Author: StuckinaBook

Every year my book group goes for a Christmas meal – this year we went for Lebanese food, which is my favourite cuisine and from an appropriately Bethlehem-adjacent country. Every year we also do a Secret Santa book swap – everybody puts a wrapped-up book into a bag, and everybody takes one out. I forget all the books I’ve got through this method previously, but I do remember that it’s how I discovered David Sedaris.

This year, incidentally, I got Jeanette Winterson’s retelling of A Winter’s Tale – called The Gap of Time. I’ve never read her, and have meant to for a while – this seems like a fun place to start.

Each parcel (and here I’m getting to my point) includes a bookish question to get the table chatting – whether that be favourite holiday-themed read, best book title, or whatever. And the one I wrote on my Secret Santa parcel was: which novel would you get Donald Trump to read? (I added an asterisk that, in this hypothetical scenario, we can assume that he can read.)

I’m listening to Michelle Obama’s autobiography at the moment, and the more I hear about the Obamas’ ascent to the White House, the more dispirited I feel about the man currently in charge of the free world. To go from someone intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate, wise, and kind to this deceitful, racist, sexist, childish, sociopathic monster – well, I’m not saying anything new here. (I do wonder if even Trump’s most ardent fans would call him ‘kind’?)

We all know that readers are more empathetic people, and that novels can make a big difference. What could Trump read that would help make him a better person?

We came up with a couple – To Kill A Mockingbird and A Christmas Carol, both of which are probably for self-explanatory reasons.

What about you – what would you have Donald Trump read?

Another mini round-up of some recent reads, partly to tick off books on Century of Books – to make it clear that my task is a little more achievable than it might currently appear! The theme here is “books that weren’t quite as good as I’d hoped, but were still very much enjoyable”.

The High Path (1982) by Ted Walker

One of the beautiful Slightly Foxed Editions – I read it on and off for many months, and it was the sort of warm, leisurely experience that I was always happy to go back to. It’s not my favourite of their books, and many of its details have already faded from my mind, but it was dependably enjoyable nonetheless.

Awkward Black Girl (2015) by Issa Rae

I really like the TV show Insecure, starring and created by Issa Rae, and so I used one my audiobook credits to download Rae’s… autobiography? Comedy? Guidebook? Fans of Rae will enjoy this, and recognise her tone, but because she wrote it before she became famous, there’s very little about her career. I wanted behind the scenes stuff on Insecure, essentially.

The Curtain (2005) by Milan Kundera

Translated by Linda Asher, this is an essay about literature in seven parts. I did enjoy some of the ideas in it, but I find Kundera’s fragmentary and aleatory style more rewarding in fiction than in non-fiction, I think.

The Swish of the Curtain (1941) by Pamela Brown

A children’s book about a group of children who set up their own acting company, I quite enjoyed reading this (and was grateful for the review copy). But I think it might be best to read it first when you are under 14 – and then with nostalgia forever. Coming to it for the first time at 32, I couldn’t warm to it as much.

So, neither hits nor misses – the sorts of books I might normally not write about on here, but will for the sake of #ACenturyOfBooks!

It’s almost a month since my birthday, and I’ve been meaning to write about the books I was given – a nice little pile, thoughtfully chosen by some lovely friends. Some are due to my canny circulating of my Amazon wishlist; some is friends encouraging me to try something different.

Packing My Library by Alberto Manguel

The first of two books from my friend Clare – I love Manguel, and I love reading about people’s libraries. I’m not sure if this will make me want to do a mad cull (I suspect not) but I’m excited about spending time with Manguel in his library.

Mr Pye by Mervyn Peake

And the second – I had this on my Amazon wishlist because it was compared with Miss Hargreaves in Barb’s review – or, rather, in the comments to it. Yep, that’s enough for me to want to read something.

Familiar Studies of Men and Books by R.L. Stevenson

‘To a man of many books’, as my friend Epsie has dedicated this to me – a great title and an author I’ve been intending to read more of!

The Glorious Thing by Christine Orr

Epsie always introduces me to such interesting authors – and, living in Scotland, often chooses Scottish authors. I had never heard of this 1919 novel, but it sounds so up my street – a perspective on WW1 in Edinburgh focusing on the role of women.

The Last Interview by Oliver Sacks

From my friend Malie, who knows how much I love Sacks. I may need to gear myself up to cope with this one…

The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970 by Martin Salisbury

Oh my word. This book could not be more something that I want. Indeed, it was in a Weekend Miscellany a while ago – a simply gorgeous overview of dustjackets in that period, replete with as many beautiful illustrations as you could wish for. Thank you Malie! This book is basically my soul.

I also got some books that aren’t novels or biographies etc. – a wonderful Lebanese cookbook (I love Lebanese food so much, and I’m excited to try it), a guidebook to Slovenia, from my Slovenian colleague Jasmina whom I’ve promised I will visit Slovenia (and do really want to), and from Lorna a collection of poems in lieu of a card (that I want to write about soon), and The Snooty Bookshop by Tom Gauld – funny book-based postcards in a book. I just have to decide whether or not to keep as one book all to myself, or send elsewhere.

An eclectic and wonderful collection of gifts!

You’ve probably heard me talk about Our Vicar’s Wife here at Stuck in a Book – my Mum, Anne Thomas, who is not just a vicar’s wife but now a published author. She has published At A Stoke through FeedARead, and I’ve asked her to say a bit about it – links to buy a copy yourself are at the bottom of the post, should you wish to do so. Over to you, Mum!

At A Stroke – a novel in 2 volumes – is the culmination of a decade’s worth of research, writing, re-writing and, finally, publishing!

The true story of John Durdin – Bankers’ Clerk and, for a brief period, an infamous figure – begins in 1832 and covers the first half of Victoria’s reign: a time when Britain changed rapidly and London was a melting pot of industry, commerce, and migration. The streets were certainly not paved with gold – for any who met with adversity, safety nets were non-existent. Hard work, grit and the support of loyal friends were the best chance of survival for John’s family, when their lives took a desperate turn.

We follow John’s dream of advancement through hard work and application. We see this dream begin to come true – but sometimes dreams are not enough – we try to help them along a little, slipping imperceptibly from the ‘narrow way’. This was John’s mistake – and what did this lead to, for the ones he loved?

A story of love, ambition, betrayal, steadfastness, love, generosity and loss – the books lead you from Northampton to London, to brush shoulders with some of the famous people of the time, and to walk in some of its darkest shadows, ever in pursuit of the candle of hope.

At A Stroke* is available from www.feedaread.com  at £7.99 per volume (£15.98 altogether + p&p). FeedARead is a print on demand publisher with printing facilities in the UK, US, Europe, and Australia.

Volume 1 Deceit of Riches

Volume 2 Fortune’s Spite

It is also available (in the UK) direct from Anne: email  apthomas[@]hotmail.co.uk at the special price of £19 (p&p inclusive)

*NB At A Stroke is a 2 volume novel – you need both volumes to complete the story!