20 Books of Summer 2023

Posted on 19 May 2023 by Katrina

I’ve decided to participate in 20 Books of Summer again this year, it’s hosted by Cathy@746 Books . I’ve completed it in the past, but it was Judith @ Reader in the Wilderness who nudged me to do it this year. It almost went past me, mainly because I can hardly believe that we’re almost at June again. So, beginning on the 1st of June I’ll be working my way through:

1. Family Money by Nina Bawden

2. Eva Trout by Elizabeth Bowen

3. The Loved and Envied by Enid Bagnold

4. My Career Goes Bung by Miles Franklin

5. A Use of Riches by J.I.M. Stewart

6. The Humbler Creation by Pamela Hansford Johnson

7. Amerika by Franz Kafka

8. Gentian Hill by Elizabeth Goudge

9. The Small Army by Michael Marshall

10. The Return of the Railway Children by Lou Kuenzler

11. Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken

12. Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease

13. The Stronghold by Molly Hunter

14. Comes the Blind Fury by Douglas Rutherford

15. Three Loves by A.J. Cronin

16. Friend and Foe by Shirley McKay

17. In Place of Fear by Catriona McPherson

18. Cymbeline by William Shakespeare

19. The Witch’s Brat by Rosemary Sutcliff

20. Rival Queens by Kate Williams

A lot of these books are very new to me as I bought quite a few of them at a secondhand booksale just last week in Edinburgh. Three of them have been borrowed from the library. Only one is non-fiction, Rival Queens by Kate Williams. Five of them were written for older children or YA as they might be categorised nowadays. There is always a chance that I’ll substitute some of the books on this list with a ‘must read now’ books, but I’ll try to stick to it.

Have you read any of them?

Craigellachie Bridge, Moray, Scotland

Posted on 18 May 2023 by Katrina

We just had to stop to take photos of Craigellachie Bridge before we drove over the modern bridge. It isn’t a stone bridge, apart from the ends, it’s iron but very elegant anyway.

It’s near the village of Aberlour in Morayshire, north-east Scotland. The bridge was built by the famous civil engineer Thomas Telford in 1812, it took two years to complete it.

Craigellachie Bridge spans the River Spey, famous for salmon fishing in the past but nowadays it’s very much a catch and return policy. Salmon are so scarce and have to be conserved.

Time and Tide by Shirley McKay

Posted on 17 May 2023 by Katrina

Time and Tide by Shirley McKay was published in 2011 and it’s the third book in the author’s Hew Cullan series.

The setting is St Andrews 1582 and a ship has been wrecked just off the town. There’s only one survivor, all the others have succumbed to some sort of illness. The locals are worried that it might have been some sort of infectious disease, but there’s a windmill on the wreck and various inhabitants of the town want it for themselves. But who does it belong to?

Hew is given the job of sailing to Ghent to find the owner and to tell them what has happened to all of the sailors, while Hew’s brother-in-law tries to establish what the sailors died from. Hew’s task is all the more dangerous as the Low Countries are at war with Spain, but he’s glad to get out of St Andrews and to be travelling again and he soon falls in with a Scottish mercenary who will help him with his investigations in Antwerp and Vlissingen – or not.

There’s a lot going on in this book, murders, rumours of witchcraft and Hew meets royalty, I really liked it although my thoughts on it are hardly rivetting reading, but I’m looking forward to reading the next one in this series.

Scenery, Perthshire, Scotland

Posted on 16 May 2023 by Katrina

We were away up north a bit for a day out a few weeks ago. These are just random photos of our short break. The photo below is of a very misty and moody Loch Earn, it’s a freshwater loch.

I think the river below is the River Earn, it’s flowing through the village of Comrie in Perthshire. We stopped there for our lunch at a lovely wee cafe. It was used by locals – always a good sign.

And this is the River Earn by Inverpeffray Library.

It was a great day out if a bit misty.

Striding Folly by Dorothy L. Sayers

Posted on 15 May 2023 by Katrina

Striding Folly by Dorothy L. Sayers contains three short stories, apparently the last three cases of Lord Peter Wimsey. This book was first published in 1972, but two of the stories had previously been published in 1939. This book has an introduction by Janet Hitchman.

Striding Folly wasn’t terribly entertaining, for me anyway. Two neighbours Mr Creech and Mr Mellilow play chess a couple of times every week, but it seems that everything is going to change as the valley they live in has been sold to an Electrical Company – by Mr Creech. Mellilow had moved to the area because it seemed so unchanged, he thought that nothing would ever spoil the solitude. There’s a murder which is when Lord Peter appears, towards the end of the story. It was okay-ish.

The Haunted Policeman begins with the birth of Lord Peter and Harriet’s son Bredon in a hospital. On the way back home after the birth Lord Peter falls in with a policeman who is new to the beat so Lord P is a stranger to him and he’s supicious of him, until he explains he has just become a father. The policeman is a worried man though, he had thought he had seen a murder victim earlier in the night – through a letter box – but the house seems to have disappeared. Of course Lord Peter can help.

Talboys was written in 1942 but hadn’t been published before. Bredon is now a young lad and is more than a bit of a handful. Lord Peter is an indulgent father but believes in corporal punishment. Miss Quirk is a guest in the house, she’s keen on child psychology and speaks her mind. This is quite an amusing read and I enjoyed being in the Vane-Wimsey household.

King of Shadows by Susan Cooper

Posted on 14 May 2023 by Katrina

King of Shadows by Susan Cooper was first published in 1999 and it’s described as being ‘A magical adventure bringing Shakespeare to life’.

