Fiction

Book Review – The Skylarks’ War

/ Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

My colleague has been raving about Hilary McKay’s new book The Skylarks’ War for months now so when Macmillan Children’s Books sent me a review copy I was rather excited. Not least because I loved reading her Casson Family series as a child.

Publisher’s Blurb

Clarry and her older brother Peter live for their summers in Cornwall, staying with their grandparents and running free with their charismatic cousin, Rupert. But normal life resumes each September – boarding school for Peter and Rupert, and a boring life for Clarry at home with her absent father, as the shadow of a terrible war looms ever closer.

When Rupert goes off to fight at the front, Clarry feels their skylark summers are finally slipping away from them. Can their family survive this fearful war?

I have to admit that when people repeatedly tell me how much I will love something I do start to be a little prejudiced against it. However, I really wanted to like this book so I tried to have an open mind.

It was definitely worth it – the book is beautifully written and I was completely absorbed in the plot. I stayed up far too late reading it! Although this is classed as a children’s book there there are some nuances which feel very adult and grown ups will certainly enjoy it just as much as the children.

Did I love it as much as I was promised? As I was reading it I didn’t think so but now I’ve finished and have had time to absorb it I’m not so sure. I was definitely very moved by it and I found it to be thought provoking. Either way, I didn’t want to stop reading and it has certainly stuck with me. I will definitely be recommending it to many people.

Book Details

The Skylarks’ War by Hilary McKay

ISBN: 9781509894963

Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books

RRP: £6.99

Bookish Restorative

/ Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

I have had a few days off this week and decided to make the most of them to rest and recuperate from the busyness of the past couple of months.

My ideal was to just sit and read all day long but that isn’t actually entirely practical – if nothing else, I have ponies who need looking after and a dog who needs walking. It’s tricky to ride and read at the same time but it is entirely possible to read whilst dog walking. As long as you wear enough layers of course!

However, I did manage to do a great deal of sitting by the fire with a book. The cat kept me company and I had a marvellous time lost in imaginary worlds.

I have been reading – and very much enjoying – the second volume of Dorothy L Sayers’ letters but for pure escapism and relaxation I picked up a couple of magical children’s books. These were Michelle Harrison’s A Pinch of Magic and Cerrie Burnell’s The Girl with the Shark’s Teeth – both of which were excellent.

It has been a wonderful couple of days.

Re-reading my Childhood

/ Eleanor Jane / 9 Comments

I have been a member of the Jane Austen Society for several years now and for some time I have been toying with the idea of joining another literary society. I was think of something along the lines of the societies for Anthony Trollope, Dorothy L Sayers or Margery Allingham.

In the event – and almost on the spur of the moment – I went for something less literary. The Friends of the Chalet School is something I have known about for a while but have never joined before now.

IMG_20190123_201209_738.jpg

My first newsletter arrived this week and I am so looking forward to reading it. I have to admit though that part of the draw for me was their lending library of Chalet School books.

I only recently discovered that almost all of the paperback editions were heavily cut or altered – which means that although I have read a good many of the books I have almost certainly never read a complete one. Therefore, I will obviously have to go back and re-read the whole series from the beginning.

IMG_20190123_201256_758.jpg

It is a prospect which fills me with great joy. I have already sourced a 1955 edition of the first book which I hope is complete. I have found a couple of differences within the first few pages so things are looking promising.

However, finding the whole series could (would) be a difficult and expensive project – hence my interest in the library! I am very much looking forward to all of the reading though.

A Year of Reading

/ 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

/ 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

/ 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

/ 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.

Rivers of London

/ Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

For years my friend has been telling me how much she loves Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series.  Every time she mentioned it I would nod and say I must try it (she did make it sound brilliant) but my TBR is huge and somehow it never made it to the top.

Then a couple of months ago my book club chose to read the first book.  I was finally able to say I had taken the advice and read it – and also that I now understood all the fuss because I enjoyed it so much.  Having taken at least five years to start the series, I have read the first three books over the past two months and I will shortly be starting the fourth.

DSCN6335

This is actually the second book in the series

The series is a great mix of detective story and magic with a few ghosts and myths thrown in.  I have been loving reading them.

DSCF9416.JPG

It just shows that you should always listen to your friends  – they do know you after all!

A Bookish Restorative

/ 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.

Struggling

/ 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.

DSCF9759