On the Stack

I decided at 6am this morning, when I couldn't think of what to post today, that it's time to start a new series on the blog. Aside from a little mention here and there in my 'Things That Made Me Happy' posts I don't often talk about what I'm currently reading or the books on my stack. I thought it would be nice to check in every couple of weeks with a little round up of what I'm reading and what's coming up next - let me know in the comments if you'd find that interesting.

At the end of last week I started the much anticipated sequel to Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, A God in Ruins. It's been slow going so far purely because I've not had more than ten minutes to properly sit down and dive in, but I can tell I'm going to really enjoy it. I'm a big fan of how Atkinson plays with time and I love it when she reveals details from the future through interjections. I find that she is quite present as an author and it works really well here.

Next up is a non-fiction pick that I treated myself to after Christmas. First Bite by Bee Wilson is all about food habits and how they have been shaped by our culture, families, gender etc. I have a pretty unhealthy relationship with food so I'm looking forward to reading this and hopefully re-learning more positive habits. After buying this I realised that my sister has another of Wilson's books in her TBR pile (Consider the Fork), so I suspect I'll give that a go too if First Bite is a good read.

I'll be heading back to WW1 after my brief foray into food writing. Fear is a novel/memoir written from the French perspective and published in 1930. It came as part of a wave of such books in the 30s as many still struggled to come to terms with their war experience. I don't think this one is going to be an easy read by any stretch as the words that crop up in most reviews are brutal, visceral, and honest. There are a number of these novel/memoirs that I'm hoping to get to this year, including Under Fire and A Storm of Steel, and I think Fear is as good a place to start as any.

What's on your stack?

Things That Made Me Happy This Week #47

1// Somerset I went on a flying visit back home this weekend to see my best friend and her new arrival. I spent Saturday snuggling her beautiful daughter and it was amazing.

2// A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson I finally started this sort-of sequel to Life After Life this week and I'm very excited about it. I've not had much time for reading so I'm snatching ten minutes here and there, but I'm in love already.

3// Time Out's Rising Stars evening at the Jazz Cafe Camden thanks to spotify I discovered the band Brother and Bones just before Christmas and I've listened to them non-stop ever since. They happened to be playing this week as part of Time Out's Rising Stars evening so I quickly grabbed Mike and I some tickets. It was an amazing evening and Brother and Bones were so good. Time Out host these evenings monthly so I'm sure I'll be going along to another in the future as they're a great way to discover new and upcoming bands and singers.

4// Swimming I managed to squeeze in two swims this week and I feel great for it. I'm still very fed up at not being able to run, but I'm quite enjoying feeling myself become a stronger swimmer.

5// Feeling supported at work sometimes my job can be pretty tough but I'm forever grateful for my team who are always on hand to share a laugh with and who seem to send around animal gifs at just the right moment.

What made you happy this week?

Reading Playlist

Music is a pretty big deal in my life. I grew up surrounded by musical people and started learning an instrument when I was seven. I crafted my teenage identity around the music I liked and my eclectic tastes have long been a source of amusement with my friends (having my ipod on shuffle was always interesting, jumping from metal to classical to pop punk to acoustic in one sitting). Essentially, if books are my life raft, then music is my comfort blanket.

Music is associated with reading quite heavily in my memory and listening to a piece of music can bring to mind a particular book or character. Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album even now takes me straight back to one of my favourite teenage reads, The Scent of Magic by Cliff McNish.

I definitely listen to music less when I read nowadays because my mind is not always able to multi-task, but when I do I stick to my favourites which I can tune in and out of. Mostly it's quite calm and acoustic with a smattering of classical, but I will mix it up with something more lively every once in a while.

I'd love to know whether you listen to music when you read and, if so, what kind of music you find sets the mood without distracting you from the book. This is my reading playlist:

Brother and Bones - For All We Know
Jack Garrett - Weathered
Rhodes - Wishes
This Wild Life - Sleepwalking
Emarosa - Say Hello to the Bad Guy (Reimagined)
Chon - Story
Charlie Simpson - Comets
Florence and the Machine - Heartlines
War Games - Holding Patterns
Flyleaf - City Kids
Jonny Craig - Stand
Walking on Cars - Hand in Hand
Alex Clare - Sparks
Lifehouse -  Everything
Mallory Knox - She Took Him to the Lake
Ludovico Einaudi - Divenire
Michael Nyman - The Heart Asks Pleasure First

Do you listen to music when you read?

Wintry Reads

Since about mid-October 'it's not cold enough' has been a daily moan escaping my lips. I really dislike that inbetween weather where it deceives you into thinking it's chilly, but in reality it's mild as hell and I end up sticky in too many layers. The last week or so however, has seen a significant drop in temperature which has had me delightedly reaching for my bobble hat and blanket scarf. I just love to get cosy, to roll myself into a duvet cocoon with one hand poking out to hold a book. In celebration of the cold weather I've selected a few snowy reads that will have you reaching for the duvet in no time.

The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

I read this last autumn and was thoroughly blown away by the dark and snowy Alaskan landscape, which provided the perfect setting for such a creepy tale.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Another Alaskan setting, this time in the 1920s. Deeply rooted in folklore and fairytale, The Snow Child is a beautifully descriptive novel and perfect to curl up with.

December by Elizabeth H Winthrop

December explores a child's selective mutism and the impact it has on her family. It's an interesting read and the claustrophobia of the cold winter adds further tension to an already tense family.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

A heartbreakingly tragic novel if there ever was one, but also very good. 

