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lotenwriting

Written and Read 11/12

Writing Goals


  • Hit 75,000 words on Silver Darling

  • Planned dates for 2025 blogs

  • Published another CPP book


Reading Goals


  • Cleared quite a few books off the list this month, unfortunately I also added quite a few so it's not really reducing in size!


November is traditionally my month for writing and so I’ve been focusing most of my energies on that this for the last few weeks. Consequently, my house is not as tidy as it usually is, but I am at 75,000 words and counting on Silver Darling. I am also feeling significantly less stressed by the thought of launching it in the summer, as it is now far more likely to be ready than it was at the start of the month! I’ve also managed to find time to read and that always makes me feel better and then I’ve been out doing book sales and preparing advent calendars for book recommendations. So much reading and writing related activity equals a happy Ruth!


Book Reviews


Thriller


The Examiner – Janice Hallett (Another twisty-turny plot from an absolute master of deception. Set against the backdrop of a Master’s course, the students are soon at each other’s throats and one fears another has gone missing and her disappearance is being covered up.)


The Cove – LJ Ross (Dark tale set in a fictional Kynance Cove and the landscape definitely adds to the foreboding atmosphere. It’s an area I know very well and the book captures the combination of beauty and threat perfectly.)


Name To A Face – Robert Goddard (Set partly in Cornwall and partly on the continent, this book follows the trail of an antique ring which leaves chaos in its wake.)


Sometimes I Lie – Alice Feeney (Told from the perspective of a woman in a coma, the narrator admits from the beginning that sometimes she lies, which makes for a book where the reader can never quite trust anyone.)


The Death Of Mrs Westaway – Ruth Ware (Family secrets are uncovered and exposed when an error is seemingly made about who is set to inherit Mrs Westaway’s fortune.)


UpLit


Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson (Nice, gentle read which I particularly liked because all the characters are older and it subverts many of the expectations placed on them.)


Historical


The Midwife – Tricia Cresswell (Book group pick for this month. Very interesting story about a woman who loses her memory and a doctor with a mysterious past. The ending was a bit different and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it.)


The Blue Flower – Penelope Fitzgerald (I wasn’t sure about this one. I think a large part of it was due to the age of the female love interest. I know it was more normal at the time, but it’s difficult to separate modern sensibilities when reading it.)


The Fraud – Zadie Smith (Audiobook. It had been so long since I’d added this to my reading list I’d forgotten it was based on a real-life event. I loved the way it wove together all the disparate stories and how the characters challenged each other to think in different ways.)


Classical


The Voyage Home – Pat Barker (Third in her series about the Trojan women, this book follows Cassandra back to Mycenae as events unfold with horrific inevitability.)


Non-Fiction


Both Not Half – Jassa Ahluwahlia (Audiobook. I’d never heard of the author, although he has been in a quite a few things, but this was recommended by a colleague. It was an utterly fascinating examination of what it means to feel divided, either from society or yourself, because of a dichotomy in your background, whether that is of race, class, or sexuality.)


The Battle For The Falklands – Max Hastings & Simon Jenkins (Mix of Audiobook & reading. Account of the Falklands War which was written as the war was taking place. One of the authors was present with the SAS as they entered Port Stanley.)


Romance


Riders – Jilly Cooper (Mix of Audiobook & reading. Read this after watching Disney’s Rivals. Rupert Campbell-Black is a far nastier figure in this one and even some of the characters we are told are lovely, really aren’t. This is a very 80s book and not one I think would be written today, so it’s interesting to now be watching the TV version and see the changes that were made even when it aired in the 80s.)


Crime


The Antique Hunter’s Guide To Murder – CL Miller (The question is posed about what antique you would kill for and it’s a good one. I’ve read other books which touch on the murky world of the antiques black market but this one went into far more detail and it’s a scary world!)

 

Displeasure Island – Alice Bell (Second in the series about Claire and her ghost best friend, Sophie. Trapped on an island off the coast of Ireland, they must work out who the murderer is and whether there is a link to the lost treasure being fought over by the island’s ghostly inhabitants.)


Book of the Month?


This month's star book was 'Both Not Half' by Jassa Ahluwahlia. I like books that make me think, which challenge me to view the world in a different way. Whilst this is primarily a book about the author's personal struggle to come to terms with his racial heritage, it also touches on sexuality and other aspects of identity. Ahluwahlia is open about his journey towards understanding himself and the world and through his exploration, the reader is forced to confront and challenge their own beliefs and change the way they approach the world.





 

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