Tuesday 1 May 2018

Books read in April

I can't believe it's the 1st. of May already. Not sure where those four months of 2018 went but gone they are (and never called me mother...) I read four books during April, on the face of it a slow reading month but not so. I read steadily plus I have two books currently on the go one of which I'm 400 pages into (out of 700!), the other 300, so there's a couple of extra books there which will go on to May's total but were partly read in April. Anyway, enough rabbiting, these are the books:

17. The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett.

18. Three Men and a Bradshaw by John George Freeman.

The author's diaries of holidays he took in the 1870s with various members of his family, mainly brothers. Areas visited included North Devon, Wales, Scotland, Jersey etc. Very enjoyable, especially when they were visiting places I'd been to. Just after we came back from our uni trip to Aberystwyth with our grand-daughter I got to the bit where the author was there, for instance. The holidays were mainly walking holidays and underlined to me how much walking they did in those days that we don't do 'these' days. They thought nothing of walking 20 miles a day. Anyway, a very enjoyable book, deserving of being better known in my opinion.


19. The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas.

20. Killing Grounds by Dana Stabenow.


Very hard to pick a favourite out of the four as they were all good. It will have to be a draw I think. These two were the best books of the month:



So, on into May. I have two books to finish, Something Sensational to Read in the Train by Gyles Brandreth (his diaries from when he was a child up to the 1990s) and The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, a book I tried to read either last year or the year before, gave up on, but decided to try again. Very glad I did as I'm really enjoying it. Only goes to show how your mood can affect your reading. Off to Cornwall in just over a week, already thinking about which books to take...

~~~oOo~~~

7 comments:

DesLily said...

gads, I didn't even finish 1 book this month! One almost done and one about 60 pages into it... <3 I am sure you liked the travel book!!!

Jo said...

Definitely interesting looking books, I hope you have a good May! April did go fast, so I definitely want to enjoy MAY!! I spend alot of time visiting blogs and so my reading slowed a little bit.

http://justmeandmyblogreviews.blogspot.com/2018/05/april-wrap-up-post.html

BooksPlease said...

Three Men and a Bradshaw looks like a book I'd like. I also tried The Essex Serpent and didn't get very far - maybe I'll try it again sometime. And I've still got The Three Evangelists out from the library, so maybe I should read that one next.

Judith said...

Oh, how I would love to be in Cornwall in a week. I have visited twice. Once with my mother, and once with my husband on our honeymoon in 1986. Today, I would go a-waltzing on the Coastal Path. I would sit in the pubs in the evenings, chatting--woops! Maybe no one would want to talk to a woman from the Land of Trump! Oh, well--I would not pretend I'm Canadian, as I've known some people to do, including Canadians. (I am getting very silly here, Cath, please forgive me, but we've been under intolerable duress.)

I'll look forward to reading about your May selections.
Do you know the books you'll pack when you go to Cornwall? Do tell!

Cath said...

Pat: I think I'm a little bit addicted to travel books!

Joann: Thanks. I think May is probably my favourite month of the year.

Margaret: I think I tried The Essex Serpent about 18 months ago. It's a slow burner and my mood was just not right. This time around... much better and a really enjoyed it.

Judith: Which parts of Cornwall did you visit? I don't think anyone would care about your president, they'd be interested in you, not him. Personally, I *always* love coming across Americans in this country. Came across one a couple of weeks ago in fact... an American physics professor. Delightful to speak to.

I'm thinking I'll be taking Between the Woods and the Water by Patrick Leigh Fermor to Cornwall, or possibly one of two books I have about canal boating in France. We'll see.

TracyK said...

I liked your comments on how much people used to walk. I noticed that in Jane Austen's books. I guess that makes sense if the other option is carriages or horses. I am going to have read more stories set during that time.

Cath said...

Tracy: Yes, all the heroines seem to walk a lot in Jane Austen's books. There's one scene in Persuasion where they walk across the fields to church on a Sunday and for some reason it's stuck in my head since I read it about 50 years ago.