Hidden Lives: A Family Memoir by Margaret Forster

What a fascinating read about the changes in society over the last century.

It is an incredible and personal insight into family life.

I was intrigued by the hint of a little mystery, the woman dressed in black, that visits the Grandmother but disappointed that the story never was really addressed.

Down To The Sea In Ships: Of Ageless Oceans and Modern Men by Horatio Clare

t is a fascinating book to read as Clare gets to the heart of the shipping industry and the people that run these ships.

 

It covers almost everything the layman could want to know about container ships and how they operate in two sections: To the East and West and North. 

The two sections cover different size ships and the lives of the crews at sea while also throwing in the different pay rates for Filipinos and other nations, women at sea, how the author and the seamen feel about their ships and the work they do, hazards of the work and the two World Wars. 

All this in 348 pages making for a very interesting read.

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.