Murder for Christmas (Vintage Murder Mystery) by Francis Duncan

 

I really rather enjoyed this Christie-esque mystery with its oddball cast of characters, and a rather intriguing amateur detective, Mordecai Tremaine

 

The detective is appealing in a slightly eccentric Poirot way.

 

This Christmas themed crime novel from the late 40s is well-plotted, atmospheric and entertaining - just the kind of cosy crime novel you might want to read at Christmas in fact (as I did!)

Walking Backwards to Christmas: An Advent journey from light to darkness by Stephen Cottrell

           

The story is told with each chapter depicting a different perspective from the people involved, from the shepherds to King Herod to Mary, and several others.

It is a wonderfully engaging and unique re-telling of the Christmas story. It begins when Mary and Joseph are presenting baby Jesus if the temple and goes back to the prophesies of Isaiah and Moses. It's an interesting way of telling the story, but what is so great about it is the writing and the characters. 


I really enjoyed this. 

With the Larks: Starting Again in Cornwall by Tessa Hainsworth

     

Story of how posh well-to-do woman with good connections transplants her out of work actor hubby and two children to live in nice house in Cornwall and becomes a post woman

Autobiography telling the story on starting over in the country, the ups and downs of country life.

 

I enjoyed the escapism to Cornwall.

 

However whilst the descriptions were good, the plot was just a bit weak. ...still I enjoyed it enough to want to finish it.

Creating learning without limits by Mandy Swann

“I create the conditions and they do the learning.” 

This book reports on a school that challenged the thinking of fixed ability and grouping children by their ability. 
It focused on giving children a role in devleoping their learning by suggesting how they could learn, what they wanted to learn and how much support they would need to get there.
It reiterated how important it is to give children ownership of their work and to work for a purpose.

This book is very readable and not heavy on the theory. It left me wanting to go and watch the process in action.

Slade House by David Mitchell

This is a sort of prequel/set along side the Bone Clocks,

David Mitchell does his usual thing of writing a few short stories, and linking them together. 
It is a querky ghost story.
It is short.

I didn't enjoy it as much as the Bone Clocks - maybe because the idea was no longer novel.
The first couple of chapters were good but by the end you knew what to expect.

The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

I really enjoyed this easy read set in 1920s Ceylon.

I loved the beautiful exotic setting .
It has  enough  mystery to keep you going, with secrets that get revealed little by little.

There were some stereotyped character and unconvincing dialogue.  

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

I loved this book about the  transformations we go through in life and how different events within our life affect, shape us, and make us who we are today.

I expected it to be an easy read and there were many laugh out loud moments but  I did spend some time crying over parts of it.

I did imagine Ove as a man in his eighties and yet the character is only 59 which just threw me all the way throughout the story .