Reading the pictures

In Beverley I have discovered an interesting way of displaying artworks. 22 paintings have been reproduced and brought out of the gallery onto the streets. Frederick Elwell born in Beverley in 1870 found inspiration for his paintings in the town; local people and places feature significantly. Now the local and domestic views can be found in prominent places around the town with explanatory captions.

It's a brilliant idea and I'll be walking the whole trail to see and read about local history.

Travel reading

My Kobo is loaded with books for my journey, 27 hours of flying and a 10 hour layover. Included are modern classics that I haven't got round to reading: The Song of the Lark by Will Cather and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, contemporary titles that somehow I missed on publication: The Book Thief  by Marcus Zusak and People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, and some book group suggestions that I didn't have time for: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Boudain and A Book of Common Prayer by Joan Didion.

Interesting that three of the titles include the word book!     

                 

     

Guide to a happy life

Fiction is full of unhappy lives; the happy ones seem more difficult to write. The first part of Anna Quindlen's latest book Every last one depicts a happy, normal family and yet you know that something is going to happen to change that. What does happen is unexpected  but the happiness is somehow restored by the end of the novel. My previous favourite novel by Quindlen is Blessings but I have also found her two small books of non-fiction very readable and well-written.

In How reading changed my life she comments that "In books I have travelled, not only to other worlds but into my own. I learned who I was and who I wanted to be, what I might aspire to and what I might dare to dream". In a Short guide to a happy life she reflects on how to live well taking nothing for granted. This is a short book with a message - one that I can relate to.

For several years Quindlen has written for the New York Times developing her concise, precise style. Many American and British newspapers publish columns by the best fiction writers of the time, readable for their choice of language and structure, and offering more than journalism. I'm looking forward to reading such columns while I am in England - look out for more comments on this.