This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”
This is the opening paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. it’s a sentiment with which we are familiar today.
And it got me thinking about reading. So rather than going and buying new books I thought I would look at my bookshelves and start rereading books that I had enjoyed both in the past and more recently.
Here are some of my choices:
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
This novel is set during The French Revolution and tells about the time of chaos, conflicts, despair and much happiness. It is a tale of hope and shows us how kindness and self- sacrifice is still there through very troubled times.
Dickens writes well about society and many of the themes are still relevant today.
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
This is a beautifully written novel set in North Carolina. For years, there had been rumours about the ‘Marsh Girl’ living in Berkley Cove. Kya Clark becomes the suspect in the murder of a local boy whom she has had a relationship with. The story centres around small town bigotry, love and abandonment. The descriptions of the local landscapes and way of life are stunning and evocative.
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
This is a captivating novel of money, beauty, white collar crime, ghosts and moral compromise. Central to the novel is the Hotel Caiette which is situated on Vancouver Island. It moves between a murder on a ship, to the skyscrapers of Manhatten and Vancouver Island. It contains greed, fantasy , delusion and visits ghosts of the past.
Nigel by Monty Don
Pets at this time are especially important. They bring comfort and companionship to many people. Nigel is a delightful and ordinary Golden Retriever, handsome and obedient. Unlike my two rascals. Nigel has become a star in his own right on Gardeners World. The book is the relationship and therefore a memoir of Monty’s life with all his special pets past and present. It is a real feel good story.
The Long Call by Ann Cleeves
I have always enjoyed immersing myself in a good Crime Novel and The Long Call does not disappoint. Ann has a new hero Matthew Venn. She has moved her setting from the Shetlands to North Devon between the River Taw and the River Torridge.
The novel returns Venn to his roots and the evangelical community he was brought up in and has left. A body is found on the beach with an albatross tattoo. Finding the killer is Venn’s only focus and this throws him back into his past and drags up old feelings and memories.
These books are just a few of the ones I have spotted in my book case and I hope that you may choose to read one or two or hopefully it will encourage you to look at your own bookshelves. For more book reviews click from the Page Turner click HERE.