February Reads

I can't believe we are already fast approaching the end of the second month of the year, but that also means that Spring is fast approaching.   

I have read a further two books this month.  The first of which is my return to childhood favourite, this is something I like to do every now and then just to remind myself why they are my favourites from growing up in the first place.  I used to read them with my own children but of course they are all nearly adults now so I don't have that excuse anymore and my little grandson is a little too small just yet.

The Railway Children - Edith Nesbit

When Roberta, Peter and Phyllis's father is taken away and they move to a tiny cottage known locally as "Three Chimneys" set in the beautiful rural countryside. They spend their days playing in the fields and watching the trains at the nearby railway. We join them on their adventures as they befriend  an Old Gentleman who regularly takes the 9:15 train near their home and all those who work with the trains. They  prevent a railway disaster,  take care of a Russian exile, Mr Szczepansky, who came to England looking for his family and help Jim a boy they find in the railway tunnel after a paperchase who has broken his leg, only to find that he is the grandson of the Old Gentleman who eventually is able to help to prove their father's innocence, and the family is reunited

I have seen both the adaptations of The Railway Children with Jenny Agutter playing both 12 year old Bobbie and the part of the children's mother.  It is one of those timeless stories that I have always enjoyed reading not just for myself but it was also a favourite when my daughter was growing up. As the generations come and go I hope it is one of those stories that never becomes old hat and will continue be read by generations to come. 


My second read of February is 

White Nights (Shetland Book 2) by Ann Cleeves 




When Shetland detective Jimmy Perez finds a body in a hut used by fishermen it seems to be a straightforward case of suicide. He recognises the victim - a stranger with amnesia who had disrupted a local party the night before his death.

Yet this is no desperate act of anguish, but the work of a cold and calculating killer. As Perez investigates, he finds himself mired in the hidden secrets of the small Biddista community. Then another body is found.

Perez knows he must break the cycle before another death occurs. But this is a crazy time of year when night blurs into day and nothing is quite as it seems.






Having read Raven Black the first in the series of Ann Cleeves' Shetland novels I was really looking forward to getting to grips with book two, White Nights.  Set in the small Biddista community of the Sheltands at the time of year with the relentless light of midsummer. A body is discovered in a fisherman's hut on the island with no identification and nothing that links him to the island. Perez has the unenviable job of  investigating who this man is and why was he visiting Shetland. Then another body is discovered and so the story goes on.  The novel seemed to start off at a good pace with lots of twists and turns and of course all the secrets to be discovered of the Biddista community, all of which made you feel you were heading for a climatic ending.  Sadly for me this was not the case and I felt it came to quite an abrupt end with lots of loose ends and questions left unanswered.  It was almost as if the author had run of ideas of where to take this novel and seemed to cut it short. That said I have do enjoy Ann Cleeves novels and fully intend to continue reading the series as and when they rotate on my reading list. 


What have you been reading during the month of February and what are you intending to read through March.

Mx