Book chat Issue #63

Scotland the brave

Hello reading friends

As you read this I am winging my way to Edinburgh (Scotland) to meet up with my daughter, see a few shows, and attend a couple of International Book Festival events. My daughter is there on business and I’m tagging along for a short holiday. Lucky me!

As a result, I decided to give this edition a Scottish theme, mainly for my own amusement and hopefully yours.

What I’ve been reading

I’ve talked about some of these books before, but I think they deserve revisiting, and if you’re new around here, you might have missed those editions.

First up is Still Water by Rebecca Pert. It tells the story of Jane Douglas, a woman who has returned home to the Shetland Islands after a long absence. She lives a quiet life, working in the salmon cannery by day and spending her nights reading. But her peaceful existence is shattered when the body of her long-missing mother is found in a flooded quarry. The subsequent investigation forces Jane to come to grips with questions about her disappearance and how it has impacted on her life and sense of identity.

This is a beautifully written and atmospheric book about trauma, grief, and redemption.

I’ll keep you safe by Peter May is a more traditional mystery about a young couple who co-own a Hebridean Tweed company. On a business trip to Paris, Niamh learns that her husband is having an affair, and then watches as he and his lover are killed by a car bomb. She returns home to Lewis (off the west coast of Scotland) to put her life back together, but as they say in the movies, not everything is as it seems. I enjoyed this book, despite it’s rather unlikely ending. It’s very entertaining and would make a good plane read.

Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg is set on the isle of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides and is based on the real diaries of Rev Neil Mackenzie and his wife Lizzie.

This is a carefully researched novel, but the book is never dry or boring. Altenberg (an archeologist as well as an author), seems to be able to get into the mind of Lizzie, who arrives newly married and pregnant with her first child. Neil is imbued with a missionary zeal, ready and willing to impose his Christian views on the natives, who up until their arrival have survived perfectly well using the local seabirds (fulmar) for all their needs, including food, fuel, clothes, bedding, and even shoes. He eventually comes to understand that he cannot force his views on others, but by then he’s a broken man. You can read an excellent article about the book and the history of St Kilda here.

What I’ve been cooking

It’s still winter here in Australia, so I’ve been eating porridge! (Of course). My current favourite way to prepare breakfast is to add cinnamon, fruit (usually banana or apple), a few sultanas, and a handful of walnuts. I find these additions keep me fuller for longer, and keep life interesting. I cook my porridge in the microwave, which probably sounds sacrilegious to the purists, but I can’t stand washing up those mucky saucepans. Call me lazy, I don’t care.

Are you a porridge person? Do you serve it with brown sugar or honey? Or maybe maple syrup?

What I’ve been writing

A friend mentioned on Instagram that she had finally finished reading Zadie Smith’s White Teeth but had found it a slog. This prompted me to write a short article about why people finish books they aren’t enjoying. I’m a firm believer that you should read for pleasure. Reading isn’t a competition and there are no prizes for finishing books that you simply aren’t enjoying or finding interesting.

Book Club

I’m still waiting in a very long queue for my copy of Demon Copperhead (by Barbara Kingsolver) to become available at the library, so I might need to push the date of our next meeting back to November. I’ll also be away for the next few weeks and don’t want to have to rush through it, so if you’re in a similar situation, don’t panic.

Book Chat book club is free and requires no commitment or registration. I’ll send out a link prior to the meeting and you can join in if you’re free.

If you have any questions about book club or want to say hi, just hit reply.

That’s all for now!

Happy reading,

Marg xx