Book Review – The Sixteen Trees of the Somme

January 9, 2019January 9, 2019 / Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting is a book I’ve been thinking about reading for a while – mainly because I’d heard it is similar in feel to All the Light we Cannot See which I loved.

I was therefore extremely pleased that my book club chose to discuss it at our meeting last night – I could add it to my teetering TBR pile without feeling at all guilty!

Publisher’s Blurb

Edvard grows up on a remote mountain farmstead in Norway with his taciturn grandfather, Sverre. The death of his parents, when he was three years old, has always been shrouded in mystery – he has never been told how or where it took place and has only a distant memory of his mother.
But he knows that the fate of his grandfather’s brother, Einar, is somehow bound up with this mystery. One day a coffin is delivered for his grandfather long before his death – a meticulous, beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Perhaps Einar is not dead after all.
Edvard’s desperate quest to unlock the family’s tragic secrets takes him on a long journey – from Norway to the Shetlands, and to the battlefields of France – to the discovery of a very unusual inheritance. The Sixteen Trees of the Somme is about the love of wood and finding your own self, a beautifully intricate and moving tale that spans an entire century.

I put off reading it until the last minute – as I’ve mentioned before, I like to read cosy wintry favourites over Christmas – mainly children’s books.

I loved this book – and for once so did most of the book club. I thought it was beautifully written and the author’s love of wood and well crafted objects really showed through – his descriptions were wonderful.

Besides that, the mystery element was intriguing and kept me guessing. I found myself riding my pony and occupying my mind with setting out the facts I knew and trying to fill in the gaps. This is a book which will stay with me for a long time and I will definitely be reading the next one.

Book Details

The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting

ISBN: 9780857056061

Publisher: Maclehose Press

RRP: £8.99

A Year of Reading

January 2, 2019January 2, 2019 / Eleanor Jane / 4 Comments

2018 was a mixed reading year for me. I had weeks when I was trying to read at every possible moment. It was like being a child again, sneaking in a few pages when I should really be doing something else. Then I had a month or two when I struggled to read anything at all. Nevertheless, I find that I have managed to read 91 books this year which is pretty good going I think. Especially when one considers the length of some of them – War and Peace is a pretty weighty tome!

I have kept a reading record for the past several years – just a list of books and the months in which I read them. I used to record start and end dates for each book but I couldn’t really keep up with that! Not that I’m completely sold on this layout – I record a book in the month I start it but if I am reading it for a while the following month looks very short of reading!

To finish up my year I have once again been reading my favourite wintry children’s books. Plus the odd new ones – I loved Noel Streatfeild’s Christmas Stories and also Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford (that one obviously not a children’s book!). It is my favourite way to spend the winter evenings.

A very Happy New Year to you.

Christmas Reading

December 26, 2018December 27, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

For me, reading at Christmas is all about comfort. Most years I read Little Women and quite often something like Arthur Ransome’s Winter Holiday as well. Last year I exclusively read all of my favourite wintry childhood books throughout December – things like The Box of Delights and The Rat-a-Tat Mystery. It was wonderful.

Part of every Christmas is reading Lucy and Tom’s Christmas. I love Shirley Hughes’ illustrations and I always look forward to this one. This year, I treated myself to her new Christmas book – Snow in the Garden – and I am very much looking forward to reading it!

I started my Christmas reading a little late this year but my first book was brand new (to me). I found this on the book stall in our local market and I couldn’t resist it!

Christmas Book Club

December 20, 2018December 20, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

My book club doesn’t have a proper meeting in December as the book shop is just too busy to cope. Instead, we had a trip to the pub for a bookish chat.

It was lovely to spend an evening with a group of book lovers without having the pressure of focusing on one book in particular. We did nominally have a book to read but only two people had actually done so – it was much more of a social evening than a proper book club meeting.

We had a great time talking about our books of the year, our all time favourite books and the books on our Christmas lists. We had a brief excursion into politics but in the main we kept strictly to books and it was wonderful. I would highly recommend it!

Winning Through

December 12, 2018December 12, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

I’ve mentioned before that I have recently been struggling somewhat to find the motivation to read. It has been the strangest feeling for me – I have never had such a serious reading slump before. The mental energy and concentration required simply to pick up a book was beyond me and I really didn’t know what to do with myself.

Of course, it has been a bit of a vicious cycle – the less I read the more stressed and wound up I felt and so the less I was able to read.

This week however I am finally feeling a bit more rested and less stressed. On the train yesterday I was actually able to read my book – even though I couldn’t read I was still unable to go out without one! It turns out that Anthony Trollope is a wonderful balm to the soul.

