Weekend Catchup

Oh dear, I’m not doing so well with keeping this blog up-to-date. Since my last post, I have read following books:

Uncommon Type – short stories by Tom Hanks. This was for the AtY prompt ‘a book you have owned for at least a year, but have not read yet’. I bought the book when it first came out because it had such great reviews and I had always admired Tom Hanks, but I do wonder if it would have been published had he not already been so well-known. I did enjoy some of the stories and his clever and amusing turns of phrase; I also enjoyed the common thread of typewriters, as I collect old writing implements (mostly inkwells rather than typewriters though). Some of the stories were not up to scratch in my opinion, but I am glad to have read the book.

Nancy Wake – a biography by Peter Fitzsimons. Nancy was an Australian who was highly decorated by France, USA and UK (and eventually, Australia) for her efforts as a secret agent during World War 2. She was married to a Frenchman, was fluent in French, and worked very closely with the French resistance as she undertook many very dangerous missions. It is a fascinating life story, but I did not enjoy the writing. Peter Fitzsimons is a well-known Australian journalist and ex national team footballer. He churns out books, mostly about aspects of Australian history, and has a very distinctive speaking style (enthusiastic but also hectoring) – I could hear his voice throughout this book and it irritated me. In my opinion he puts too much of himself into his books and I am not inclined to read another one. Nancy though – she was amazing. This one was read for the AtY Challenge prompt ‘a book with a person’s name in the title’.

Chinese Lessons by John Pomfret. I read this for the Popsugar Challenge – ‘a book set on a college or university campus’. As I studied China and Chinese language at university way back in the 1970s, and then lived and worked there for 5 years more recently, I am always drawn to books about this most fascinating country. John Pomfret was one of the very early exchange students from the US to China, spending a year at Nanjing University where his classmates had just lived through two of Mao’s worst programs: the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Pomfret went on to become a journalist, spending much of his career in China, and after attending his Nanjing class’ 20th reunion, he caught up with the lives of several of his former fellow students. This is quite an old book (published 2006), but it gives a fascinating insight into the lives of a generation that saw massive changes over the years.

Normal People by Sally Rooney was my local Book Club’s choice for August. It was a quick read, and everyone in the group enjoyed it (we are a relatively mature group – ages ranging from mid-50s to 80+). I knew the book had had a lot of hype, but many had never heard of it, and groaned on realising that it was Irish (we seem to have had a lot of very dark and depressing Irish novels over the past few years). Luckily this young, fresh voice was enjoyed by all. The story follows two academically gifted young people who have connected secretly at high school where he is popular and she is a complete outsider. When they move to university, somehow she becomes the popular one (she is rich, like most of the other students at Trinity College), while he struggles to fit in (he is poor). They remain dedicated to one another while each pursuing other partners – I just wanted them to stay together. This author is one to watch.

Coffin Road by Peter May. This is a crime fiction author I really enjoy, especially because of his settings. I first heard of him while hiking in the Outer Hebrides (Scotland), where our guide made recommendations of books set on Lewis and Harris, and how excited I was to discover that he also has a series set in China! I really enjoyed his Harris Trilogy, so was very happy to come across this stand-alone novel, also set on Harris. It starts with a man washed up on a beach, hypothermic and having lost his memory – a good story with relevance to current issues. This one was for the AtY challenge ‘a psychological thriller’.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes by Alexander McCall Smith is the first in a new series by this most prolific author of books that are unfailingly thoughtful and amusing, and able to put a positive spin on most aspects of human behaviour, no matter how strange. I always enjoy his books, though this one, about a detective in Sweden, was rather slow and not as polished as many of his others. I read it for the Popsugar challenge prompt ‘a book set in Scandinavia’. I still laugh whenever I see the umlaut above the A in the author’s name – another example of his sense of humour. I have seen him speak several times, and he does a lot of giggling at his own jokes – very endearing.