Book awards 2017

A long-overdue round-up of some of my 2017 reads

Most atmospheric setting

Has to be the south of France, the setting of Villa Triste… with its enigmatic people, splendid hotels, endless champagne… my awful description does not do it the slightest bit of justice.

Character I’d befriend

Ursula Todd in Life After Life. There are times when she could do with a pal. 

Best for life lessons

A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled – not only does Ruby Wax navigate the thorny topic of mental health with wit and wisdom, she teaches you about the scientific make-up of the brain. This is a great way to understand the invisible nuts and bolts that make up our grey matter.

Place I’d most like to visit

The village in Africa that a large portion of Swing Time takes place in.

 

Biggest surprise

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared was one surprise after the next. Each individual scene could have been far-fetched (and I distinctly remember my English teacher telling us not to include something as silly as having a pet elephant in our stories) yet they all worked. It was so satisfying to see all of the threads come together at the end.

 

Most vicious villain

The murderer in P.D James’ A Very Commonplace Murder in The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories. Nasty. See 'The unfinished one' for what I imagine to be a fuller character picture of
such a man!

The unfinished one

The Psychopath Test. This was an absolutely fascinating read, but seeing the inside of mental asylums from days gone by all got a bit too intense for me! If you’re interested in psychology, and what goes into the making of a killer (see above!), this is one for you.

 

A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled by Ruby
Wax. Impossible to be frazzled in this calming café!

Zadie Smith's Swing Time hops between the UK,
New York and a village in West Africa.

Best nonfiction one

Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends On It – this is full of great anecdotes and case studies that illustrate why it’s important to never stop asking questions. I think parents and teachers would find this fascinating, as it looks at curiosity in children and how education can help or hinder it.

Quick read

The Essex Serpent – I read this on holiday and powered through it in a few days. I really enjoyed the book, but the nerd in me hoped for a bit more science!

Time period I'd like to visit

Between the wars in A Handful of Dust. People had to create a whole new set of social rules after the war. It must have been a baffling time to be alive.

The one to re-read

This award goes to How to be Both. I have more Ali Smith on my list for next year, as I think she’s brilliant, but I do have to concentrate to make sure I don’t miss things! So I would like to revisit this when I am older and wiser.

If you only read one of these

This Must Be the Place – an accessible book that spans generations, visits several countries, has a pacey plot and is written beautifully. One of my new faves!

Review: The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories

Title: The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories
Author: P.D. James

This edition published: 2017
First published: 1969, 1979, 1995, 1996
Publisher: Faber & Faber

Following on from Agatha Christie, this review is of a prolific crime writer from the next generation: P.D James. I picked up The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories at Paddington Station on a rare occasion when I wasn’t doing a 100-metre dash for a train. I had heard nothing but praise for the ‘Queen of Crime’ and fancied a few short stories to ease myself into the festive spirit.

The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories
looking festive.

The first story in the book, ‘The Mistletoe Murder’, was astonishing. While it was published near the end of P.D. James’s long career as a crime writer, it actually takes you right back to the beginning. This is the true story of the murder that happened under the author’s nose one Christmas. She told hundreds of other stories before revealing this one to the world. You can’t help but wonder whether, for years, she was just searching for the right words.

It sounds like a cliché, but it turns out that England used to be like this: a young war widow is invited to her grandmother’s country house for Christmas along with two distant cousins. Young P.D. James didn’t know any of these relatives very well, but she hadn’t exactly been overwhelmed with other invitations. You’ll have to read it to find out which of her relatives committed the murderous act...

Another of the stories, ‘The Twelve Clues of Christmas’ (I must admit, I think titling has come a long way since then), follows a similar plotline. It’s interesting to draw parallels with the first story: a well-to-do family gather in an isolated country house at Christmas and one of them gets their comeuppance. Was this one written as practice until the time the author could finally reveal her own story?

These tales were all written and set a while ago now, but they are great reads with a touch of class. Houses and habits and haircuts may have changed, but the human emotions and motivations explored here are universal, so I’m sure people will still be reading these in years to come. They aren’t gruesome or sensationalist stories full of guts and horror, they instead get under the skin of what causes apparently ordinary people to decide that another person’s life is their's for the taking. The characters here are the everyday people who blend into the background, carrying heavy secrets with them until the end of their own lives. It’s fascinating stuff.

The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories would be a great stocking-filler, and the perfect read during the mid-afternoon slump on Christmas Day when everyone is either nodding off or walking the dogs… as long as you aren’t in an isolated country house surrounded by bitter relatives with access to the turkey knife, that is…

Review: Murder on the Orient Express (film)

Name: Murder on the Orient Express
Based on: The novel by Agatha Christie
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench
Released: 2017

Murder on the Orient Express is the perfect cinematic spectacle to catch as we dive headlong into winter. Weather-wise, its full of snow. I was one of the few people (it seems) who didn't know the ending before watching the film, which I think made it more enjoyable.



This poster was created specially for
the film by New York illustrator
Johnny Dombrowski. See Inside
The Rock Poster Frame blog
to get your hands on one. 

Hercule Poirot (Branagh) is looking forward to a long overdue holiday when he is compelled to take on a murder case in London. Thankfully, he meets his old friend Bouc in Istanbul, who makes room for the famous Poirot on his train – the luxurious Orient Express where guests travel across Europe in style.

So twelve strangers gather aboard the train for the three-day journey. All they have in common is their ability to afford the expensive ticket. The motley crew – including a shady art dealer, a violent dancer, a rude princess and an American woman in search of husband number three – are thrown into disarray when one of them is killed in the sanctity of their train cabin. They're all suspects and the murderer could, of course, strike again.

Murder on the Orient Express is a classic story that has been continuously retold. And for good reason. It includes money and a love affair, as my Welsh friend put it, but more than that, it takes a long, hard look at the wide moral gap between right and wrong, and the ways in which the human soul can fracture.

In my opinion, as well as being a snowy spectacle, Murder on
the Orient Express is good old-fashioned entertainment, with great performances from some of Hollywood's finest. The film took a little while to get going, but then it moved at quite a pace – unlike the train they were stranded on. (Sorry.) I enjoyed figuring out whodunit, and now would like to forget the whole thing entirely so that I can pick up the book in a few years' time and experience it afresh as Agatha would have wanted.