Well we're into November so time to look at what I read in October. I managed 6 books which was a huge improvement from the 2 of the previous month.
First off was:
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Recently retired, sweet, emotionally numb Harold Fry is jolted out of his passivity by a letter from Queenie Hennessy, an old friend, who he hasn't heard from in twenty years. She has written to say she is in hospice and wanted to say goodbye. Leaving his tense, bitter wife Maureen to her chores, Harold intends a quick walk to the corner mailbox to post his reply but instead, inspired by a chance encounter, he becomes convinced he must deliver his message in person to Queenie—who is 600 miles away—because as long as he keeps walking, Harold believes that Queenie will not die.
So without hiking boots, rain gear, map or cell phone, one of the most endearing characters in current fiction begins his unlikely pilgrimage across the English countryside. Along the way, strangers stir up memories—flashbacks, often painful, from when his marriage was filled with promise and then not, of his inadequacy as a father, and of his shortcomings as a husband.
Ironically, his wife Maureen, shocked by her husband's sudden absence, begins to long for his presence. Is it possible for Harold and Maureen to bridge the distance between them? And will Queenie be alive to see Harold arrive at her door?
I really enjoyed this book. It's definitely a feel good book although there are some very sad bits in it too. It seemed such a mad thing for Harold to do, set off to walk from his home to visit his dying friend Queenie in a hospice in Berwick upon Tweed - 600 miles away.
That's where I think the book falls down a bit and why I couldn't give it 5* - I'm not sure that Harold could actually have done the walk with his lack of preparation. But I did enjoy how the time walking gave Harold the chance to reflect on his life and there were a few unexpected moments. And of course I wanted to know if he would make it and if Queenie would still be alive.
Next up was:
The Missing Family by Tim Weaver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One family...
On a beautiful summer's day, at a remote lake in the middle of Dartmoor, three members of the Fowler family take a dinghy out onto the water, leaving mother Sarah at the shore.
Less than sixty seconds later, she checks to see where they are. The boat is drifting in the middle of the lake. It's empty. Sarah's family have completely vanished.
One killer...
At the Skyline Casino in London, the security team have just made a headline-grabbing they've spotted and detained a man suspected of murdering a high roller.
After locking him in one of their holding cells, the team station themselves outside and wait for the police. But when the cops arrive, they find something impossible.
The killer is no longer inside the cell.
Two detectives...
David Raker is an expert at solving missing persons puzzles - but these mysteries are unlike anything he's ever seen.
As he digs into the Fowler's, his long-time ally - ex-detective, Colm Healy - tries to get to the bottom of what happened at the casino.
But the men are in danger. Because, buried in the shadows of both cases, is a deadly secret that was never meant to come out...
I did not want to put this book down - had me gripped right from the start. How does a family disappear from the middle of a lake in sixty seconds? How does a man locked in a cell disappear?
Two questions that investigator David Raker is tasked with finding the answers to, which lead to a complicated, multi-layered storyline that moves between past and present and the UK and USA.
Fast moving and with lots of twists and turns I was reading late into the night.
I needed some light relief after that one so I read:
The Magician's Nephew by C S Lewis which filled a 52 Book challenge prompt by being a Prequel.
That was followed by:
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is not the edition I read - I have a hardback copy of the complete works of Austen. It is a heavy book and the print is really small. Sense & Sensibility only has 175 pages. But of course that is in comparison to over 400 in the paperback version. It's been on my TBR list for a while but I finally got around to it for the 52 book club prompt #30 - In the Public Domain.
Austen's command of language is extraordinary but it isn't easy to read. The relationships between the characters in the book were complicated. But I loved it. Why not 5 stars? It almost felt like the 3rd sister needn't have been in the book, she played so little a part. And I couldn't wholeheartedly recommend it for reading to everyone - not everyone would appreciate the richness of the vocabulary and Austen's clever observations of people's behaviour.
When I find a good book that's part of a series I tend to continue the series. For my next book I went back to the first in the David Raker series (The Missing Family book above was #13!)
Chasing the Dead by Tim Weaver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It starts out as a sad but hopeless case of mistaken identity. A year after the death of her son Alex, Mary Towne is convinced she's seen him alive - and wants missing persons investigator David Raker to find him. Reluctant at first, but haunted by a loss of his own, Raker eventually agrees.
If I'd read this first I might not have bothered with any subsequent books. It's a good thriller, it kept me turning the pages. But....it's quite scary at times and there is a lot of brutality in it. Cruel brutality. And a main character who seems to develop superhuman strength, fighting his way out of situations when most would have just rolled over and given up.
There was also a twist at the end that didn't really feel credible. It was quite good for a debut novel and the subsequent book in the series I read was much better.
The final book I read in October was the choice for the afternoon Library book club:
The Beginner’s Goodbye by Anne Tyler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel in which she explores how a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances in their house, on the roadway, in the market.
Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron has spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, independent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly, he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage.
But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy's unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace.
Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye.
A beautiful, subtle exploration of loss and recovery, pierced throughout with Anne Tyler's humour, wisdom, and always penetrating look at human foibles.
I loved this. The main thread running through the book is how Aaron comes to terms with his grief following the death of his wife Dorothy. It moves along at a nice pace and although nothing really exciting happens it wasn’t a chore to read. It was a lovely exploration of their marriage, mainly in hindsight and the grieving process of a husband for a wife.
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Hopefully November will be a good month for reading too. I'm currently reading Homecoming by Kate Morton.
