When I was younger, a new year took a few weeks to get my head around; just writing it and thinking about it as the present felt odd and I would have to actively focus on writing the date correctly and so on. That doesn’t happen any more and here we are and it already feels like it’s been 2026 for weeks and weeks, even though this early part of the paragraph was written on 6 January. And now I’m tweaking before scheduling publication and so much more has happened, in global and domestic worlds and it feels like a very bleak time indeed.
But books are constant and defy time so thank goodness for that. We cannot constantly consider the news or we’d go mad. I set myself the reading challenge of more twentieth century novels this year, lesser known but likely still regarded as classics in the most part. So, this month’s reading… First up, the 20th century books:
So Long, See You Tomorrow – William Maxwell
I actually read this last year, on New Year’s Eve and after I’d published my December round up. I finished it sat alone with some chocolates when everyone else had gone to bed. What a way to end the year. Perfect in many ways. This book is a reissue in a lovely hardback edition and I bought it with Christmas money as a treat, intrigued by the look and reviews. It’s a well known American trope, in many ways, an isolated community of farmers near a small town, a violent crime and a coming of age story narrated by a small boy who sees what’s going on but doesn’t understand it all. The violence and the isolation are such a part of this literature, and this is an excellent example of the genre, up there with the best from the likes of McCarthy, McCullers and Cather.
Little Boy Lost – Marghanita Laski
I have no idea where I heard about this book but on the back of that anonymous recommendation I put a request to the library and received a very old hardback that had clearly not been touched for years. (You can actually get a nice paperback version from Persephone Books.) Once it arrived I couldn’t think why I’d ordered it and was nearly put off by the state of the copy I’d been sent. Well, this was a ridiculous attitude so I started reading it, thinking I could always put it down if it was terrible. It wasn’t. I read it very quickly. It’s the story of a man working, I think, for the British government in the Second World War, who is informed that his wife has been killed by the Gestapo but that the French Resistance have managed to smuggle their baby son (who he has seen only once) to safety. The book covers his quest to find his son and in doing so, covers the trauma and denial of a man deeply troubled and shocked by his losses. It’s a subtle and sometimes grubby read (literally in the case of this copy but I meant the human honesty of the emotions in the book) and is an excellent portrayal of the impact of war, on communities and on individuals. Recommended.
The Grand Babylon Hotel – Arnold Bennett
I’m not sure what I was expecting with this but a crime romp with fictional European royalty and American millionaires wasn’t it. For a start I thought Bennett was American. He’s from Stoke. This is a silly fun book with – warning! – just a sprinkling of outdated racial language once in a while. The plot concerns an American millionaire staying at The Grand Babylon Hotel in London (based on the location, think a fictional version of The Savoy) whose daughter orders dinner off menu and when this is refused, buys the hotel. So far, so annoying Yanks, but the trick was to open with the point of view of the head waiter who dislikes the Americans and who you start by sympathising with. But – twist! – he’s a baddun and the Americans are gooduns. There’s a whole chase crime caper and all sorts of to do, and it’s quite good fun.
Miss Buncle’s Book – DE Stevenson
A Persephone publication, originally published back in 1934, this is a lovely tale of a spinster, Miss Buncle who, having had a decline in her finances, writes a book about the village she lives in so she can earn some money, accidentally writes a bestseller and inadvertently upsets half the village or has them decide to go and live out the fate she wrote for them. It’s sharply observed and slightly bitchy without being cruel, and pretty funny. Recommended.
Abigail – Magda Szabo
This is a Hungarian classic about the Second World War. Narrated by a girl who is sent away to a difficult religious school by her father, this is the story of how she manages this change of circumstances. It’s got all the hallmarks of a classic coming of age story but with a sprinkling of World War Two intrigue and resistance too. I found it engaging and sort of enjoyable without loving it. It’s well written though.
The Body – Stephen King
After finally watching Stand By Me last month, I thought I might read the source material. It always interests me that the really good adaptations of King’s work seem to come from his short stories, not his novels and I don’t like supernatural horror spookiness so this tale of small town America works for me. And it’s pretty close to the film too, it was a straight adaptation.
The Power and the Glory – Graham Greene
I don’t normally post about books I didn’t finish but in the interests of disclosure for the fiction challenge, I confess I didn’t get on with this. I do think Greene is an excellent writer and I consider The Quiet American to be a great but this one was not for me.
Away from the twentieth century, here’s what else I read this month:
A Mind of My Own – Kathy Burke
I don’t normally read celeb biographies but Mr B bought this for my Christmas Eve book present as he knows I’m fond of Kathy Burke, having had her choose a story of mine in a book she edited a few years back. She read it out on stage at Manchester Literary Festival and everything, having told me how much she liked it at the book’s launch. She’s a love. This is a series of short snappy chapters that tell about her family and how she made it as a household name, after a combination of luck, hard work and great mentors. I liked it. She doesn’t mess about with the people she doesn’t like, so there’s a few blunt sentences in there but she’s also clearly very loyal and lovely to her mates. I think it’s probably also very unlikely that someone with her upbringing would be able to make it today, which is a sad indictment on the times.
Clown Town – Mick Herron
From the sublime to the ridiculous. The latest Jackson Lamb Slough House (mis)adventure and a reliable ride with a few snide comments about recent politics.
Aristotle’s Cuttlefish – Matthew Dooley
This is Dooley’s second graphic novel, following his debut, Flake, a tale of two rival ice cream vans, which came out a few years ago, won a load of awards and made me laugh. This story is about a lonely boy and a lonely man, thrown together through an accidental week of work experience. Mr Daniels runs the council’s lost property department, lives only with his budgie after the death of his wife, and entertains all kind of harmless loony theories about sound waves and gravity. He’s joined for a week’s work experience by a lonely somewhat useless schoolboy and together, they make life changes. Dooley is great at silly humour, again it’s fond teasing laughs rather than anything cruel, and he’s very good at daft character names, fun coincidences and stereotypes of grumpy Northern men.
Waiting on a Friend – Natalie Adler
This was an advance copy of a book published in a few months time so I’ll drop a review closer to publication. But if you fancy a cross between social commentary about the AIDS crisis in New York and Ghostbusters and some dark humour, then this is highly recommended.
Moments of Pleasure
My other resolution this year was to look into learning more skills. This month, book binding and drawing regularly (though I’m hoping to keep the drawing up, watch this space). The book binding was great though. I got a kit with full instructions and now I know how to do it, I can work on doing more with a few bits of material from the right supplier.
I also watched the BBC adaptation of Ronan Hession’s book Leonard and Hungry Paul. If you’ve not read it, I recommend this gentle comedy of two friends working their way through change and grief and love. The adaptation was a delight, really in keeping with the quiet soul of the book and narrated by Julia Roberts, which seems quite the coup. On iplayer and 6 episodes of sweet delight.
Susan E Barsby 