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.
What an interesting list, and you write about them with such evident affection. I love Nesbit but haven't read her ghost stories, so that appeals most to me.
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