It begins in America where a company of young would-be actors have been picked for The Company of Boys, they’ve been chosen from youth theatres, schools and companies across the country. It’s a tough regime but there’s a great incentive to succeed as those chosen will be acting on stage at the Globe in London, the rebuilt theatre associated with Sheakespeare’s acting company. They’ll be putting on A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Nathan Field is thrilled to be chosen for the London trip, but almost as soon as he gets to London he falls ill with a fever and ends up in hospital, delirious.

The time slips to 1599 where Nat is now a young actor at the original Globe, learning the trade. He’s on loan from St Paul’s School and some in the company are a bit jealous of him and make life difficult. But Will Shakespeare himself notices Nat, he’s having some difficulty fitting into 16th century London and has to think on his feet at times.

I really like books which feature Shakespeare so I enjoyed this one which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland

Posted on 13 May 2023 by Katrina

A couple of weeks ago we stopped off in Haddington in passing. A friend had told us that St Mary’s Church there was worth seeing. Unfortunately it wasn’t open that day, but it was still worth a visit.

The photo doesn’t give the idea of how large it is. The church was founded in the 1380s but was more or less a ruin by 1548, a victim to the ‘Rough Wooing’ by King Henry VIII, his attempt to persuade the guardians of the infant Mary, Queen of Scots to allow him to marry his son Prince Edward to Mary, thus securing Scotland for himself and England.

The setting is lovely with the River Tyne running right past the church grounds.

I know that people love to have a river view from their homes but I always wonder how often the river pays you a visit!

I love old stone bridges too, so it might be worth being flooded out every now and again for this view – or maybe not! There’s a swan just in view if you look closely. If you’re in the area Haddington is well worth a visit, it’s really historic and has some eclectic shops. We had a lovely lunch there.

The Face of Trespass by Ruth Rendell

Posted on 10 May 2023 by Katrina

The Face of Trespass by Ruth Rendell was published in 1974. It’s donkey’s years since I read anything by Ruth Rendell, I don’t know why but I have always got mixed up between her and P.D. James.

Anyway, I did like this one although it takes almost the whole book to get to the crime. I really prefer it when there’s a murder on the first or second page, so I did get a bit frustrated at what I regarded as a lot of scene setting. This does lead to an atmosphere of menace though, you just know that things are not going to go well for the main character.

Graham, generally known as Gray had written a very well-received novel two years previously and everybody had great hopes of him having a very successful career as a writer, but he hadn’t been able to replicate his success and didn’t even seem to be trying now.

He’s living in a small rural cottage not very far from London which is known as ‘the hovel’ as it’s just about falling down. It belongs to Mal, a friend who is travelling at the moment and is happy for Gray to live in the cottage – and stop it from falling down.

Gray has an obsession though, he’s having an affair with a married woman who is rich – well her husband is rich. Apparently she always gets her own way but the relationship breaks down when Gray refuses to be manipulated by her.

There’s an atmosphere of danger and tension, especially towards the end of the book, and I enjoyed it despite its structure not being my favourite style.

The Seeker by S.G. MacLean

Posted on 4 May 2023 by Katrina

The Seeker by S.G. MacLean was published in 2015 and it’s the first in her series which is set in Oliver Cromwell’s England.

The setting is London 1654 and there are spies everywhere, especially in the coffee houses that have become popular. Damian Seeker is an Intelligence Officer in Oliver Cromwell’s government and everyone is terrified of him. If you’re arrested by Seeker, it’ll probably be the end for you, his men are brutal.

It’s the sixth year of the English Commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell is king in all but name. He’s just not quite brave or mad enough to have himself crowned and all of the hopes for a more equal society have come to nothing. The Royalists haven’t given up their hopes of reinstating the monarchy and Cromwell lives under the threat of assassination.

But it’s one of Cromwell’s captains who is murdered. John Winter had been a popular officer in the New Model Army, and a young lawyer is found standing over his still bleeding body and holding a knife. It seems obvious that the lawyer is guilty, but The Seeker isn’t convinced, and he is honest enough not to want just anyone as the culprit, it must be the guilty person who pays the price.

Slavery comes into this book with Londoners being grabbed off the streets, sold off and transported to plantations in Barbados. Even children were abducted. The poet John Milton makes an appearance as a spy for Cromwell, something that I certainly didn’t know about, but apparently he was.

This was a good murder mystery with plenty of atmosphere and I think there’s also a lot of history which isn’t often written about. Oliver Cromwell isn’t a popular figure, even among Republicans. It’s quite surprising that the Commonwealth of England lasted as long as it did – just over ten years in total – because just about everything was banned, including Christmas, theatres, bright clothing and make-up. Such a dismal existence was bound to get people down. After Cromwell’s death his son only lasted nine months in power, then Charles II was invited back from his exile and the monarchy was restored.

However, I’m sure there’s still a lot to be written about in this series, so I hope to be reading the next one The Black Friar – soonish.

St Andrews, Fife, Fitzroy Barometer

Posted on 3 May 2023 by Katrina

A couple of weeks ago we visited St Andrews. Our favourite lunchtime cafe was full up, well we were offered the tent in the back garden but as it was almost blowing a gale and cold we decided against that. So we ended up in the cafe where Catherine met Prince William (for coffee) when they were students there. We had never been in it before, it’s definitely a studenty place. Jack ordered a toasted cheese bagel with beans, and he was astonished to see when it arrived that it was baked beans. I think he imagined something a bit more exotic, I think he enjoyed it anyway – it was different.

When we left the cafe I noticed that there was something interesting in the wall across the road, on closer inspection it turned out to be a Fitzroy Barometer.

You can read about it here.

It seems that they had one of these instruments on HMS Beagle to help them predict the weather but apparently they now know that the crystals inside the glass form different patterns when the temperature changes. We have a smaller much less fancy version of one which was given to us as a weather predictor, but it’s interesting to watch the crystals change anyway.

Pining for the West

Meanderings about recipes, books, craft and more