John Wyndham, Chocky

 I don't think I've read the book before, but I have vague memories of the Children's TV series in the '80s which was a bit spooky and featured an alien. The book is very different to what I expected, more aimed at adults than kids and more about parental worry that their son is going mad/is possessed when he's actually in contact somehow with an alien intelligence. Really enjoyed it but it's not a children's book, they must have changed it for the series! The big news at home is that Libby has finally bounced us into getting a dog! Grogu arrives in 1.5 weeks!

John Lewis-Stemple, La Vie: a Year in Rural France

 I hadn't heard of John Lewis-Stemple before, but apparently he is one of the UK's foremost writers on farming and the countryside. I guess he tends to write for publications I don't normally read, and he does seem rather Tory (he can trace his ancestors back to the Norman Conquest apparently). 'La Vie' was a lovely piece of wish-fulfilment, an idealised bucolic existence of self-sufficiency in rural France. To be fair to him, as beguiling as he makes the lifestyle sound, he also makes it plain that it is hard work. I will search out and read more by him.

Freeman Wills Crofts, The Hog's Back Mystery

 A by-the-rules murder mystery from the Golden Age. I rather enjoyed it, and it was refreshing to see it through the eyes of the investigating detective and follow him as he uncovers the clues and thinks through the case rather than have a sleight-of-hand magician like Holmes or Poirot drop cryptic comments and then show how clever they are at the end. It was so fairly clued that in the summing up chapter at the end the page numbers for each important part of the solution were included. The location added to the charm, with all the action being set in the lovely countryside between Farnham, Guildford and Godalming. I often cycle round there so could vividly picture it. 

Tom Fort, Channel Shore: From the White Cliffs to Land's End

I've read previous books by Tom Fort on Lawnmowers and the A303 and found them very enjoyable, and this was similar. The inverted snob in me was a bit disappointed to learn he was an Old Etonian rather than the Everyman I thought him to be, but he's no snob himself and writes so well and entertainingly. He made me want to follow his journey along the Channel shore, which is all you can ask.

Hiroko Oyamada, Weasels in the Attic

 A very short novella that was quite nice but far too short. The best thing was seeing the inscription from Libby wishing me a happy 49th birthday. Will add to Helen's Tsundoku because of the Japanese connection

Steve Tibble, Templars: The Knights Who Made Britain

Steve Tibble is at RHUL apparently, which was a pleasant surprise. Interesting to read about the Templars in Britain, but they weren't nearly as common as I had though and much more administrative - there were never cadres of elite warriors at their manors and holdings, just a few quill-pushers and the elderly and infirm. they had a holding in Cranford, which i never knew. Have to look into that. Fred has been at college for a few weeks now and seems to have settled in. Hard to say for sure as being a teenager it's all a bit monosyllabic and grunty. He has a driving experience this weekend and we are getting him a new bike, so that should hopefully put a smile on his face. He also needs to help me fix the shed roof though. 

Amor Towles, Rules of Civility

I really enjoyed 'A Gentleman in Moscow' which has since been made into a lovely TV Drama starring Ewan McGregor. 'Rules of Civility' was a first person narrative from a young, single woman in '30s Manhattan. Her voice and dry humour and observations were entertaining, but nothing much seemed to happen and some of the characters just weren't memorable. My fault for not concentrating enough probably. At home we are having a bit of a clear out and have emptied the shed of all the old bikes and scooters. Helen's taken them to the dump today and found it a bit of a wrench. It's cleared some space though so hopefully we can now fill it with some of the crap from the garage so we can fill the garage up with crap from the rest of the house so we can buy more crap. Still cheaper than an extension though.