Posted on by Cathy

📘What’s on the table – March

I know November is the month for Novella but as February is a short month – and there were several time consuming things to do which I knew would limit my reading time – I thought maybe I could use the tail end of month (then flow into March) for reading several short stories, something that could be finished in hours, written by new to me authors

These I have read

Our Souls at Night – Kent Haruf 2015.
The book blurb said – A spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future.

A story that begins with a mature age woman asking her mature age male neighbour to sleep with her. Not in a sexual way, just to keep her company during the night. That’s different I thought.

Set in a small town filled with ‘all seeing- all knowing’ people it follows Louis and Addie’s life with their ‘nightly meetings’, the discussions (thoughts, feelings , secrets even) about their previous lives, reactions of friends and family, then finally the affect their children’s lives have on them.

It’s hard to describe how I feel about this short quickly read book. A great deal is conveyed in few words – I suppose it boiled down to ‘are our lives truly our own?’.
Enjoyable but a ‘bit flat’.

The Christmas Guest – Peter Swanson 2023.
Oh dear, I thought after reading the first couple of pages – it’s written in diary style. Not my favourite- but after reading 49 pages of a young girls life it then changed and did it ever change.
The build up to Christmas in the country with a uni friend’s wealthy ‘county folk’ family along with all the stereotypical description of villages/villagers came to a sudden halt. To be followed by a twist to the tale that (to me) was a bit of a let down.
It was an ok read by an unknown author- a library shelf pick ( thin brightly coloured book) so I’m not sure what I was expecting. Possibly because it was so short the story/plot didn’t seem to have much depth.

What I did take from it was a quote from L.P.Hartley’s The Go-Between – a book I’ve never read “…..the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” Oh so very true.
It’s now on my list of winter reads for up in Bowen (a classic a month 😊)

Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan 2021

Set in Ireland the mid 1980s it’s a very short story that begins with Bill Furlong (the local ‘coal man’) wondering about his life past and present. What he’d been- what he could’ve been- and where he and his family might go.
The reaction of his wife to what he discovers at the local convent baffles him and that’s where the storyline changes.
It becomes even more reflective- life wasn’t easy for most, he has misgivings about not giving what he’d been given as gifts to others who didn’t have what he had. The toing and froing in thoughts and attitudes of the towns people towards the church, its place in the town as well as the nuns’ treatment of young single mothers continued to confuse him.
A final decision is made that brings an ending I didn’t consider.

And on p.68 I smiled when I saw a little saying my mother would often use . . (buying something he didn’t need) “as he didn’t like to go back out (of the shop) with one arm as long as the other”

Plus this little number – a library shelf pick that’s been a delight

I’d rather be reading – Anne Bogel 2018

Gosh, that’s going to be a short story I thought when I picked it up. Then discovered the additional title “’The delights and dilemmas of the reading life”. Not a novel but little ‘essays’ about books, reading and readers.
Thoughts from the author about recommending books you think others should read, Reader’s confessions! Bookshelf organising. Rereading – yes or no. Finding something different hidden in the story or discovering it wasn’t as good as you thought the first time.
That sort of thing…..not as bland, boring or ordinary as it sounds. Lots of smiling and head nodding went on

Right at the end a ‘chapter’ on recording what you read.
Do you remember everything you read? I know I don’t. Keeping a list reminds me what I read and when but there’s often a blank look on my face when I try to remember what some books were about. Plot lines, characters, settings – all seem to be a mystery at times
There can be fun convos at book club when someone mentions a title, cue various questions from others….’was that the one where ***** or was that set in *****’
One little clue and you’ll hear ‘ oh yes that’s the one where such and such happened’. It’s good to have reading friends who think and act like you😊

*******

And finally I’ll begin this soon

Checkmate to Murder – E.C.R.Lorac 1934 (republished 2020)

Who fired the fatal shot that snuffed out the life of miserly old Folliner during a London blackout? Was it the beautiful artist Rosanne who lived next door, the old man’s Canadian soldier nephew or bumptious Special Constable Verraby, whose eyes registered deadly fear?

I’m hoping it’s as good as the last one of hers that I read

*****.
And looky looky here at what I’ve got

At the end of last month’s post I was musing on ways to encourage me to read more……”maybe take the easy way with children’s books, short stories/novellas, even A-Z of places in the title”……so I set about making it happen. And as you can see the library delivered- all at once unfortunately 😊🙁
Guess what I’ll be reading over the next month??

A Cold Death in Amsterdam – Anna de Jager 2015

The Brisbane Line – J.P.Powell 2020

The 12.30 from Croydon – Freeman Wills Croft 1934 (republished 2016)

No Roads to Darwin – Rex Ellis 2016

The Eden Test – Adam Sternbergh 2023

*****

Sharing with What’s on your Book Shelf Challenge

28 Replies to “📘What’s on the table – March”

  1. Hi, Cathy – I like how you chose novellas and short stories this past month so that you could continue reading while being busy with other things. I’ve read ‘Our Souls at Night’ and greatly enjoyed it. This book was also made into a movie with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. If you get a chance to watch it, I highly recommend it.

