The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch - Melinda Taub

I didn't mean to take such a long break but I lost wifi for a few days and then went to stay with mum, who has working wifi, but I forgot my laptop (and to bring a sample half dozen of the best sausages you could ever find - sold on Leicester market by a very nice butcher). We've been celebrating her 75th birthday. 

For my own sanity, I've not been paying much attention to what's happening in America and I'm very close to deleting twitter/x - the stumbling block is that I'm in charge of the work account so can't completely ignore it. This is part of a more general quandary regarding social media. Facebook is annoying but it's still the best way to keep in touch with older family members. I mostly like Insta but the adverts and rubbish are becoming overwhelming and the ethics of all of it are questionable. And yet, it's all such a part of modern life that cutting any of it off feels as difficult as getting rid of online banking, I would manage but it would be massively more complicated. 

All of this is feeding into a desire to read books that are essentially comforting. Lydia Bennet, Witch fitted the bill nicely. I do not as a rule like it when people mess around with Jane Austen, but this was very much the exception that worked for me. Melinda Taub obviously knows her Austen, she captures Lydias's voice perfectly - or maybe more precisely I could hear Julia Sawalha's voice from the 90s Pride and Prejudice, but I'll take it. 

The combination of affection for and knowledge of Austen along with taking minor characters and giving them a whole other magical life is a winning one in this instance. So is the minimum of smut - there's a smidgen of romance between Lydia and Whickham - a literal demon here, and Kitty who is really a cat, and Denny - but it's very much the sweet kind rather than the explicit kind. 

Picking out the bits that are Austen from the bits that are not is fun, there are a number of side characters from P&P plus one from Sanditon. There's enough consideration of slavery and women's position in society to give the plot a bit of weight, and Taub thinks Mr Bennet is a terrible father, on which point she's absolutely correct. 

This won't be for everyone, but if you like a little fantasy in the mix it's a good time. 

This Will Be Fun - E. B. Asher

One of the perks of my job is the number of review copies that come my way, and on Friday's there's the extra bonus of Publishers Weekly where we get sent an impressively long list of books to request from. It's not guaranteed that you'll actually get what you ask for, and it can be a long wait for something to appear (I got a Christmas related book I'd asked for in November 2023 in July 2024). It's entirely likely that by the time something comes through I've completely forgotten why I was attracted to it in the first place.

This is kind of what happened with 'This Will Be Fun' which sat around for a good few weeks before I picked it up a couple of days ago, finally in the mood for something light and fantasy-based again. E. B. Asher is in fact 3 people writing together, and what they've produced is fun cosy fantasy. If you like Travis Baldree and The Princess Bride this is worth a second look. 

Ten years ago The Four - best friends, Beatrice, Elowen, Clare, and Galwell saved the realm of Mythria from a terrible threat, and they haven't spoken since. The Queen of Mythria is about to marry though, their presence at her wedding is demanded, and then when her fiance is abducted they have little choice but to put their differences behind them and set off to the rescue again. However reluctantly it may be. 

In terms of world-building and plot it's not the best book you'll read but for quipping, silly jokes, a celebration of found family, a celebration of the value of therapy, and for asking the question of what happens at the end of the quest it does it all. I don't think the world building matters very much - we're all familiar with the tropes and this book is all about relationships and personal growth. I'm equally indifferent to the plot, evil is vanquished, good wins out, and true love prevails. 

A couple of years ago I would not have thought of myself as a cosy fantasy fan, but when it's done well it turns out I am, it's exactly what I want to wind down from the stress of the busiest time of year. The doing it well bit is the trick. I've come across a few attempts that feel cynical - to paint by numbers and lacking in the humour that makes the best of them work. You need to go light on the smut too - which this does. 

Murder before Evensong - Richard Coles

2025 will, if nothing else, be the year I caught up with Richard Coles and appreciated what the fuss is about. I remain skeptical about efforts to televise this book, for me the charm lies in the observations, turns of phrase, and mild obsession with stationary. I do not believe these will translate well to screen, but with luck something else good will emerge, sufficiently different to the books to be enjoyed in it's own right.

