Timely reading

 

Florence: Ordeal by Water by Kathrine Kressman Taylor (Manderley Press)

Until I read Still Life by Sarah Winman a few years ago I'd not heard of the horrific 1966 flood that devastated Florence. Since reading that I've wanted to know more about the true events that inspired the fiction and have been eagerly awaiting this to be published.

It was fascinating, heart stopping read and then heart warming in how quickly so many people came to the city's rescue.

However the book took on a new poignancy as while I was reading it the dreadful news about the floods in Spain broke. As we learned more about this catastrophe it became clear that nothing seems to have changed in the way of flood warnings - and in fact the floods of 2024 were far more deadly despite all of our modern technology.

It is always hard to recommend a book about a tragedy but this book was fascinating, and in the end hopeful, so if you're interested in Florence, art, disaster recovery or just diaries from the 1960s this book is for you - and perhaps all city/disaster planners who live near rivers...

Non Fiction November

 

A monthly challenge that I can get behind!

I keep setting myself laudable reading goals/challenges and then failing miserably to keep to them but Nonfiction November is right up my reading alley!

It is supposed to be a month where you try something nonfiction if it isn't a genre you often read but for me it is an excuse to think about the non fiction books I've read all year, as well as the ones from November.

Keeping detailed reading journals through various apps (I'm paranoid that one might vanish and I'll lose all the data)* I can see that so far this year 42% of the books I've read have been nonfiction and so I really don't need a dedicated month to appreciate the genre so I looked a bit deeper in to the types of book I go for...

The majority are biographies or autobiographies, and within those nature and travel writing make up a large proportion, and following this come the books about books, but like most of my reading its really hard to pin down what is 'my type' of book as I'll try most things, except true crime!

In November standout non fiction so far has been:

What I Ate in One Year (and related thoughts) by Stanley Tucci - this was a wonderfully gossipy diary from Tucci, heavily focussed on food, drink and travel so just my thing. There were a fair number of recipes dotted through it too and I made note of several of them!

A Cheesemonger's Tour de France by Ned Palmer - I've often said that my 'last supper' would be really good quality French bread, butter and cheese and this book really helped me create the cheese board aspect of the meal. I also liked the pairing suggestions of what to drink with the cheese, and which areas of France I should add to my travel list so I can try the food in the setting it was made for. 

Sapiens: A Graphic History Volume 1 which is adapted from Yuval Noah Harari's book and illustrated by Daniel Casanave and David Vandermeulen. I'd tried Sapiens before and got a bit bogged down in it but this way of story telling really broke the big ideas down. I think Mr Norfolkbookworm got bored of just how often I was bringing up things I'd learned from it - however it did give us lots to talk about while we were our walking... I'm looking forward to reading the next two parts immensely.

There's still a third of the month left so I am sure I'll read more non fiction in November but it is good to stop and thinking about what I'm reading - it will help when it comes to writing those best of the year posts in a few weeks!

*this did happen to one app I really liked and while I have a paper reading journal too I've not always marked books by genre and so looking back at them I'm sometimes not sure what books were about!

Micro review 18 (Non Fiction November)

 

Space: The Human Story by Tim Peake (Cornerstone)

Regular readers, and people who know me IRL are aware that I am something of a space nerd, and that I love meeting astronauts and reading about them. Since Peake's flight into space he has written and spoken a lot about his experiences and I was slightly nervous that this was going to be another remix of what he's already said.

I was soooooooooooooo very wrong - this book is fascinating history of human spaceflight and even though I've read quite few (!) books on this topic there were lots of new to me anecdotes and he presents a new take on a lot of the history. 

He has a very wry sense of humour and makes some very pertinent points about the future of space travel, and even when talking about his space flight/training has new stories to tell.

If I am being picky I'd have liked to know more about the European Space Agency history and selection process, and n the Chinese crewed space programme doesn't event get a but these are minor points. My other disappointment was to do with the bibliography - I was poised, pen ready, to add new books to my wish list but out of the 44 books mentioned I'd only not read 9!

