Toppling the Book Towers – my reading for the next three months

For the second year in a row I am spending my Autumn (September, October and November) reading 25 books from my to-be read piles – I do this in the Spring too as you can see in this blog. Strangely, despite all this hard reading, the number of books in the piles doesn’t seem to decrease. Anyway, it gives me plenty to choose from !

The piles of unread books I own consist of volumes I have picked myself or which I have been given and chose to keep – they are all books that I want to read, although we must allow for the fact that I probably won’t enjoy all of them. As usual I shall alternate fiction and factual books and choose those which are not in a series. I have also tried to vary the genres and subject matter of the books I have chosen. I notice that there is a lot about the history of colonialism in my collection, and also about WW2 and its impact on individuals, but there is some lighter stuff as well and some modern classics that I want to try.

Experience shows me that it is sometimes a struggle to finish all 25 books in the period allotted, mainly because I am easily distracted by other books, but the 25 is an aspiration rather than a requirement. I am doing this to read the books that might otherwise linger in the piles and not to achieve some arbitrary target. If I start to read a book and don’t enjoy it then I will abandon it, without guilt, as there are plenty more to choose from.

Anyway, here is the list. Feel free to comment if any of them are particular favourites of yours or if you think I may have problems with them.

Let’s start toppling…

1	The Wind in the Willows	Kenneth Grahame	A children’s classic which I feel that I ought to have read but which is actually new to me.
2	The House By the Thames	Gillian Tindall	A history of the people who have lived in one house for the past 450 years. Just my sort of history.
3	Caedmon’s Song	Peter Robinson	A standalone thriller from this writer of detective stories whose books I usually enjoy
4	The Last Colony	Philippe Sands	A history of Britain’s relationship with the Chagos Islands – very relevant at the moment
5	The Muse	Jessie Burton	An historical novel about a secret connected with a painting. Sounds interesting and the author is well regarded
6	The Lighthouse Stevensons	Bella Bathurst	The history of four generations of one family who were involved in the development of lighthouses. I like family histories so this attracts me.
7	Star-shot	Mary-Anne Constantine	Short stories set in a version of Cardiff that is not quite the one we know. This is fantasy of a type – I don’t always enjoy short stories but these seem to be linked.
8	What Lies Beneath	Peter Faulding	A memoir of the author’s life as a search specialist assisting the police and emergency services in crime detection. A real life version of many of the crime novels I read.
9	Wandering Souls	Cecile Pin	A novel of three siblings who escape from Vietnam after the war and settle in the UK. I remember when we had many Vietnamese immigrants but know nothing about their experiences.
10	The Flamboya Tree	Clara Olink Kelly	A history of the author and her family trapped in Java after the Japanese invasion in WW2. Another memoir of this difficult time – they help to make recent history very real.
11	Mirror, Shoulder, Signal	Dorthe Nors	A Danish book about a middle-aged women learning to drive and reconsidering her life. Chosen because I don’t often read books with older main characters.
12	Walking Home	Simon Armitage	One man’s journey along the Pennine Way with no money and singing as he goes. I know much of the area he is describing so I hope that this reflects my love of this part of the country.
13	Gigi and the Cat	Colette	A young woman grows up. This is an author I have never read but feel that I should have, at least, tried.
14	The Maze	Lucy Rees	The story of a trip on horseback through the Arizona desert. I know very little about Arizona and hope to learn more.
15	Fragrant Harbour	John Lancaster	An historical novel about a young man who travels to Hong Kong in 1935 for an adventure and what happens to him and the territory in the years to come. Another place I know little about so this book should help me learn more.
16	My History	Antonia Fraser	A biography of the historian and writer mainly about growing up in the aristocracy before WW2. I like her writing so hope that I will enjoy this.
17	A Town Called Solace	Mary Lawson	The story of three neighbours, their secrets and their regrets. An author I have recently come to love.
18	The Queen and the Heretic	Derek Wilson	A biography about two women and their love for the Protestant faith at a time when this was dangerous for them. I read lots about Tudor times and this should be interesting.
19	Excellent Women	Barbara Pym	A modern classic from the 1950s about those women who are the bedrock of our society. This is another author I haven’t read but want to try.
20	Unbroken	Laura Hillenbrand	The true story of an American athlete who became a pilot in WW2 and who crashed in the Pacific ocean and was alone on a life raft in hazardous seas. I haven’t read much about this area of war so this should be interesting.
21	Their Final Hour and A Half	Lissa Evans	A novel of WW2 about a women who makes propaganda films in London. I enjoy this author’s historical novels.
22	The King’s Mistresses	Elizabeth C Goldsmith	The lives of the mistresses of Louis XIV. I always enjoy learning history through the lives of women.
23	The Pursuit of William Abbey	Claire North	A story of a man haunted by a ghost who is the victim of British colonialism. This author writes unusual books which are sort of fantasy and I hope I enjoy this as much as I have some of her others.
24	My Dear Ones	Jonathan Wittenberg	A family memoir of the author’s Jewish family in WW2. Another WW2 memoir, which I hope will be interesting, although it will probably also be sad.
25	The East India Company	Antony Wild	A large, illustrated, book about the history of the British company and its activities from 1600. This is something that I have wanted to read about for some time and the many pictures are a bonus.