More reading

Falco : the official companion by Lindsey Davis - one of the best companions to a series of books that I've ever come across. It includes short descriptions of all the books; details of the major series characters; lots of information about life in the Roman Empire in the first century AD; amusing essays about the author's own life and how she came to write the books as well as the difficulties involved in writing a series such as forgetting your main characters have a young child which they have left at home and having to find a baby sitter from the remaining characters!

Just the Job, Lad by Mike Pannett - continues the author's experiences as a policeman in North Yorkshire. I find books about people's jobs fascinating reading and this author brings life in North Yorkshire vividly to life. Crimes are relatively minor in comparison with crimes in cities but all human life is here.

The Doctor Will See You Now by Max Pemberton - the author is back working in hospital in geriatrics and psychiatry. The incident which really stuck in my mind was the case of the schizophrenic with a broken shoulder who no one was prepared to treat BECAUSE of his mental illness!! The way elderly people with mental problems were treated varied from the barbaric to the wonderful as well. I found it a very disturbing book to read - probably because of my age. Why don't we treat older people properly in this country?

Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis - Falco's uneasy truce with his estranged father and trying to unravel his late brother's complicated business affairs without bankrupting the whole family in the process.

An Unhallowed Grave, The Funeral Boat, The Skeleton Room, A Painted Doom, The Bone Garden all by Kate Ellis - more Wesley Peterson crime stories mixing archaeology and modern crime.

Domesday Book - the latest Penguin translation - no I haven't read it cover to cover but it is fascinating to dip into.

A sixty year old look at education - Jane Hope's One Term at Utopia. Life in school is recognisable even though this book was first published in the 1950s. There are disruptive pupils, thick pupils who are unable to write their names or follow simple instructions, trouble with parents when pupils are disciplined, and lazy and incompetent teachers. Major difference is that there was corporal punishment available and teachers were not afraid to use it. Now no one could get away with describing teachers as 'child-beaters' as Jane Hope does. Refreshing reading if only to remind you that political correctness didn't exist until recently.

Currently reading:

The Making of the British Landscape by Francis Pryor - a study of man's effect on the landscape over the last several thousand years. Well written and informative and a joy to read.

Conversations with Mr Prain by Joan Taylor - Stella is New Zealander running a second hand bookstall in Camden Market. Edward - Mr Prain is a customer who invites her to his country house for tea. The book consists of their various conversations about art and writing and descriptions of the various rooms in the house. I've read about half of it and I'm really not sure whether I like it or not. It is somehow compelling but . . .

Policing in Yorkshire

I like reading books about people's work and Mike Pannett's Not on my Patch, Lad is excellent. It shows what policing is really about - understanding criminal behaviour and what is likely to happen. yes, the police need the technology - communications, DNA testing, computerised records etc - but they also need intuition and flying by the seat of your pants. Many problems can be solved by having a quiet word - a man living nude in a wood. Others need a sterner approach and probably a court appearance - like the men who are targeting garden sheds and stealing lawn mowers.

Knowing your area and knowing what could happen is a big part of the work - and luck and being in the right place at the right time. I enjoyed reading about the funny incidents - the gang who stripped down a Land Rover and took the bits away (they were caught); the gang who dismantled part of the back wall of a supermarket brick by brick to remove the safe from the manager's office (they were also caught eventually). Then there's the author's Countryside Watch initiative (like neighbourhood watch) which helped them catch the lawn mower thieves by acting as the police's eyes and ears.

I recommend the book - it is interesting reading.

Currently reading

Jane Austen's Persuasion - I'm also listening to an Audio book version as well. I've just got past the bit where Louisa Musgrove knocks herself out at Lyme Regis. I think the book is probably the least humorous of the six novels - possibly because it was written when the author was ill. I am enjoying it though and the portrait of Anne's hypochondriac sister is brilliant. A few minutes conversation with Anne and she is suddenly so much better that she can go out and pay a visit to her in-laws! Everyone uses Anne as a go-between so she inevitably gets both sides of any argument which is going on.

I'm also reading Dan Waddell's Blood Atonement - the sequel to Blood Detective which I read last week.

I just read Kirsty Robinson's Grass Stains about Louisa, a journalist, who is teetering on the brink of a breakdown and really doing nothing to stop herself falling over the edge. If you like the sort of book which depicts the excesses of the drink and drugs culture as though it is a really great lifestyle - then maybe this is the book for you. I'm afraid it brought out the prude in me and I just wanted to shake both Louisa and Dan - her alcoholic and junkie husband - and tell them there is more to life than getting wasted.

I've just started Kate Atkinson's Started Early, Took My Dog - which I'm really not sure about yet. It is set in Leeds - a city I know quite well - which drew me to read it. I'll see how it develops - it may improve.

I'm also reading Mike Pannett's Not on my Patch, Lad about his experiences of policing in North Yorkshire. I enjoy books about people's jobs and have read the previous two by this author.

Books read

'24 for 3' by Jennie Walker - a pseudonym of Charles Boyle the poet. This is a novella rather than a novel and unique as books go. It covers the time span of a test match between England and India. The female narrator - never named - has no knowledge of cricket and her husband - Alan - and lover - the loss adjuster - attempt to explain the rules to her. Stepson Selwyn goes missing for a few days though a phone call is received to say he is all right. The narrator toys with the idea of leaving her husband and family. There are little gems of poetic description and the symbolism provided by the match is linked to everyday life. It is a beautiful book and the Hockneyesque cover really sums it up.

'Got You Back' by Jane Fallon demonstrated in quite literary fashion that you cannot team up with someone else to exact revenge on a third party because you always have different ideas about when enough is enough. Seldom have I read about a believable character with such large feet of clay. James, the husband, is someone we've all met who seems to think his view of life is the right one and everyone sees what he sees. It does not have the conventional happy ending.

I've also read 'Now Then, Lad . . . .Tales of a Country Bobby' by Mike Pannett. This has a very chatty conversational style and contains both funny and tragic events. His knowledge of human nature and the criminal world are wide and he demonstrates how policing in the country is different from policing in London. He transfers back to his home county of Yorkshire because he misses the countryside. His love of the area really shines through. The only thing I found irritating was the Yorkshire dialect - he could have simply commented on the way they spoke and written the dialogue in plain English.

I have also started - Anne Brooke's 'Maloney's Law' - 70 pages - good so far Anne. I like Paul but am definitely less sure about Dominic!

For total contrast I'm also reading Christina Jones' 'Happy Birthday'.