More than Just Books at Tea with Tales

Our reading of Tracy Chevalier’s The Glassmaker started a discussion on how time passes. In her imagining of the Rosso family, (glassblowers living on the Venetian island of Murano), the author has made time fluid enabling the same characters to live from 1476 to today. This reminded one of our readers of the mathematical explanation of why the years seem to get shorter with age. It’s based on the ratio of experienced years versus the current year, i.e. to a 12-year-old this year is about 1/12th of his life experience; to a 46 year-old this year is roughly 1/46th of his life experience. So compared to a 12-year-old a 46 year old’s year is roughly 4 times shorter.

From mathematics and glass blowing we travelled to the farming district of Yorkshire and A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess, the second in a series of books by Amanda Owen. Although published in 2016, descriptions of the ways the Owen family traditionally farm create a feeling of the distant past. An enjoyable read.

The Sackler family are one of the richest families in the world and in Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe the reason for their wealth is explored. The Sacklers are responsible for the making and marketing of the addictive pain medication Oxycontin. Although the family started out with good intentions, once they started making money their ethics went out the window. A fascinating read.

Winston Churchill is known mostly for his leadership of England during the Second World War. However he was also a prolific writer and penned The Great Republic: a history of America. Edited by his grandson the historian and journalist Winston S Churchill, the book showcases the great warmth Churchill had for America. Worth reading.

Number three in Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus novels, Tooth and Nail, Rebus is helping to track down a cannibalistic serial killer. Despite the somewhat gory premise of the novel it made our reader roar with laughter.

Jack Reacher fans waiting patiently for the next in the Lee Child book can satisfy themselves with his collection of short stories: No Middle Name. A good read.

Danielle Steel has incorporated her normal family-centred story with a violent crime in Ransom her 60^th book. Money made and lost and a kidnapping made this an enjoyable story to read.

The start of a new Stuart MacBride series Birthdays for the Dead, has Detective Constable Ash Henderson on the case of a violent crime. Our reader remarked it may be gruesome but there are no guns.

More British crime but this time with Vera Stanhope, a Detective Chief Inspector with the Northumbria Police Force. Harbour Street and The Darkest Evening, two books in the Ann Cleeves series were both enjoyed.

A blast from the past came from Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Our reader learned more this time round than the first time she read it for School Certificate. She’s considering re reading more books from her school days.

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