Over these two days I have read more than I have managed in the past two weeks. I am even looking forward to settling down by the fire this evening with a cup of tea and my book. It is a wonderful feeling.

A Bookish Restorative

November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that it has been a busy few months for me. I was feeling very tired and drained so I have just spent a week in Dartmouth to recuperate.

I intended to have a week doing not very much at all and I relished the time I could spend curled up with a book or my crochet. It being November, most of that was indoors – I particularly loved this corner by the fire.

However, as long as one wore enough layers it was definitely possible to read outside. This little beach was wonderfully quiet and secluded.

It was definitely a good week.

L M Montgomery’s Journals

November 21, 2018November 17, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

For the past few years I have been working my way through L M Montgomery’s journals. I have been a fan of her fiction for such a long time and I couldn’t resist her journals when I found them.

So far I have read the first three volumes of the selected journals, plus the first volume of the complete journals – it has more pictures as well as all the diary entries and I just had to read it.

The writing is just beautiful and I have many, many quotes marked. It is just the sort of book I love to carry around with me to dip into whenever I get a chance.

Montgomery led a fascinating, if rather difficult life, and it has been wonderful to learn more about it. My dilemma now is what to read next – I have volume four of the selected journals but also the third volume of the complete version (I have so far not managed to get hold of the second). I can’t quite decide whether to go on or to go back and reread the years I have already covered but with extra diary entries.

Really I know I’ll go back to read the complete version at some point anyway – so it might as well be now!

Struggling

November 14, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

This has been a bit of a slow week for me reading wise. I have plenty of books which I really want to read but the books I have actually been reading have not been holding my interest.

First I had After the Party by Cressida Connolly. This was my book club’s choice for November and for some reason I was not looking forward to it. I kept putting off starting it and eventually began it about two days before the meeting. Once I did get started I raced through it – I thought it was well written and the words flowed easily off the page. I did however seem to be constantly waiting for a momentous event that never materialised. I think it was just not the right time for me to read it – most of my book club loved it and we had a great discussion about it.

I have also been reading Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell. This one is for an Instagram readalong hosted by Shelbi over at The Nobby Life. I was really looking forward to it as I normally love Gaskell’s books but again, I am finding it a bit slow going and I still feel as if I’m waiting for something to happen.

I don’t dislike it though – it just hasn’t fully captured my imagination yet. I’m only halfway through so there is plenty of time!

As I said, it’s not really the fault of the books. I have had a busy few weeks and what I really need now is a light, fast-paced, easy read. It’s important I think not to push oneself too much to read things one doesn’t enjoy just for the sake of a discussion. Reading is meant to be fun after all.

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Seasonal Reading

October 24, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

This last week I have realised that my reading habits are changing with the season. I spent the last few months doing as much of this as possible.

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I especially love sitting by the sea but reading outside anywhere is something which gives me a huge amount of joy.

It has suddenly got much colder though and although I am still reading outside when I can – I hope to do so tomorrow as it is meant to be sunny – I am also tending to spend much more time curled up inside with a blanket and a book. Cats are optional.

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I love autumn and this has to be one of the best bits!

The actual books I read are changing too – I have read many lighter books over the summer but I am now definitely craving some more serious books. I am currently in the middle (almost exactly!) of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell which I have been meaning to read for simply ages. After that I have three classics already lined up – Frankenstein, Sylvia’s Lovers and Framley Parsonage. At least, that is my plan at the moment. I will almost certainly feel a desperate need to read something different in between!

Cheltenham Literature Festival 2018

October 10, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

I am just back from my first ever visit to the Cheltenham Literature Festival where I had the best time. The whole festival village was amazing and there were three separate festival bookshops – one of them dedicated to children’s books. I was in heaven.

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I was there for a long weekend and in that time managed to fit in ten events. It was wonderful to find so many fascinating talks – Sarah Dunant’s on the Borgias was especially interesting (and entertaining, as all the best talks should be).

My favourite events were on the Saturday afternoon. Two talks about children’s books which were brilliant and after which I got to meet Anna James – author of Tilly and the Book Wanderers – and Jessica Townsend – author of Nevermoor. They were both lovely people (and their books are wonderful too – go and read them!).

To round off the evening we went along to the lit crawl to take part in the quiz. It had a classics theme which I obviously loved and we managed to come third which made me very proud, especially as we were the smallest team there. We received some fabulous prizes too, including two books – Frankenstein and La Belle Sauvage – and four tickets to festival events. I practically danced my way back to the hotel!

One of the best things about any festival is the amount of reading time. There were plenty of lovely places to sit and my favourite was the Book Stand – a cosy sitting room set up on the band stand. I spent some very happy hours there with my book and a cup of tea.