I have just realised the days are moving quickly and I will soon be in 2021 before I talk about my reading this year. So here goes with the second lot.
The Crown in Crisis; the Countdown to the Abdication by Alexander Larman. This is one of the best, if not the best, of all the books I have read about the Abdication and believe me, I have read the lot. I reviewed it here
Lady in Waiting - Anne Glenconner. A brilliantly witty book. Lady Glenconner sounds a redoubtable personalilty, the kind of lady you would find running the WI, opening village Fetes, chivvying you along in the kindest way. I found myself warming to her. A close friend of Princess Margaret who I always felt got a vicious press. I am sure she was not the easiest person around but the acts of kindness and the support she gave her friend Anne showed another side to her. Lady Glenconner had two children die and one gravely injured in a car crash and she spent months by his side helping him recover. She also seemed to be married to a total lunatic. Great read.
Agatha Christie's Poirot - Mark Aldridge. I have reviewed this here and it is a book that every Christie lover should have on their shelves. Brilliant.
Double Lives - Helen McCarthy. Of course this is going to make my list because the author as well as producing a brilliant book, is my daughter. Four years hard slog and lockdown stymied everything. It has garnered excellent reviews and I am so proud of her.
I have had a canter through my reading list and have to mention the following authors whose books I always read with great enjoyment:
Jane Casey - her Maeve Kerrigan books are excellent. Gripping police work and the relationship between Maeve and the gorgeously sexy Josh is tantalising. So looking forward to the next one.
Linda Castillo - her crime novels are set in Amish country and I have read them all. I cannot help but feel that there is a similarity to Midsomer Murders in that there is an enormous amount of death and destruction in a small area. Anne Cleve stopped writing her books set in Shetland as she felt she could not bump off any more of the inhabitants....but the Castillo books are well worth a read.
Jane Thynne - her Clara Vine books are simply wonderful and I gather a new one is on the horizon but in the meantime may I urge you to read The Words I Never Wrote. I raved about it earlier this year but it had only been published in the US. Now it is due in the UK and worth every penny. Here is my review
Moray Dalton - a Golden Age detective writer and a new discovery for me. Published by Dean Street Press I can highly recommend them. I gather there are more in the offing.
E C R Lorac and Carol Carnac - yes they are the same person and the detective novels are published by British Library publishing in their Classic Crime series. I have discovered many new unknown writers through this series and Lorac is one of my favourite of these - the other being Freeman Wills Croft.
Peter Lovesey - the Peter Diamond detective series set in Bath. I forgot to mention them in my first post. A re-read and simply terrific.
Elizabeth von Arnim - I am going to embark on a re-read in 2021 but would mention here that the British Library, yes those great peeps again, published Father, one of her relatively unfamiliar works this year and has more in the pipeline. Keep an eye out for them.
So I think that is that. I have read far less this year or rather I have not noted down all the titles I read, as I usually do, because I have read such casual stuff that half the time I have forgotten it as soon as it is closed. My brain went walk about in 2020 and I am pretty sure that I am not alone in that.
I have a few interesting books lined up for the next few weeks. One, a biography of Cary Grant which was fascinating, is due to be published in 2021 so will leave reviewing until we have left this year behind.
I am not sure 2021 is shaping up to be any better at the moment, but thank heavens for books and reading. I simply cannot fathom how those who do not read survive, I really don't.
Looking forward to a good reading year and lots of lovely comments from you all which I really appreciate. Thank you.
