Sweet tooth (by Ian McEwan)

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I had never read anything by Ian McEwan. I don’t think I’d even have picked one of his books up at a second-hand or charity shop, as the covers don’t suggest the kind of book that appeals to me. But his novel ‘Sweet tooth’ was chosen for this month’s local book club read, so I bought it used, last year, and have just finished reading it.

What a fascinating book it is, too. It’s narrated by a young woman called Serena, and begins in a style almost like that of Susan Howatch, as she glosses mostly over her early years. Brought up in a cathedral close, by a benign but distant father (the Bishop) and a mother who did everything for her husband, Serena acknowledges a pleasant, if cloistered and protected childhood. 

She is an avid reader who also has a talent for maths, and is persuaded to study for a maths degree at Cambridge, even though she would prefer to read English at a less prestigious university. I could relate to her in several ways as I read this overview, but her lifestyle then diverged sharply from mine as she embarks on typecast student life to the full: drinking, smoking and sleeping with several men.

Last known address (by Elizabeth Wrenn)

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Every so often I pick up an interesting-looking book at the local church booksale, or perhaps a charity shop. I had not previously come across Elizabeth Wrenn, but the cover of ‘Last known address’ must have looked appealing five and a half years ago when I bought it for fifty cents. It has been on my to-be-read shelf since then, and I finally picked it up to read a few days ago.

I was quickly drawn into the story, which is set in the United States. There are three women, about to embark on a road trip. The main reason is that the youngest of them, CC, has inherited a house. It needs a lot of work doing, but she hopes eventually to sell it. Her husband died a couple of years earlier, and she’s still grieving him; so the thought of doing something new feels like a positive step forward.

She is accompanied by her two closest friends, Meg and Shelly. Meg is a school teacher who was looking forward to a short break when her husband left a note saying he had left her. She’s in shock, and still hoping he might return. Shelley is an outgoing entrepreneur who’s been married and divorced more than once. Until recently she was quite well-off, but something went wrong with a recent deal, and she’s now almost penniless.

The furious longing of God (by Brennan Manning)

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I do like the books by Brennan Manning. He was a Roman Catholic priest and a reformed alcoholic who wrote some thought-provoking books about what it really means to be loved by God. I have been rereading some of his books, and remembered that I have ‘The furious longing of God’ on my Kindle. I wanted a Christian book to read while travelling, and I last read this in 2013. 

It’s not a long book, and it’s divided into quite a few sections with titles such as ‘healing’ or ‘boldness’, each one looking at a slightly different aspect of God’s love, and with a page of points to ponder at the end of each section. But since I was with family, and very busy, I didn’t read this every day; or sometimes only a couple of pages.

The author expounds on his favourite theme, which I first came across in ‘The ragamuffin gospel’ many years ago. But in this book it’s as if he takes a step deeper - he points out, more than once, that being a Christian believer is not just about becoming a nicer person, or avoiding certain behaviours. It’s about becoming a new creation, caught up in the passionate love of our father who created us. 

With love and kisses (by Patsy Collins)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve followed the writing blog by Patsy Collins - off and on - for many years now. Every so often she offers one of her ebooks as a free download, and I’ve taken advantage of that more than once. I downloaded her short story collection, ‘With love and kisses’ last year, and decided to read it while travelling. 

Short stories are ideal when out and about, or at the airport, as each one can be read in just a few minutes. And I was pleased to discover that these short stories - 25 of them in all - are light-hearted, with uplifting or encouraging endings, and a few unexpected twists and turns in some of them.

The first story features a couple who are both actors. It’s unclear for a moment what’s going on as one of them asks the other to marry her… and they get into discussion about the script, and whether or not she’s ad libbing. It’s light, and amusing. 

Conditional love (by Cathy Bramley)

(Amazon UK link)

On the whole, I enjoy the novels by Cathy Bramley. They’re character-based, mostly light-weight, and well-written. I have several of them in paperback form, but when I saw a couple of them on offer for the Kindle at 99p, I decided to download those rather than add them to my wishlist. 

I read ‘Conditional love’ while I was travelling, in part on my Kindle and in part on the app on my phone; I find it very convenient to do this, as a downloaded book can be read when offline, and dipped into at any odd moment. And it’s not the kind of novel that I found difficult to put down, nor to pick up again and continue after a gap of a day or more.

Sophie is the main protagonist of this book, which is told in the first person. She’s in her thirties, and at the start of the book she’s in a comfortable relationship with a good-looking man called Marc; so much so that she is half expecting a marriage proposal at any moment. She wakes up on Valentine’s Day after they spent a night together… so she’s devastated when, in contrast to her expectations, he announces that he’s breaking up with her.