I'm not at al; comfortable with the description cosy crime for these books either - they might take second place to a frank delight in parish life, and the details are mercifully brief, but it does not change their brutality (a carotid artery severed with a pair of secateurs is not a cosy image at all). I've now read the first 2 Canon Clement mysteries, and the Christmas Novella. Book number 3 is out in paperback mid February. I am a committed fan. 

Anyone who followed Coles on social media over the last while (I can't remember when I started - before lockdown?) will recognise elements of the life he shared there, as well as his gift for sharp observation. It's a smart tactic, as is the 1980s setting. The 80s are safely pre DNA fingerprinting, mobile phones, and social media. Even if you don't really remember the era the films and music keep it close. It's an interesting time socially too - which Coles explores with delicacy.

My feeling after reading Murder Under the Mistletoe was that it had a lot in common with The Diary of a Provincial Lady, Murder Before Evensong confirms that, and earns comparisons to Barbara Pym, Murial Sharp, nods towards G K Chesterton, and maybe Molly Keane too, although Coles is kinder than either Keane, or Sharp, towards his characters. His observations might be forensic but they're not unkind - Audrey, Canon Daniel Clements's mother, is a creation of genius. It's a shame that Maggie Smith will never portray her. 

Meanwhile there's much about the workings of the church, village politics, faith, acceptance of human foibles, and dachshunds. It's delightful, and a very strong start to my reading year. 

My Top 10 Books for 2024

It is probably 12th night - I see arguments for different counts on this - and definitely the end of Christmas. My tree will come down this afternoon and it's time for a round up list of last years reading.

Looking back I see I've read more than I thought I had, though maybe not as much as I thought I should, and there have been some really great books in that mix. These don't come in any particular order beyond going back through the years post and thinking that, and that, and that - but they are books I've put effort into selling at work as well so I suppose I've really staked whatever bookselling reputation I have on them too. 

Sarah Clegg's Dead of Winter is first up. An interesting and entertaining survey of the darker Christmas traditions and the comeback they're making, albeit in a sanitised and social media friendly form. I went to see Twelth Night at the RSC yesterday which was a stark reminder of how unruly and cruel a tradition that could be. It's a charming and funny production that still cannot hide the viciousness of the low comedy in it. Sarah Clegg knows her stuff, and she's excellent company in this little book - a mix of fun new trivia and deeper thinking that isn't just for Christmas.

Next is Murder Under the Mistletoe. I hadn't paid as much attention to The Reverand Richard Coles books as I might, but this one was the magic combination of short and fun. It's an enjoyable story with an ingenious murder plot - it also inspired me to buy the earlier books. I loved Murder Before Evensong and am sailing through A Death in the Parish. I see that the Murder Before Evensong is being televised. I have mixed feelings about this, so much of the charm of the books for me is in the quality of the descriptions/sharpness of observation and I'm doubtful about how well that will translate to screen - if you like lengthy descriptions of how church works stick with the books. 

This is the book I've bought and given most copies of - Alice Lascelles Martini. She is one of the best writers on spirits around - I cannot recommend her books on cocktails highly enough for clear and sensible instructions that will give excellent and achievable results every time. People spend a lot of time and money on trying to overcomplicate drinks - the Martini takes us back to basics and builds on them in all sorts of ways. She's not particularly hard line about what can be called a Martini, and more than willing to include iterations some purists would have drawn the line at. More power to her on that front. It's a splendid book. 

There isn't an order to these books, but if there was this one would be at the top of the list. Jen Hadfield's Storm Pegs is an extraordinary book however I look at it. A beautiful meditation on place and language and time that blurs the lines between poetry and biography. This is Hadfield's account of the home she found and made told through language and landscape. It's magical. 

