Yes I know this is an update about July and we’re already half way through August. I was tempting to skip this month but I gave myself a good talking to this morning and decided late is better than zero. So here goes…
July was a really good month. Birthday celebrations for a wonderful 80-year-old lady who is part of our volunteer team at a National Trust property. New members for our Nordic Walking group. And a very special shopping trip to the bookshops of Bath with two friends from the book club.
Unfortunately our timing wasn’t brilliant.
Not only did we (accidentally) pick the hottest day of the year, it was also the day of the annual Bath carnival. So the city, already busy with fans marking the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, was even more crowded.
But first we had to get there. Cardiff — where we started our journey — was in the midst of Oasis fever. Though they weren’t due on stage for seven hours, crowd control measures already in place meant long detours around the railway station.
That was the least of our problems. The entire rail service was having a meltdown in the heatwave. Direct services suddenly changed to circuitous services. Standing room only. Trains delayed. Trains cancelled.
Was it worth it? YES. YES. YES.
Despite all the hassles we had a wonderful time. We got to three independent bookshops — Persephone; Mr B’s Emporium and Toppings — plus a very large branch of Waterstones.
My favourite was Mr B’s Emporium where the staff members were outstanding and clearly love a challenge. I mentioned to one of them that I was looking for authors from Africa and he embarked upon a personal quest to find me some options. Darting from shelf to shelf, then going to his computer to check on stock. It’s easily the best experience I’ve ever had in a bookshop.
Did I buy anything? Well, what do you think???
Of course I did. Not as many as I’d have liked but I was conscious that I had to carry them home.
Greengates by R C Sherriff
I loved Sherriff’s novel A Fortnight in September for his ability to capture a moment in time and a way of life that would be brought to an end by war. I’m hoping Greengates proves similarly enchanting. The plot focuses on a newly retired insurance office worker who decides he will not waste the rest of his life. He’s seen that happen too many times to his colleagues. He will be different. He will be active and find a purpose. complicated marriages, people trying to get ahead in life and a global pandemic.
A Mouth Full of Salt by Reem Gaafar
This was a suggestion by the Mr B’s team. It’s the debut novel by Reem Gaafar, a Sudanese public health physician and researcher. It begins when a small boy is drowned in the Nile, the search for his body leads to uncomfortable questions in his village.
Golden Age by Wang Xiabo
Another Mr B’s suggestion, though this one is from China not Africa. It’s the story of a long affair between Chen Qinyang and Wang Er, a 21-year-old ox herder. He is shamed by the local authorities and forced to write a confession for his crimes but instead, takes it upon himself to write a modernist literary tract. I’m not entirely sure I’ll enjoy it but am going to give it a go.
A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
It’s twelve years since I read another novel by this Kenyan author — Petals of Blood — but it left a lasting impression on me. A Grain of Wheat is likely to be as memorable. Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya’s independence from Britain, A Grain of Wheat follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952–1960 Emergency. At the centre of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village’s chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret.
What I Read in July
Most of my reading was for #10booksofsummer, picking titles at random from those I already owned bu had yet to read.
The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper: a rare venture into non fiction for me but it was worth it.
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh: this also counted for the Classics Club spin
Fatal Isles by Marie Adolfsson; disappointing Nordic crime fiction
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles : maybe my expectations were set too high by A Gentleman in Moscow. I did enjoy this one though not to the same extent
The One/s That Got Away
I’m on a roll! That’s two months in succession now where I finished every book I started!
Unsurprisingly those purchases in Bath balanced out everything I read. The tally has gone up to 253 because I came across some books that I hadn’t logged in my spreadsheet.
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