“Friends Like These” by Danny Wallace

It’s the summer of 2006 and Danny’s mum sends him a box of stuff from her attic. It’s a mix of things from his childhood, including his first ever address book with his twelve best friends addresses in, and he realises that he’s lost contact with all of them. Coupled with the fact that he know owns display cushions and has DIY responsibilities around the home, it quickly dawns on him that he’s becoming a man. He starts on a quest to update his address book and meet up with his twelve friends before he turns 30 and when he will have officially grown up.

This was a brilliant book. It’s written in a very informal style, almost like a journal, but with the feel of a friend writing you a letter to tell you what they’ve been up to. Danny is only a few years younger than me, so the memories and reference points made me nostalgic for my own childhood and adolescence, and written with a genuine warmth that makes it feel very inclusive and I was completely immersed in the quest myself.

There are times when things don’t go according to plan, with some poignant and emotional moments, from revelations to rekindling of friendships, but overall, it’s a very satisfying story to read, great fun and I’m off to find out if any of his other books are available for download.

“Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris

Me Talk Pretty One Day is a collection of autobiographical essays, with the book split into two parts, the first part covering growing up and his life in America, while part deux about his French experiences. Sedaris writes about his childhood and his family, with tales of pets and parents, before going on to some of the various jobs including removals and cleaning, and then after meeting his partner, spending time and moving to France, learning the language and Americans in Paris.

I was nervously worried by how many “Hilarious!” type blurbs were on the cover, as it usually ends up being an omen that the book will not be in the slightest funny, but I actually enjoyed it. It wasn’t laugh out loud funny, but I found a gentle humorous tone running through the pieces, which were easy to read and at times acutely observed. I have to admit, I liked the French essays more than the American ones, but I think that’s because I love reading books about people who move to France to start a new life, and I could identify much more with learning a new language than I could with growing up in the States.

On the whole, an entertaining book and I did enjoy it. I may well look at some of his other books in the future, but I’m not going to be running out to grab them immediately.

“I Was Told There’d Be Cake” by Sloane Crosley

In the form of a series of essays, Sloane Crosley takes us through various escapades of her life in New York. It will undoubtedly be compared to Sex and the City (without the sex – although there is an essay on one night stands), but I’m not sure that does it justice. It is wry, witty and intelligently written. I think most women would find something to identify with Sloane, maybe it’s the fish out of water suburban girl moving to the big city, or the tale of being a bridesmaid, or the boss from hell in your first job, and the tales all seem to be told with honesty and humour, and beautifully observed. Her descriptions make New York come alive and at times it feels like you’re reading a letter or email from a friend rather than reading a book.

My favourite was “The Ursula Cookie” recounting her first job in publishing. A brilliant interview, her boss is a new found kindred spirit, and this is where her life really begins, before the downward spiral to where she finds herself baking a giant cookie in the shape of Ursula’s head.

Thoroughly enjoyable; I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any future books from this author.

“Our Farm” by Rosie Boycott

Journalist and newspaper editor, Rosie Boycott, and her second husband, Charlie, a top London barrister, take an opportunity to invest in a smallholding in Somerset, where they will grow vegetables, flowers and herbs and raise pigs, chickens, turkeys and geese. What they hadn’t anticipated was how drawn into the local community of Ilminster they would become, with Rosie taking part in the surge of protest against plans for a new supermarket and the potential effect on this small town.

I love books about the countryside, farming, rural and village life, or those concentrating on people getting out of the rat race and going back to basics, so I was delighted when this was picked as one of my book group choices this month. It’s obvious fairly early on, that this is not as I was anticipating, the story of someone who takes on a smallholding, but of a couple of city folk, who decide that they will invest some of their money and weekends in someone else running a smallholding on their behalf.

Despite the authors altruistic reasons for this decision, reducing food miles, the production of local food in order to reduce reliance on national supermarket chains and the impact of global food systems on climate, I never felt that there was any real peril in the ongoing saga of the business, as it always felt just like that, a business, not a lifestyle or vocation, and it’s demonstrated that it’s not always the quality of your produce but the quality of your contacts that will probably get you out of a sticky situation, when a top London chef (who happens to be a friend) takes some stock off your hands and helps gets you out of the red financially.

From the point of view of the writing, my goodness, can this woman go off on a tangent! The story of her smallholding seems to drift off to encompass her two marriages, her involvement with the protests of the introduction of a new supermarket into the local town, her life as a hippy in the 60s, climate change, economics … the list goes on. I don’t mind these excursions away from the smallholding, but at times although they may have been factually interesting, they didn’t add to the main story of the book which was supposed to be about a year in the life of their smallholding. In fact, the actual smallholding seems to almost take a back seat to the authors views on the politics of farming, climate, local economies and many other subjects.