I was frankly disappointed with the adaptation of Man Size in Marble shown on Christmas Eve. It over complicated a story that works because of its simplicity. E. Nesbit's Ghost stories are fabulous, and The House of Silence - get this from the soon to be much missed Handheld Press whilst you can - is the best collection around. Weird tales are for all year round, but very much belong in midwinter. 

Greekish is easily my cookbook of the year. I've used it a lot, enjoyed everything I've made, given it to a few people as presents - mostly after cooking from it for them and consider it Georgina Hayden's best book yet. The recipes are perfect for pottering around in the kitchen - not overly complicated but distinctive enough to feel special. It's full of the things she cooks for her family and consequently has a broad appeal. As good for brightening up winter days as it summer food.

Columba's Bones is the one that's divided people most here I think. It's one of polygon's Darklands series, and in my opinion one of the best - but it is violent and graphic with it so avoid if that's not to your taste. I found David Greig's use of language clever and his tale touching as well as occasionally shocking. Overall I think he caught the fear of a Viking attack and the brutality of the moment well. It's a novella that punches well above its weight. 

Someone From The Past by Margot Bennett was my favourite Crime Classic read this year against some stiff competition. This one stood out for the chaotic nature of the heroine, and its overview of bohemian post-war London. There must have been plenty of books set against the same background, but they don't come my way so very often. Bennett's sympathetic portrayal of 2 girls making their way up in the world, the men they encounter on the way, and the murderous consequences for one of them really is a lost classic. 

Nights Out At Home by Jay Rayner sits somewhere between memoir and cookbook - an increasingly popular and sometimes tedious device that works very well here because Rayner is primarily a restaurant critic rather than a cook. Memories of meals he's loved and efforts to recreate them, or in the case of the Gregg's Steak Bake to take them to the next level give us 60 or so recipes, most of which I probably will never try, but all of which make me think about great meals I've had, the company I had them in, and how I approach cooking day to day. If you like Rayner's columns this is worth having.

I should have spent more time with this book since buying it, but there's no huge rush and projects are bubbling away at the back of my mind as I write this. Shetland Fine Lace Knitting by Carol Christiansen is an important as well as useful book. It's come out of a lengthy piece of work she's been involved in at the Shetland Museum and Archive and is a real contribution to the history of Shetland lace. It's also stuffed full of patterns to incorporate into your own work. It's one to treasure for the knitters out there. 

Welcome 2025

I did not mean to leave it quite so long between posts, but the end of the old year has frankly been a bit of a bitch and now we're here in 2025. This is my 4th bookshop Christmas but I'm no nearer adapting to the rhythm of it - it doesn't stop as you go into January, but there's a lot more paperwork (endless returns and no shortage of people trying to return things that weren't bought from us, possibly bought from us but not in the last 2 years, bought from us and trashed far past the point of resale, stolen from us in the hope they could then con us out of a refund - get in the bin - and wilfully refusing to accept how gift receipts work. No you cannot have cash in exchange for the gift someone gave you, and no matter how rude you are I will not give it to you.)

There are also a lot more bored children and parents who seem unwilling or unable to entertain them. Letting them blow into mouth organs that they have no intention of buying is nor the way to fix anything though. At best you are annoying everyone around you, at worst you might as well just let your kids lick the floor and hope whatever germs they pick up don't keep them bored at home for even longer. 

Why yes, it has been exhausting. 

The trend in retail has been for bank holidays to be treated as normal working days, so we're closed on Christmas day but it's just a normal day off - and honestly it's not enough. I needed more than 2 days together, definitely didn't need to then work the 5 days to New Year's eve, ended up ill by New Year's eve, was asleep hours before the bells and stayed that way for almost 12 hours. We're all like that at work at the moment; burnt out, overstretched, and low. I doubt the internet has missed my cheery presence. 

In genuinely sad news a good family friend passed away on boxing day. Richard Gibson was a remarkable man who made all sorts of difference in the world. You can read a little about his work in Shetland Here. He will be very much missed by all who knew him.

But now it's time to look forward and see what the New Year brings, so here's to health and happiness in the next 12 months, and new beginnings.