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Finding a Penelope Lively in a charity shop that I haven't read is a bonus, especially when it proves to be another beautifully told story of lifes traumas. Frances is grieving the death of her celebrity husband. The picture of grief is very good, also the relationship with her friend, her sister in law, and adopted children. Lively is, in my view, one of the greats, and I will be on the search for more.

Recent acquisition for our personal library.

#london

Interesting true crime. Not sure how this landed on my radar but it was very interesting and well written.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Yes, Philip Larkin named a book after me 😆. Why I thought it a good idea to read the story of a teenage boy from the provinces excruciatingly trying to find his way through the incomprehensible nuances of life at Oxford University when I‘m about to send my own teenage boy off to uni I don‘t know. My heart both broke and cringed for poor John Kemp as things unravel. You‘ll also love to hate his privileged (or is he?) roommate from hell.

I found Fake Law surprisingly funny, despite the serious subject matter. The Secret Barrister has a wonderful turn of phrase, and doesn‘t hold back in criticising those who deserve it. But even without the laughs, it's a good read, and a crucial lesson in critical thinking and media literacy. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/fake-law-the-secret-barrister/

Catherine is grieving her father + beloved stepmother. Her birth mother, susannah, died when C was a baby but left a box with a curious mix of objects. C feels little for her mother, but as she chooses to search the meaning in the objects, she learns more about a woman connected to her but unknown but more about herself. This is a reflective book with no dramatic reveal, but the writing is compelling with no word wasted, + I was completely hooked.

It‘s another female detective series with a fairly straightforward story—I had it figured out before the halfway point. Still, the plot and writing style are good.

I found this surprisingly riveting at times, though some parts are slow. It charts both the census itself and the things it recorded, touching on things like industrialisation, the Highland Clearances, the Potato Famine, emigration, immigration, WWI, WWII... all kinds of things which affected the population of the UK. Also there's a bit on the wider “British Empire“.

Today's reading is getting me off to a good start with #BookSpinBingo!

Lent to me by a friend. Delightful. A well written , eloquent love story. Actually a few love stories or maybe better , stories of love. Set in France and England. Took me a while to read but I did enjoy it.

I‘ve been listening to Thatcher Stole My Trousers by Alexie Sayle and I‘m absolutely loving it. I like non-fiction that is not text book like. Alexie writes sometimes like he‘s setting up a literary game of Jenga. He builds this tower, with his artistry and excellent descriptive powers and then knocks it down with precise, well observed humour and self-depreciation. It‘s as if he‘s like a supreme comedian who‘s been doing it for decades