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This woman is an amazing writer. This book doesn’t really have a great deal by way of plot and it takes a lot for me to forgive that but I forgive it here. She has four different African women (three Nigerian friends and a Kenyan woman who works for one of them) give their stories and it is brilliant.

In Omelogor she has created one of my favourite fictional characters. Consider her thoughts here. Chia says to Omelogor “You know depression can show up as anger?” Omelogor is outraged “Depression can show up as anger. America has bamboozled us all. We are all defining our worlds with words from America.” This is how I feel myself and I was delighted to see it so clearly articulated. I also truly enjoyed the description of Chia’s extremely annoying boyfriend Darnell.

The Memoirs of Mrs Leeson Madam edited by Mary Lyons

Honestly, the editing here needs a bit of work. This three volume memoir is written by an 18th century courtesan in Dublin and there are some good bits but it is a bit like panning for gold. It names everywhere so it was very easy to lay all the action over modern Dublin which was interesting, if you know Dublin. And she is, literally the only person I have ever heard say a good word about the Earl Bishop of Derry (he sent her £50 when she was down on her luck).

The characters are often aristocrats whose descendants are still around. Take this one – the Duke of Rutland, Charles Manners (apparently he was popular in Dublin and known as Honest Charlie) was Lord Lieutenant and a client of Mrs. Leeson. He led something of a dissipated life and died young so it wasn’t out of character that he turned up drunk to her brothel at nine in the evening. He left his guards outside and neglected to tell them to leave, so the castle guards stayed stationed outside the brothel until the following afternoon at 4 when he emerged. Everyone in Dublin tripped in to Grafton Street to see the guards lined up outside the brothel. When Mrs. Leeson next went to the theatre where she enjoyed a certain amount of popularity with those in the cheap seats they shouted at her “Who are you consorting with Peg?” And she shouted back, “Manners, you blackguards!”

Here’s another anecdote in her own words.

At a large party one night at my house, we had the pleasure of the company of Colonel Mercer, who among a number of pleasant stories, related the following, which is not generally known. It happened in the 49th regiment, of which he was the Colonel. There was a private soldier, whose mother nursed the colonel; this man had several times deserted, but was by the good colonel got off from punishment; it happened that the corporal, another soldier and himself, not only had deserted but actually took away some articles belonging to the regiment; it was during the American war, where delinquents of this nature seldom escaped; they were soon apprehended, tried by a general court martial, and sentenced to be shot; this man as usual made application to the colonel, but he declared, that to save him was totally out of his power, and advised him to prepare for death; – the evening before the fatal day, he entreated the favour of seeing the colonel, who did accordingly attend him; he asked, was there no hope, no possibility of changing the punishment, but the colonel solemnly declared that his fate was fixed, and die he must; “Then sir,’ says the soldier, ‘I am perfectly well reconciled to my fate, I have only one request to beg of you, which I cannot die in peace till you grant, and which you must pledge your honor to fulfill, it will not be attended with trouble, and the expence will not amount to a guinea? The colonel imagining, it was some request he had to make relative to his body, and without hesitation gave his honor, his request should be complied with, ‘well then, says the man, ‘you are a man of honor, and I shall die in peace, well knowing you will be equal to your promise, – my request is, that when I am shot dead, you will instantly in presence of the whole regiment, turn up my body and kiss my arse?

The colonel’s promise was sacred and he could not be off; he however so effectually exerted himself, as to prevent so disagreeable an exhibition, and got a free pardon for the three soldiers: he added, that after so narrow an escape the soldier reformed, and turned out afterwards one of the best in the regiment.

I’m Glad my Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

I got this out of the library because it got good reviews and started reading it at 10 at night and then could not put it down and was up until 3 in the morning. It is about a terrible stage mother and also her daughter (the author). The daughter was Sam in iCarly and Sam and Cat and if you have children of a certain age, you will have seen it. I was quite shocked that she was having such a grim time while I and my family were watching her seem perfectly cheerful on the show (that’s acting I suppose). She is a really engaging writer and I truly recommend this. She wrote a novel that came out earlier this year and a friend lent me a copy which I am saving up to read when it won’t keep me up all night.

Unrelated to the above, should you be interested, you my book club 2026 books are listed below. You will see from the list above that I am somewhat behind on my reading but look, I do what I can.