I think the overall problem I had with it was that I never felt connected to David, the man they employ for the day to day running of the smallholding. The only emotional attachment I got from the book was her affection for the pigs, who I have to admit, sound completely wonderful. I wanted to feel the ups and downs of the first year of a fledgling smallholding trying to make a profit while going back to the basics of food production, but because the author is a weekend investor, this just doesn’t come across in the writing. I suspect David is the heart and soul of the business, despite Boycott’s attempts to portray a connection with nature and her little patch of land, I couldn’t find a sense of place and home in the business she writes about.

“It’s Only A Movie” by Mark Kermode

When it was announced that Simon Mayo was leaving Five Live to take over the Drivetime slot on Radio 2, I turned into a five year old – stuck my bottom lip out and sulked. A few minutes later, I found out that he would stay with Five Live for the Friday afternoon film reviews with Mark Kermode and it would now be a whole two hours long. Perfect, I thought. Just a few weeks later, I find out that not only to I get an extra long helping of wittertainment each week, I now get to read a book by the good doctor too! And, what a great read it was.

If you’re a fan of Mark Kermode and his style of reviewing, you’ll love this book. You’ll understand how, where and why he came to love films, you’ll get the full story behind some of his anecdotes, and you’ll get the lowdown on why Mamma Mia! is so bad, it’s brilliant.

This is a memoir rather than autobiography, and it focuses solely on the importance film has had on Dr Ks life. To add a nice thread to run through the book and tie it all together, he imagines that he’s retelling his story as if it was being made into a film with all the different actors who would be playing the various roles (Hello to Jason Isaacs).

The good thing about the book is that it is obviously written by Kermode, as his distinctive style runs throughout, it’s very funny, covers a wide variety of films, and is full of name dropping anecdotes about some big names and some more obscure ones too.

The bad thing is that it’s obviously written by Kermode, with plenty of in-jokes for listeners to the show (Hello to Fairport Convention, Stephen Fry, David Morrissey, Michael Sheen and David Tennant) which I loved but I’m not sure that it makes it accessible to film fans who don’t listen to him. I guess the intended audience is his listeners anyway so maybe that isn’t such a negative.

I laughed out loud, I nodded knowingly, I chuckled to myself, I cringed and I giggled, and I know I will go back and read it again at some point. I would definitely recommend it to fans of wittertainment. If, however, you haven’t come across Mark Kermode but love films and wondered if you should read this, I would suggest you download an episode of the weekly podcast first to see if you like his style, because if you don’t I suspect you might find the book annoying.

“Howards End is on the Landing” by Susan Hill

One day, author Susan Hill finds a dozens of books on her shelves that she realises she has never read or had forgotten she even owned, and she decides that for the next year, she will not buy any new books and only read those she already owns. In this book, she talks about different authors, genres and styles of books, recounting tales of authors, teachers and friends associated with them, and makes one of those lists we all love; if you could only have forty books to read for the rest of your life, what would they be?

This was a wonderfully satisfying book! Reading it felt like reading the best book blog ever written, by a friend whose stories and anecdotes you’ve never heard before. It is not a “Forty books everyone should read” or a sycophantic trawl through “All the amazing famous writers I’ve ever met”, it really is just about someone thinking aloud about all their favourite books and authors, and how they came to love them. It never talks down to the reader, but talks about the time and place for different genres and styles, from children’s picture books to poetry anthologies, and from spy thrillers to classics, and from Shakespeare to Roald Dahl. I loved being able to exclaim, “Yes, I agree!” or, “No. Are you mad, woman?”

But what I really got out of it, was an insight into the mind of another reader, and it made me contemplate the books I’ve read, those waiting patiently on my shelves to be read, and the books and authors I will buy or borrow in the future. As soon as I’d read the last page, I turned back to the first and started flicking back through again.

My copy is borrowed from the library, and I will definitely be buying my own hardback copy to treasure and to refer back to, as there are some great suggestions in there too! I can’t recommend this highly enough for any one who loves books and reading them.

“Cider With Roadies” by Stuart Maconie

Many people will know Stuart Maconie from radio or television. Some will know him as a writer, but there will be a certain contingent who will know him as NME writer. This memoir tells his journey from a three year old Beatles fan, through the fascination with rock, Northern soul, punk and pop which lead to a career as a music journalist.

My first encounter with Stuart Maconie the author, was his book Pies and Prejudice, after which, I was convinced I would love his musical memoir, not just because he has a distinctive style of writing that I loved, but as with most people, music had a huge influence me during my teenage years. So it was with mounting trepidation that I became worried during the first half of the book, because although I was still treated to the same humour and warmth for the subject, I wasn't enjoying it as much as I'd hoped. I'm about a decade younger than Maconie, and I think had I been the same age, I would have loved the book in its entirety, but I found I just couldn't relate to the opening chapters, as I had no memories I could attach with that time period. But then, suddenly, I was transported to the late 1970s with my first musical memories were reawakened, and I was slap bang in the middle of my childhood and teenage favourites. I suddenly found the book I'd been dreaming of from the beginning. By the end, I was laughing out loud, nodding knowingly and eventually putting the book down with a contented sigh.