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Winter in The Road's post-apocalyptic landscape is particularly bleak, dangerous and harsh. It's an immersive novel (thanks to the punctuation, or lack of), and should certainly be accompanied by a large mug of something warming.

Can you recommend any wintry reads?

The Mask of Dimitrios || Eric Ambler

'He needed, and badly, a motive, a neat method of committing a murder and an entertaining crew of suspects. Yes, the suspects must certainly be entertaining. His last book had been a trifle heavy. He must inject a little more humour into this one. 

As for the motive, money was always, of course, the soundest basis. A pity that wills and life insurance were so outmoded. Supposing a man murdered an old lady so that his wife should have a private income. It might be worth thinking about.'

The Mask of Dimitrios, or A Coffin for Dimitrios as it is known in America, is the first novel I've read by Eric Ambler. It will not be the last.

It's hard to summarise the novel without giving away massive spoilers so I'll keep it short and sweet: our protagonist, Charles Latimer, is an author of detective novels who decides to trace the history of the notorious criminal Dimitrios, who was recently found murdered. The search takes him across Europe, reveals many secrets, and reaches a somewhat dangerous climax in a building in Paris.

For a mystery/thriller there is very little action in this novel, but it did not feel lacking in this respect.  Aside from the brilliantly crafted characters, there was something about exploring 30s Europe and the simmering unrest that propelled the novel forward until a point when action became necessary. This is an intelligent novel that slowly reveals startling elements of Dimitrios's history - it twists and turns and does the odd backflip, until everything suddenly slots into place.

Perhaps my favourite thing about the novel is the fact that Charles Latimer is an author of detective novels. It makes him a touch arrogant as he seems to think that he knows how these things work - as if the real world truly resembles fiction. He ends the novel (as the above quote demonstrates) planning a straightforward novel which follows a reassuring structure, where there is a believable motive, a 'neat' murder, and entertaining suspects, because life is possibly just too heavy. I think his background adds something particularly special to the novel, making a story that is quite understated gripping and brilliant.

In three words: intelligent, understated, gripping.

Have you read any Ambler?

I received a copy of this novel for review purposes - thank you.

Things That Made Me Happy This Week #46

1// Maggie O'Farrell In anticipation of O'Farrell's new novel coming in May I decided it was high time to read Instructions for a Heatwave, which has been languishing on my kindle since its release. I now regret not getting to it sooner because it is fantastic. Her characters are spot on and she writes family tensions perfectly.

2// Finding purpose again Over the last week or so I've been putting a lot of effort into my voluntary role as books editor of Centenary News. Some of you will have heard me talk about this before and it's something I love to do (yay WW1), but it's fallen by the wayside in recent months. It feels good to be back on track and I have so many ideas for the page.

3// Sunrises/sunsets This week we've had some spectacular sunrises and sunsets. It's been an absolute treat seeing the sky light up. The sky is perhaps my favourite thing to photograph so I was constantly whipping out my phone to try and capture the light.

4// Book club This week was the first meeting of the book club I set up at work. We talked about The Secret Place by Tana French (I shared our thoughts here) and I had so much fun. It was great to have the opportunity to talk about a book in detail (although I did tone down the enthusiasm a notch or two) and I look forward to our next meeting.

5// Courgetti I received a spiralizer for Christmas and have been furiously spiralizing ever since. I've been loving courgetti with pesto, cherry tomatoes and salmon. So simple, so healthy and so delicious!

What made you happy this week?

10 Classics to Re-read (again and again)

Persuasion by Jane Austen

This is by far my favourite Austen and one I will continue to re-read even as my interest in her other novels wanes. I love that parts are set in Lyme, I love Captain Wentworth, but mostly I just love Anne. She is such an 'ordinary' heroine with a kind heart and I'd quite like to know her in real life.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Even though mysteries can lose something on the second or third read, The Woman in White manages to still keep me guessing and not just because I've forgotten how it plays out. Returning to Marian Halcombe is like saying hello to an old friend and missed details always surprise me.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

I've talked about re-reading this novel before, but I wanted to give it a mention here too. I think any of Woolf's novels would fit in this post as they seem to jump and shift depending on your circumstances.

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

I've not yet re-read The Good Soldier but I know it's inevitable that I will. I still have strong memories of this short, impressionistic novel which is rare for me (unfortunately) and I look forward to returning to it. It also has a tremendous first line: 'This is the saddest story I've ever heard'.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Another mystery to re-read. It has been about ten years since I turned the final page of this novel and it still haunts me. The atmosphere! The tension! The denouement! All brilliant, and it's another contender for best first line.

The Return of the Solider by Rebecca West

This is both one of my favourite ever WW1 novels and one of my favourite novels. It has withstood multiple re-readings, enthusiastic analysis and being the focus of two essays, and I still want to sink into its pages again.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Although I only conquered this beast last year, I know it'll be a book I discover again and again. The BBC adaptation has me itching to return to it already.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Again I only read this two years ago, the first summer I lived in London as a matter of fact. Every time I hear it mentioned or if I brush past it in Waterstones I have this sudden urge to find out how it all went so horribly wrong all over again.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I would argue that this novel benefits from multiple re-readings. The first time I read it I absolutely despised it and vowed never to read another Fitzgerald ever again. Two years later it was required reading for one of my uni modules and I fell hopelessly in love. Another few years later and I lost my heart irretrievably to Gatsby.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

This is perhaps an odd choice but The Wind in the Willows is such a multi-faceted novels. Whilst being the jolly story of Moley, Toad and the gang, it's also a very revealing commentary on Edwardian society. Read once for Moley and a second time for cultural historical analysis.

Is there a classic you will always re-read?