As a pastor, most of the books I read are not about Jesus. Or, at least, not directly. My shelves also contain a mix of secular non-fiction, pre-1950 detective fiction, and a recipe book for pies. So, here’s a quick roundup of my six favourite non-theological reads of the year so far, in the hope that it might provide you with 3 minutes of interesting diversion. I’d love to know what you’ve enjoyed reading recently too!
Non-fiction
Bob Mortimer - And Away… (Simon & Schuster, 2021)
“Always keep some pocket meat or cheese about your person.” This is one of the parting pieces of wisdom from the memoir of Scotch egg devotee Bob Mortimer, along with: “Do not try to understand electricity. Best to just fear it.” But this is more than just a book of helpful advice. And it’s more than just a book of funny anecdotes — although it does have plenty of those. It’s also a surprisingly moving and reflective life story, which begins with a health scare, and journeys through incapacitating shyness, frustrated hopes and clinical depression. It’s a celebration of good friends and unexpected opportunities. Possibly the best celebrity autobiography I’ve read, and definitely the best defence of pocket meat.
Heather Dune Macadam - The Nine Hundred (Hodder & Stoughton, 2020)
As with many other areas of history, the experience of women in Auschwitz has not received as much attention as that of men. Heather Macadam’s careful work fills an important gap, as she reconstructs the journey of the first official Jewish transport to Auschwitz, consisting of just under 1000 women from Slovakia. These women were not prisoners of war, or resistance fighters, or criminals — they were just young women tricked with a false promise of government employment, and finding themselves in a death camp instead. Macadam records the harrowing realities of the journey, the agonising dilemmas of life in Auschwitz, the naive ignorance of families at home, and the survivors’ guilt of the fortunate few. And I’m not sure I’ll ever forget the moment where a father receives an exemption letter for his daughter, and races to the station to bring her home, but realises he’s a few minutes too late.
Gaynor Madgwick - Aberfan (Y Lolfa, 2016)
Englishman’s confession: I had never heard of Aberfan before we moved to Wales. I’ve picked up bits of the story in the years since, but decided it was time to read more. Gaynor Madgwick was 8 years old when a huge mass of colliery spoil brought devastation to her village, killing 116 children and 28 adults. In this book, she supplements her own personal reflections by interviewing various people connected with the disaster — survivors, family members, rescuers, nurses, Lord Snowdon, and more. This gives a raw and helpful insight into the reality of what happened, and the questions survivors have had to wrestle with. She also highlights the factors contributing to an ongoing sense of anger and injustice. There are probably more comprehensive books on the Aberfan disaster, but this is a highly personal, eye-opening and heartbreaking account of that fateful day. And when 21st October next comes, I'll understand more of why we remember Aberfan.
Fiction
Anthony Berkeley - The Second Shot (1930)
The amateur detective Roger Sheringham was introduced to the world in 1925, as Anthony Berkeley’s response to the (in his view) unsatisfactory obsession with infallible sleuths in detective fiction. The Second Shot is his sixth case, involving Berkeley’s twist on a country house murder game gone wrong. Most of the story is told through a manuscript written by the original main suspect, who enlists the help of Roger Sheringham to prove his innocence. As is his custom, Berkeley has fun playing with the usual genre conventions, beginning with the apparently innocuous but potentially misleading preface. The end result is a superb book with clever writing, a brilliantly characterised narrator, and a disorientating ending. This novel is sadly out of print, but there’s one copy online for less than £35 if you act quickly.
Dorothy Sayers - Busman’s Honeymoon (1937)
In March this year, I completed a chronological readthrough of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, and his detective adventures definitely end on a high point. Busman’s Honeymoon is now one of my three favourite Wimsey novels, alongside The Nine Tailors and Have His Carcase. The case involves the Wimsey newlyweds discovering an unfortunate corpse on their honeymoon. You have to wait 115 pages to discover the body, but the first 114 pages are full of such brilliant writing and dialogue that I didn’t mind the wait — the chimney-clearing scene being an unexpected highlight. The book as a whole is perhaps a little long, but the characters and mystery are interesting enough to sustain the length. If you haven’t read any Wimsey yet, start at Book 1 and keep going (skipping over The Five Red Herrings).
Ethel Lina White - They See in Darkness (1944)
If you go to Abergavenny for a haircut, you may find yourself sitting in a barber’s chair in Ethel Lina White’s former childhood home. I’m not sure if any of her books are available to browse while you wait, but it’s probably worth asking. She is best known for The Wheel Spins, which was turned into the Hitchcock classic The Lady Vanishes. Her stories show a particular gift for sustaining eerily menacing atmospheres, and that skill is on full display in They See in Darkness. Oldtown becomes the scene of a series of killings, as the legatees of Josiah Key’s will are apparently being taken out one by one. And there are some creepy nuns in the area too. The ending is perhaps a bit abrupt, and some of the characters underdeveloped, but this is still an excellent read if you like suspense-filled crime fiction and/or stories about creepy nuns.
What about you?
What have you enjoyed reading recently? I’d love to add your recommendations to my list of books that I’d like to read but won’t ever get round to. Let me know!