“The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop” by Lewis Buzbee

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is a memoir from reader, book seller, author, but most importantly book lover, Lewis Buzbee, who takes us through his introduction to the world of books and his love of book stores, and incorporates the history of the book and the development of the book trade.

For anyone who loves the the very tactile nature of books, this gem is a must. The author has worked in bookshops as well as a publisher’s sales representative from an early age, and has spent a lifetime enveloping himself in the world of books.

He describes how the first spark the stated his fascination with books, the bookshops that inspired his choice of career, and the current state of the book industry. But more than this, he tells the history of the book itself, as well as the education he received from others on the make up of the book, with facts about books and bindings casually mixed with tales of how he learned the information himself. There is more of an emphasis on the constantly changing face of book selling in the last thirty of so years, and the effect of the internet and technology in the current publishing industry, and a look to where the future may take books.

After learning an important lesson as a young man about judging people by they read, there is no prejudice or elitism about readers or books, or about independent bookshops, multi-national chain stores, or even internet sellers, just an account of one persons continued love of books.

For all book lovers, as well as book shop addicts, this book is a must, although it should come with a warning, as it will make you want to hunt out every bookshop in every place you ever go!

“Sacred Sierra” by Jason Webster

If you’ve ever read one of those books where the author tells us how they turned their back on the rat race and moved to France/Italy/Spain to get back to nature and create their self sufficient haven by renovating a run down/ruined farmhouse/vineyard/mill, then you might think this book by Jason Webster is another one of those writing by number memoirs and with comical, colourful local characters, and disasters aplenty, concluding with the all round happy ending of a beautiful home with the perfect life achieved. THIS IS NOT THE CASE!

Yes, the author and his Spanish girlfriend buy a rundown mas (a small hamlet of buildings that would have supported the people farming the surrounding land) in the mountains of eastern Spain and, yes, they renovate it to live a different lifestyle, but, this book is so much more than that story. The subtitle of the book is “A Year On A Spanish Mountain”, and each month forms a chapter of the story. At the start of each chapter is a quotation from a 12th century book of agriculture, showing how the practises of farming from 900 years ago can still be applied today, working with the elements and the seasons to get the best out of the land and crops.

The natural history, geography and geology of the area are included, and we learn of the bees and insects, trees and weeds, water and rocks surrounding the mas, from the authors own experiences, as well as the encounters and meetings with the three elderly farmers who become his friends and mentors in the various aspects of bringing order back to the overrun olive and almonds trees, the terraces for planting, and the prospect of fulfilling a dream to plant an arboretum.

Religion is still a big part of Spanish society, and we are also told of modern day festivals and pilgrimages, as well as some of the history of the various religions and peoples that have occupied and lived in the area, including the Moors, the Cathars, and the story of the Knights Templar within the region.

Interspersed with local tales of fairies and folklore, handed down through the generations, these beautifully told myths and legends provide a lovely interlude between chapters.

The writing style is very readable and accessible. Too often, authors writing on this subject feel compelled to include plenty of local words and dialect within the text, trying to add colour to the narrative. Whilst there are some local words and phrases included, they are never intrusive or over used, and always translated. The descriptions of both the people and the locations are beautiful and tell of a lifestyle and landscape that may not exist for much longer.

To conclude the book is a fabulous coda explaining the trees of the region, including details of their history in the area, the conditions they thrive in, the mythology surrounding them, their medicinal properties, and their specific requirements for nurturing them. A fantastic resource, echoing the style of the book, and giving a potted history and reference guide to the trees on the land surrounding the mas.

All this adds up to, quite simply, an engrossing and evocative book, and I highly recommend it.

“Honey and Dust” by Piers Moore Ede

Piers Moore Ede is living in San Francisco when an horrific road accident while cycling down one of the famous hills transforms his life forever. It’s hard enough dealing with the physical injuries, but back home in London, managing the depression that he starts to suffer from, he yearns for the open countryside and natural world. After spending time volunteering on a farm in Italy, the owner rekindles Piers interest as a lifelong lover of honey, and embarks on a journey of discovery around the world searching out ancient and modern forms of bee-keeping and honey collection. Through the book we learn about not only the fascinating world of apiculture but also how Piers comes to terms with the changes in him following the accident.

This is a wonderful book, in every sense of the word; for example, reading about the tribes in Sri Lanka who hunt for honey filled me with wonder – that the tribes are still able to survive, the methods of hunting, and the risks involved, as well as the wonderful honesty of the author in talking about the depression he suffers from, and the impact it has on his life. There was a mix of history, nature, travel and apiculture in the book, as well as the personal emotional journey of recovery, and was a very satisfying read.