Advent calendar 20th December – The book you’ve read more than three times

Posted on December 20, 2015 by vanessa

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel SparkI like to re-read, whether it’s a book that always cheers me up or one that brings back happy memories. But the most rewarding re-reads are when each visit gives something fresh. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark is one of those novels, every time I read it I notice some new detail or facet to a character. The wit of Jean Brodie is well known (and often quoted by friends) but the novel is a study of the tragic schoolmistress’ downfall, a victim of her own hubris as much as her political sympathies, the ostensible reason for her dismissal from the school.

It’s a slim volume – about 130 pages – so if it’s quietly sitting on your shelves it might be time to take it down and re-read. Every emotion is there, spare and elegant, from love and hatred to pride and despair.

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Advent calendar 19th December – The book that made you laugh

Posted on December 19, 2015 by vanessa

‘It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.’

It’s hardly original of me to begin by quoting the first lines of this book but they set the tone for this irreverent part-mystery part-family-saga novel, stretching between the Hebrides and Glasgow, and spanning several generations of the McHoan family. Although I’ve included it as a book that made me laugh it isn’t a comedy as such but as with most Iain Banks novels there’s a rich vein of wry humour throughout.

Looking at reviews, it seems to be something of a Marmite book – people either love it or hate it – but I loved it and it’s probably due for a re-read next year. Maybe in the summer if The Husband succeeds in his plan for our summer holiday to be spent on some midge-plagued island off the West coast…

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Advent calendar 18th December – Most underrated book or author

Posted on December 18, 2015 by vanessa

The novels of Barbara PymThis is a tricky one but an author that often seems to slip under the radar is Barbara Pym. She has a small but passionate army of fans (including the very lovely Alexander McCall Smith) and every so often the media laud her writing but somehow she’s not as well known as she should be. Maybe it’s because she’s a mid-20th century woman writer; maybe it’s because she’s passed away so no new novels are forthcoming and backlist is often neglected by publishers in favour of the shiny new thing; maybe it’s because her writing is often concerned with the domestic and marriage and so she’s dismissed as having nothing important to say… Whatever the reason, I love her writing. Go try it out…

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Advent calendar 17th December – Favourite comfort read

Posted on December 17, 2015 by vanessa

17thI think most of us probably have a favourite comfort read – that book that you reach for when you’re in need of mental soothing or when you have a miserable cold and want familiar fireside reading. There are several on my bookshelves; some of which have been with me most of my life. One that always makes me smile is Hens Dancing by Raffaella Barker – the story of newly-divorced Venetia who moves to the Norfolk countryside with her three children and keeps the most amusing diary of family and country life. Similar in feel to my much-loved Provincial Lady, I picked up this on the spur of the moment when travelling back from London by train. Weary and footsore and pregnant, I chose this book almost entirely on the basis of the cover which was the very opposite of how I felt at that moment. It kept me happily entertained on the journey home and I return to it every so often. Such elegant prose too – I love Barker’s writing.

I do have one little, bookseller-type, moan though – the original jacket is sooooo much nicer than the latest one.

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Advent calendar 16th December – Most recent purchase

Posted on December 16, 2015 by vanessa

MOVE and WORK

A book I saw in the USA this summer and which was just too heavy to add to my already over-heavy baggage was Move and Work by Danish fashion and interior designer Malene Birger. The homes it focuses on are Birger’s own and her style is gorgeous – pale walls, simple interesting art and tactile fabrics. What is most striking though is the simplicity – home as a setting for your life rather than just as an accumulation of ‘stuff’, designer or otherwise. Although a Louis Vuitton suit bag sneaks into one shot, I also spotted some Ikea baskets that used to be in a previous kitchen of ours. It’s an expensive and over-sized tome that will require the bookshelves to be rearranged in order to fit it in, but if you’re planning on doing anything interiors-wise in 2016, it’s wonderful inspiration.

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