Summer reading material.

Elizabeth (World Examining Works on my side bar) suggested people might like to say what they had read recently so that anybody looking for a good book over the summer would have some new ideas. So here are my suggestions:

2 Non-fiction:

'To a Mountain in Tibet' by Colin Thubron. This is one man's pilgrimage to a sacred mountain in Tibet after the death of his mother.
'Four Quarters of Light' by Brian Keenan. This is an Alaskan journey by Keenan which, as well as being a travelogue is also a spiritual journey.

2 Fiction:

This is more difficult as fiction is such a personal thing. But I have just read
Margaret Drabble's 'The Sea Lady'. It is a good read but also demonstrates so well just what a good writer Drabble is.

Dominic has recently introduced me to Fred Vargas - a French woman detective story writer. We have both just read her 'The Chalk Circle Man' - very quirky, most unusual but a good read and I shall definitely read more of her work.

2 old favourites:

'An Enchanted April' by Elizabeth von Arnim. I read this many years ago but it has recently been reissued by Virago and I have just bought a copy from Amazon. It is delightful although not, I think, a man's book. I especially loved Chapter V where the two ladies are negotiating the path to their holiday castle in the rain and the dark. The whole book is a pleasure to read.

'The Hare with the Amber Eyes, by Edmund de Vaal. This book was originally lent to me by a friend. It is the history of a set of Japanese netsuke which have belonged to the same family for generations. It is absolutely fascinating.

I hope it inspires some of you to read over the holiday.