This is the fifteenth novel/novella in Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, a magnificent urban fantasy series with shedloads of attitude. It has terrific leading characters who are either magicians, police, police magicians, or river goddesses. I loved the first ten or so, and I collected the first few sets of comic strips. But lately, … Continue reading Stone and Sky, by Ben Aaronovitch
Books about Japan
I’m just back from two weeks of travelling in Japan, so I'm revisiting the many books about Japan that I’ve read since the Japan Plan became definite some years ago. The first book about Japan that I read was Vern J Sneider's charming and wholly unrealistic The Teahouse of the August Moon, which I reread … Continue reading Books about Japan
Child in Chile, by Bea Howe
This is the last of the Bea Howe books I have stacked up, and I wonder if I may be the only person writing about her. I was contacted by a translator a year or so ago asking for help finding Bea's literary estate, but together we could not do it. I don't think she … Continue reading Child in Chile, by Bea Howe
Upon A White Horse, by Peter Ross
I like Peter Ross's gentle ramblings through themed investigations of the UK's sociology, history, landscape and oddness. He's a Scottish journalist covering live music for The Times, but his five or more books on his wanderings are quite different. Daunderlust (2014) is about the process of daundering, walking only partly aimlessly, having a wee daunder … Continue reading Upon A White Horse, by Peter Ross
Arbiter of Elegance, by Bea Howe
Bea Howe (left) and Sylvia Townsend Warner (right) Bea Howe wrote fine biographies, a memoir and one fantasy novel. These books are now almost completely forgotten unless you are keen on reading about Sylvia Townsend Warner's circle, because Bea was one of her oldest friends. They met in 1919 and were close friends until Warner's … Continue reading Arbiter of Elegance, by Bea Howe
None So Pretty, by Margaret Irwin
What a strange but compelling novel None So Pretty is, Margaret Irwin's eighth, published in 1930 and now completely forgotten. If anyone knows of a biography of this exceptional British (half-Australian) novelist please let me know. Melissa Edmundson has done a lot of work on Irwin's ghost stories and other supernatural tales, but I'd like … Continue reading None So Pretty, by Margaret Irwin
The Last Battle, by C S Lewis
This Narnia novel is the weighty one, the one where the religious lessons become philosophy, and where Lewis gets into the detail of how to end a world. It is also a fine adventure of woodcraft and battle with Eustace and Jill, ties up many loose ends, brings back favourite old characters and rehabilitates the … Continue reading The Last Battle, by C S Lewis
The Magician’s Nephew, by C S Lewis
I have a 1980s Book Club edition of The Magician's Nephew, which quotes the British mythologist Roger Lancelyn Green on the flyleaf: 'Lewis turned back to seek the origins of the Witch, the Wardrobe - and the Lamp Post. From this quest grew The Magician's Nephew, which ran away with its creator to make perhaps … Continue reading The Magician’s Nephew, by C S Lewis
The Horse and his Boy, by C S Lewis
I think The Horse and his Boy is the Narnia novel I loved best as a child. It's the strongest adventure, with a clear and direct plot. The setting, Lewis's version of the Ottoman Empire, is fascinating, and Talking Horses are key characters. Best of all, I have just realised on this Nth reread, this … Continue reading The Horse and his Boy, by C S Lewis
The Silver Chair, by C S Lewis
I am sure I found this Narnia novel quite difficult when I was very young. The Silver Chair is not happy. The journey is a struggle. The two protagonists bicker and keep doing things wrong. They are constantly wet, cold and hungry, and easily led. Yet I think this is one of Lewis's more enjoyably … Continue reading The Silver Chair, by C S Lewis
Kate Macdonald