March reads

I woke this morning with the clocks having gone forward and hope that the weird dream world that we seem to have been living in over the last week has been just that a dream. Unfortunately that is not the case.  How are you all doing out there? Are you managing to get through lock down?  As a keyworker I am still going to my office everyday at least for the time being.  I work for a local hospital but not on the front line.  I can tell you it feels very surreal and we are all extremely proud of our front line colleagues.

I suppose for us crafters then a lot of unfinished projects will get completed over this time.  I'm sure our poor husbands and partners will now have to face that list of jobs they always tell us they will get to when they have time.

Although most shops are closed for the time being there are still a lot of shops that are operating on line so we can still get our crafting supplies.

Black Sheep Wools
Deremores
Lakeside Crafts
Willow Fabrics
Wool Warehouse

 and of course there is good old Amazon who are still doing what they can to get deliveries out.

Anyway I am supposed to be telling you about the books I have been reading this month. I got a little side tracked there didn't I.


My first read of March was Misty Blue by Misty Gardner

Micky Culshaw is a musician. No longer at the peak of his career he has yet to find love. After a troubled childhood he has moved to London where he leads a shadowy existence between touring and recording with his band, Misty Blue. He finds love with a mysterious older man, Alex, but his world is turned upside down when the lead guitarist of the band is brutally murdered and he finds himself accused of the killing. The remaining band members rally to his support and Micky finds that, in the midst of his living nightmare, his wildest dreams come true, but more anguish is to follow before he finds the true love that he craves. After the trauma of the trial and its aftermath Micky has space to 'grow', but along the way real life intrudes, bringing back long-buried memories which in turn bring developments that will ultimately bring high points and low points, joys and sorrows into his life and those of his friends and family.The story opens in the early 1980s with flashbacks to 1960s Manchester before moving on taking the characters up to the dawn of the new millennium. It recreates the atmosphere that prevailed in the period immediately following the 1967 Sexual Offences Act and through the Aids crisis and attitudes in society before the advent of Civil Partnerships and 'gay marriage'The story deals with sensitive topics and explores the characters' emotions and reactions progressively against the background of its setting.

Recently my partner gave this book to read. There is no synopsis on the back of the cover and all he would tell me was that it had been written by somebody we know and that it is their first self publication. I must admit I was rather intrigued but at the same time I spent the first five chapters trying to work out which one of our acquaintances had written it.  The story follows the lives of four band members that make up the band Misty Blue.  The main character Micky Culshaw has not had an easy life growing up he loves his mother dearly but his father was a little too handy with his fists and his belt and Micky left home and moved to London at the first opportunity. The band has had it highs and lows and by the 80's is no longer at their peak.  For Micky trouble comes when he is attacked in his flat and can't remember what happened and a while later their guitarist Andy is found dead.  It is concluded that Micky and Andy have got into a fight and that Micky has killed him.  Micky's  now has to prove his innocence but it will be a number of years before the truth comes out and for Micky and his friends there will be a lot that happens in between. 

Reading a book without knowing anything about it beforehand is not something I would normally do. I like to read the synopsis on the back and have some idea of what the book is about.  All that said I really did enjoy it and when I did finally get to know who had written it I wasn't surprised,  Would I recommend reading this book?  Definitely.  Would I recommend the author go on to write further novels and hope that a publishers will pick it up? Definitely. And would I read them if they did? Definitely. 

My second read of March is my return to child hood read and this month I picked Black Beauty by Anna Sewell 

From the meadow of his youth to the crowded, frosty streets of London, Black Beauty tells the story of his life under many masters in Victorian England, among them the kind Squire Gordon, the principled Jeremiah Barker, and the exploitative Nicholas Skinner. No matter the circumstance, Beauty bears joy and hardship with grace, heeding his mother’s advice to be good, gentle, and hardworking—always.

At turns suspenseful, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, Black Beauty is a masterful tale promoting equality, compassion, and strength of character—and remains a treasured classic for animal lovers of all ages.

I had completely forgotten that the story is told by Black Beauty himself and that made the book that much more enjoyable.  It was lovely revisiting a book that I enjoyed as a child and one that I read with my daughter when she was little.

My third and final read for this month is What She Lost by Susan Elliot Wright

Eleanor and her mother Marjorie have always had a difficult relationship and somehow just failed to connect. Now Marjorie's memory is fading, and her grip on the things she has kept hidden is beginning to loosen. When she calls Eleanor to say 'There's something I have to tell you', Eleanor hopes this will be the moment she learns the truth about the terrible secret that has cast a shadow over both their lives.

But Marjorie's memory is failing fast and she can't recall what she wanted to say. Eleanor knows time is running out , and as she tries to gently uncover the truth before it becomes lost inside her mother's mind forever, she begins to discover what really happened when she was a child - and why.

 Eleanor's mother Marjorie has dementia so time is running out for the mother and daughter to try and reconnect and for all that needs to be said to be said. Marjorie has been searching for something within her house but can't remember what it is that she is trying to find.  When ever Eleanor comes to see her mother draws have been emptied and all her mother can tell her is that she has to tell her something. Eventually Eleanor realizes that she is going to have to put her own life on hold for a while and move in with her mother to look after her. She sees this time as an opportunity for the two women to try and reconnect and heal the wounds that had pushed them apart over the years. 

I have read all the novels by this author and some are better than others.  This one is a bit in the middle. For me it took a while to draw me in but once it picked up I wanted to know more. There were unexpected twists within the novel and I would recommend.

So there you are a bit of a mixed bag this month and may be something there for you.  With us not being able to get to a library or browse the book shops my Kindle has really come into its own.  I've had one for a number of years now but still find I prefer to be holding a book and turning the pages.  If you don't have a kindle you can down the kindle app on your ipad or phone so you can still keep reading whilst we battle our way through the next few weeks.  We're almost at the end of week one so we know we can do this as long as we all stick together (virtually that is).

Stay safe everyone

Mx