Reading for Pleasure

How to find the time and a list of (very good) books

I’m just back from holiday! Apologies: I know I didn’t post last week, and I’m sorry; but I’ll make up for it this week with an extra post (am working on that right now), I promise.

I was on a yoga retreat (one of these) with my mother and we had the best time: as much as I intended to catch up on admin and emails while I was away, I didn’t. Pretty much all I did was practice yoga and read. And spend precious time with my beautiful mother, who I don’t get to see enough of. Honestly: it was bliss.

This year, I want to read more: it’s (one of) my new year’s resolution(s). I love reading, and feel sad I don’t seem to really have time to do it anymore; so I’m making time.

• I’ve started a book club with friends: nothing like a deadline to make you commit to a book.

• Some days I treat myself by setting my alarm half hour early so I can read in bed before I start the day (actual heaven). I’ve also started taking a book to bed with me rather than watching telly in the evening, although - honestly - I don’t make all too much much progress reading at night: two pages in, and I’m fast asleep. Can’t help it. Doesn’t matter how good the book is.

• I’ve taken to carrying around a paperback with me wherever I go, so that I can read in those snatched moments on the tube/waiting for a friend/sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, rather than always scrolling on my phone (kind of like we used to do before we had the clever phones). This, incidnetally, has prompted the need for a wider collection of slightly bigger handbags (like this one) as well as a new-found desire for tote bags (like this one and this one), but that’s another story…

• I now see commutes and long, dreary travel (train rides, plane rides, etc.) as an opportunity to get a good read in.

• When a friend recommends a book I like the sound of, I go online and order it straight away; then, when it arrives, it goes to live on top of the ever-growing stack of books on my bedside table. Knowing I have something good to read just waiting for me, makes me want to read more (and faster) so I can get on to the next book. I also just find it inexplicably comforting to have a nice pile to choose from whatever my mood.

• When I pack for a holiday, I take time to plan what books I’m going to take with me (I love doing this); and try to actively make time in the holiday days to read.

But the best incentive to read of all is, of course, the promise of a good story and a good book. Anyway, thinking that you likely love reading too, I’ve put together a list of books I’ve loved lately and thought you might like too.

Crime Fiction (and Non-Fiction)

Ruth Rendell, A Judgement in Stone. I bought this recently on the recommendation of my friend Donna (who incidentally wrote the introduction to its most recent edition), and - my goodness! - it’s good. ‘Eunice Parchmen killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write’: it begins. Set in 1970s England, in a small countryside village, a housekeeper (Eunice Parchmen) guns down the family she works and lives with on Valentine’s Day: why? how? Not a long book, but a gripping read, masterful storytelling, and a wonderfully layered exploration of the social fabric of the world then and (by implication) now.

Donna Tartt, The Secret History. Not entirely sure that this strictly falls into the category of ‘crime fiction’ as there’s no solving-of-a-murder in the plot; but there is a murder and the book itself is a thoughtful exploration of all that murder implies. Exquisitely written, this was Tartt’s first novel (and by far my favourite of her books - if not one of my all time favourite books, full stop): it’s about a cliquey group of friends, students at an elite New England college, who enthralled by their Classics tutor and the romance of the Ancient Greek world, test the accepted boundaries of ethical morality. A terrible thing happens and their friendship (and worlds) begins to fall apart.

Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo’s Calling. I’m a HUGE fan of Robert Galbraith’s detective books and am waiting with (beyond) eager anticipation the latest (and eighth) instalment in the series (out this September - I just checked). They’re nice, long books which you can really get your teeth into and utterly un-put-down-able page turners, filled with complex, highly likeable (and unlikeable) characters. If you haven’t read these already, I can only say that I’m jealous (!) and you’re in for a treat (start with The Cuckoo’s Calling then work your way through the rest).

Truman Capote, In Cold Blood. I only read this for the first time this summer and - no surprises here, perhaps, given that it’s a recognised classic - but I found it to be deeply thought-provoking and chillingly compelling. The book reads with all the ease and drama of good fiction, but is in fact a true story: in 1959 in a tiny town in Kansas, a family is savagely murdered at home for no apparent reason. The local community is in shock; and the police have exceptionally little by way of clues to go by. Capote evocatively and empathetically reconstructs the murder, and then the capture, trial and the execution of the killers. Harrowing, yes; but undoubtedly a must read.

Re-writing (and Re-reading) the Classics

Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad. I loved this retelling of Homer’s Odyssey from the perspective of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. Whereas legend has Penelope down as faithful, loyal and sweet-natured, a paragon of feminine virtue; Atwood paints a different, more complex, picture: hers is a tale of greed, lust, jealousy and murder. You don’t need to have read The Odyssey to enjoy Atwood’s Penelopiad, but if you can read the two together (this translation of the Ancient Greek classic is particularly good and a nice, easy read), you’ll get even more out of the book.