Reading this tied in nicely with the new series of For All Mankind - the AppleTV and also as a fitting tribute to the two Apollo era astronauts who sadly died recently.

Time flies (like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana)

 

Ooops another whole month has flown by without me posting or reviewing anything.

October was actually a really quite month for me, I didn't read very much at all - I was too busy soaking up the last sunshine of the summer, seeing friends and then spending a chunk of half term with Kentishbookboy at Disneyland Paris.

None of the books I read last month really jumped out at me that much, and as I like to shout about books I love a month of silence seemed a good option.

Lots of people are taking part in "Non-fiction November" and unwittingly I seem to be embracing this as I can't find a novel to lose myself in and everything I've finished recently has been either for children or non-fiction!

Some of these recent books have started well or have really made me think about the content so hopefully reviews will be forthcoming...

Micro Review 45 and 46 (non fiction November)

 

Minarets in the Mountains by Tharik Hussain (Bradt Publishing)

I'm always on the lookout for new books to try and this one really stood out for more when the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction was announced earlier in the year.

It took me a while to get around to the book but I'm so pleased that I did as I learned so much from reading it. Hussain takes his family on a long summer holiday around parts of the Balkans looking to find Muslim Europe.

To my shame I had no idea how much history there was in the region, I knew that large parts of Spain had been Muslim but not that this empire went so much further. While I knew that there were  dreadful atrocities committed against Muslims during the Bosnian War I had no idea of the deep history behind this persecuted population.

This book could so easily have become maudlin, but Hussain and his family find lots of light in present to balance the darkness of history and when travel is possible again then there are some new places I'd like to visit.

In that way reading often has this book connected very well with one that I'd read a few weeks before:

  Free by Lea Ypi (Penguin Books)

(coincidentally also on the Baille Gifford longlist & shortlist)

This is an account of life in Albania just as the communist regime fell apart in the 1990s. Ypi was only a child at the time and fully committed to the teachings and propaganda that she was taught at school.

In the west we are so used to the idea that the removal of communism was the best way forward that we don't hear much from the people who experienced a very real sense of loss after their way of life failed. Ypi's parents were very careful to ensure that she had no idea of their past and actual political leanings that you can feel her entire life fracture along with the Albania she knew.

Albania's transition to a democratic nation was not smooth, and again I don't think we in the west ever heard the full story so much of Ypi's story was new to me and incredibly eye-opening.

I do love how sometimes books you read can have unexpected conversations with each other, and the the reader. 

Micro Review 44 (non fiction November)

 

Hidden Hands: The Lives of Manuscripts and Their Makers by Mary Wellesley (Quercus Publishing)

Our recent trip to Winchester and the chance to see the incredible Bible (and other books) they have in the Cathedral re-sparked my interest in early books and manuscripts. When not working from home I am lucky to work in a library with its own incredible archive and early book collection. It has always felt a privilege to have the chance to see such beautiful works with ease. (You can read more about the wonderful Norfolk literary archives here: Unlocking the Archive and more details about the Norfolk Heritage Centre here.)

Hidden Hands couldn't have been published at a better time for me!

Wellesley takes us through all different types of manuscripts and we learn about the people who wrote, illustrated and commissioned some of the most beautiful books to be found in the UK.

To make this book even more ideal for me there's a lot of focus on works that come from Norfolk!

You don't need to be an academic to read this book, just have an interest in history, books and art - it made me want to dig out my calligraphy books and pens again that's for sure! There are some wonderful little details in many of these manuscripts and I spent nearly as long poring over the colour plates as I did reading the book.

I was so pleased to find a copy of this book from an independent publisher in an independent bookshop on National Bookshop Day - and even more pleased I treated myself to the gorgeous hardback rather than waiting for the paperback.