I’ve read several good books over the summer months. Choosing from a wide range of genres and topics, here are seven books I’ve really enjoyed for a variety of reasons and I recommend them all. The list is random – there is no rank order implied. J

 

1. Le Vieux, Biographie d’un Youyou. Azzedine Grimbou / Michel Kokoreff.

 

I was given this little novel for my birthday and I love it. What a character – what a life he led! It’s in French so it’s really helped me learn a lot of interesting new expressions…

 

2. Nervous Conditions,. Tsitsi Dangarembga.

 

I love everything by this novelist. She writes with a beautiful voice about woman’s issues and coming of age. A very introspective, informative story.

 

3. How Not to Die. Michael Greger, MD.

 

This book underpins my own philosophy on eating cleanly. It is a wonderful idea, that we might be able to eat ourselves fitter or at least avoid certain complaints by eating certain foods! The writer has a nutritional science background, so it’s a useful lifestyle handbook. His style is colloquial and easy to read.

 

4. The Marble Collector. Cecelia Ahearn

 

A friend of mine gave me this book, saying she ‘couldn’t get on with it.’ For me, this  demonstrates perfectly how negative reviews often don’t mean anything more than a mismatch between writer and reader. It’s a great story and so well written. I love it.

 

5. The Summer of Second Chances. Maddie Please / The Drowned Village. Kath McGurl

 

Two books by two novelists I know and respect as writers. One story is bubbly, light-hearted and a fun summer read – the other is haunting and beautifully crafted.

 

6. What Blest Genius? Andrew McConnell Stott.

 

This is a witty, well-researched and clever account of the 1769 Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare Jubilee that brought Shakespeare to the foreground. It has an exciting cast of characters, including David Garrick and the ghost of Will himself.