Cornflower Books

Thought for the day

 

    "One goes through life [...] leaving books unread, music unheard, pictures unseen, and though it is very reprehensible, in some ways it is comforting to think that there are so many lovely things yet to be learned."

    Beverley Nichols, A Thatched Roof.

    

This and that

    -    Here's news of a lovely literary prize.

    -    Minette Walters has a major historical novel coming out in the autumn.

    -    Donna Leon's been on Meet the Writers. (Mr. C. recently read her last but one Brunetti book and speaks very highly of it.)

    -    The Walter Scott Prize is turning the spotlight on its shortlisted authors in a series of interviews beginning with Jo Baker.

    -    In this post, Adèle tells us where she gets (some of) her ideas.

A happy reader

    "Oh, Karen. I've just finished and can't remember the last time I've enjoyed a book more. Thank you so much for the recommendation. Margot and Steven and all of them will stay with me for a very long time indeed."

    Barbara kindly left that comment about Sue Gee's latest book Trio on this Instagram post today. She echoes many other readers who picked up the novel after reading about it here or on IG and then let me know how much they loved it.

    It's so gratifying to put books into readers' hands, in a virtual sense, to be able to spread the word about something good and share the enjoyment.

 

Edited to add: here is Barbara's post on the book.

Seconds

    The Nation's Favourite Second Novel, according to a recent poll, is ... Pride and Prejudice.

    You can find the list of the top ten second novels here, and writers write about their own second books here - I particularly like Hilary Mantel's piece.

 

Books in brief

    The White Hare by Michael Fishwick is a Young Adult novel which juxtaposes an urban, contemporary sensibility with ancient rural myth. I'd have liked a sharper focus to this tale of Robbie, a troubled lad who has moved from the big city to a small village in the West Country where he strikes up an unlikely friendship with the offbeat Mags and discovers - in very real terms - the legend of the white hare, but this coming-of-age story in which ghosts are laid to rest and there is resolution of sorts is an interesting read.

                                        ~~~~~

    Singing for Mrs. Pettigrew: A Story-Maker's Journey by Michael Morpurgo combines a collection of his short stories with the stories of their making. There's a snippet here to give you an idea, but all told this is very engaging and enjoyable, if at times heart-rending. "I [do not] go looking for stories," he says, "but I do go to places where they might find me." Long may he do so.

                                        ~~~~~

    The Art of Discarding by Nagisa Tatsumi is the book which inspired Marie Kondo. There's a lot of good sense here, but it needs a major edit. It suffers, as so many books in the wider 'self-help' line do, from the over-elaboration of an essentially simple message in order to fill pages and justify the price. I could go on but I'll leave it there.

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