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    1. Was a good little read wasn’t it. I’ve been trying to find it online – only place is Netflix which we don’t subscribe to. Looks like I’ll be waiting a while longer

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  2. Hi Cathy some great choices here and most I haven’t read. I’m looking for some short and sweet books at the moment to read in between my Classic Book Club books. Thanks for sharing with us at #WOYBS? I’m going to check out ‘Our Souls at Night’ and ‘I’d rather be reading’ (who wouldn’t?} Have a lovely weekend. x

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    1. With them being so short I seemed to read more slowly wanting to savour the story. So whenever I picked one up Sue it felt like there was no pressure to read it.
      Those two were the picks of the month so I’m sure you’ll enjoy them

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  3. I always enjoy a peek at the stack of books that has engaged someone. I once enjoyed Our Souls at Night and another book by that same author. I also loved Small Things Like These. I might enjoy “I’d rather be reading” so I’ll have to look for it at the library. That gal is quite popular in the US. She has built quite a business for herself.

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    1. I really think you’d enjoy the little reading book Jane – a fun read but one that had you thinking. I’ll have to see if there are any more of Kent Haruf’s novels in my library.

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  4. Hi Cathy, I’d rather be reading sounds like an interesting book as do many of your others listed. I like the A-Z titles you’ve started the collection of already – isn’t it always the way when you request books they all come at once!!

    Thanks for joining in with us for #WBOYC, it’s great to have you here!

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  6. I actually managed to read two books while on holiday and loved both. I like stories that leave me with a slightly displaced feeling afterwards – as if I had been transported in that time I was reading and now ‘back to reality’.

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    1. I don’t mind wondering ‘what was that all about’ when I’ve finished reading a book. There’s nothing worse than finishing and thinking ‘that was a load of rubbish’. .
      Now I’ve the time I’ll have to go back through your blog and read the rest of your holiday posts. Maybe a book one would be good for us to read?

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  7. I read something recently about reading that helps our cognitive abilities and mine are fast leaving my head. it said when reading to try reading out loud. a study showed it helps our brain if we read out loud.

    maybe I will try reading a book to Beau

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    1. It might help your brain but I wonder if you’d retain the storyline by reading out loud. I know I forget what’s gone before if I try to listen to audiobooks. Need to have the written word there so I can flip back to refresh my memory.

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      1. I do the same thing, I don’t listen to audio for that reason. the few times I tried reading out loud, I read a page and then read it out loud. I might read a story to Beau

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  8. I uusually don’t like novellas. By the time I’m getting into one it comes to an end. But I read whatever I can lay my hands on. In English. I’ve got a few who-dunnits at the moment. Love seeing your choices

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    1. I used to find that as well but these days I’m finding (and enjoying that) they have a concise storyline contained in those fewer pages. I don’t have to wonder if it’s ever going to come to an end

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  9. One of my favourite Tom Barnaby quotes from Midsomer Murders is “the past is a foreign country – the borders are now closed.’ Thanks for linking up with us.

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    1. I must try reading some of the Midsummer Murders books sometime. We’ve watched the tv series for so many years I wonder if the books are very different. After reading a book I don’t often watch adaptations – well, apart from Pride and Prejudice ones. I’m still annoyed at what (in my eyes) they did with the adaptation of the Shetland books.

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  10. Hi Cathie, I’m planning to read only Novellas in November, so will add these to my possible list. I don’t read a lot of them, but usually enjoy them when I do. They make a nice change from the usual ‘doorstops’ that I seem to go for. I loved Souls at Night. It stayed with me for a long time.

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    1. That was one of my thoughts each time I picked up one of the little ‘thin’ books. How much easier they were to hold, and how much easier it was to find my place if I closed the book without putting a marker in.
      I get some good recommendations from other book blogs last November when that challenge was on. I’ll look forward to what you come up with.

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    1. Thanks for your thoughts on The Go Between Cathy. It’s in the library at Bowen so I’ve slotted’ it into July when I’ll have a more relaxed reading schedule.
      Did you finish your blue and white blanket in time

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  12. I guess Haruf is an acquired taste. I have read all of his books and find it probably helps to have a felt sense of the geography he writes about. The people there are unsentimental and hard working. I loved the Keegan book with its man wrestling with what faith demanded of him.

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  14. Of the three very different books I definitely preferred the Keegan one as well. There was a bit more ‘real life’ to it

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  15. I usually just read before falling asleep so it takes me a while to finish a book. I need shorter stories.

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