I’m back with another instalment of my #50books2021 blogs. This set of books includes a Christian classic, a modern Kidlit phenomenon, another book from the Queen of Crime and the Goodreads Novel of the Year 2020. Variety is, after all, the spice of life!
Book 9: Desiring God – John Piper (Christian)
The leader of a training course I was part of during my ‘gap yah’ rated this as one of the top three Christian books he had ever read. High praise from a man with several Theology qualifications from highly prestigious institutions! Re-reading this 25th anniversary revised edition, I absolutely can see where he was coming from.
Piper posits that ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him’. In other words, the central aim for the Christian is to spend their life pursuing their own joy in God. This book then goes through why it is unwise, unsatisfying and ultimately unbiblical to live life serving God and others out of any kind of disinterested duty. He shows that ‘selflessness’ may not be quite the virtue it first appears, which needs, and gets, a lot of explaining!
Ultimately, this book shows what the past 15 years of my life have shown: throughout every season of life, through poverty and financial securiy, through depression and through mental wellness, the deep joy found in Jesus, overflowing into every sphere of life, is not just desirable but necessary and – so Piper preaches throughout the book – readily available.
– STAR READ – Book 10: Murder on the Safari Star – M. G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman (Kidlit, UKS2) – STAR READ –
It is fair to say that the ‘Adventures on Trains’ series is seriously building up steam. This third instalment, which takes us on an epic safari in the south of Africa, keeps this series on track to be one of my favourite for children. Two train puns done, hopefully no more to come, let’s get on with the review!
The start of the book sees our master sleuth Hal celebrating Christmas at home after an eventful year which has seen him solve both a jewel theft and a kidnapping. Far from wanting some peace and quiet, however, he is itching to go on another train journey with his travel-writer uncle, Nat.
Embarking on a safari, on all is going well until a brash, arrogant passenger is found dead in their compartment after a terrible accident. But was it really an accident? It’s up to Hal to get to the bottom of the conundrum.
Now, as the title suggests (and the preceding paragraph confirms), this book does contain a death, so that will need to be weighed up when sharing with a child or a class, but that dilemma aside, this book does all it sets out to with great aplomb. Poirot gets a cheeky mention in the acknowledgements, and I will repeat what I’ve said about the second book in the series: this novel is like a ‘practice Poirot’ for younger readers. I did manage to crack the case (after a wild guess on page 17 which was nowhere near the truth!) but I know that if I were a child then I’d probably miss the vital clues.
In summary, this is a great ‘whodunnit’ and I heartily recommend that you choo-choo-choose it (sorry…) for yours or your child’s next mystery.
Book 11: After the Funeral – Agatha Christie (Crime Fiction)
Following the death of 68-year-old head of the family, Richard Abernethie, a chance remark after the funeral by his youngest sister, Cora, raises suspicions of foul play. When she herself is murdered the very next day, the two deaths become inextricably connected. In his unease, the family solicitor seeks support from the man, the myth, the moustache: Hercule Poirot.
There is a great deal of praise due to this novel. Indeed, Sophie Hannah, commissioned to write some modern Poirot novels in homage to his lasting influence, considers this to be her favourite (a fact of which I am in possession owing to her foreword in the e-book version). First, the cast of characters is delightfully…Poirot. By this I mean they are eccentrically dysfunctional and each falling under as much suspicion as each other. Second, the solution to the affair (no spoilers!) is typically ingenious. I am sad that I had already seen the ITV adaptation so was unable to test my wits (I would almost certainly have failed…)!
The novel also touches on some pertinent themes, particularly that sense of homelessness that befell a certain class of family as the post-Second World War modernity began to kick in. This is especially seen in the character of Timothy, who is reluctant to come to terms with the fact that, far from being the norm, men like him are quickly becoming dinosaurs in the new world, and in the fate of the ancestral home, which can no longer be justified as the dwelling place of a single family.
The only drawback is that, as happens in several Poirot novels, Hercule Poirot’s presence seems almost incidental, with other characters bearing responsibility for revealing important plot points. There’s one thing that I want more than anything else from a Poirot novel: Poirot. Still, this is a classic Christie novel that is well worth your reading-time!
Book 12: The Midnight Library – Matt Haig (Fiction)
Underachieving, unsatisfied Nora has, at the age of 35, come to the conclusion that her life simply is not worth living any longer. Filled with regret about life choices as varied as rejecting a record label, not getting married and giving up on an Olympic dream, she reaches the end of her tether and, in the words of the book, ‘decides to die’.
This is not, however, the end of her story. In a place between life and death is a library filled with books detailing the lives she could have led if she had taken different decisions. Guided by a familiar face from her past, Nora is given the opportunity to face her regrets and live these alternate lives, hoping to find one in which she can be truly happy.
Now, it is important to judge a novel for what it is, rather than what it is not. What it is not is a detailed philosophical treatise, despite the allusions to philosophy throughout the book. There were points during reading at which I looked at my journey through depression and tried to match my own philosophical/theological discoveries and mental health journey with the narrative being explored in this novel, finding that it didn’t necessarily marry at every point.
That was a mistake.
Rather, what this story is is first and foremost a truly compelling novel! Setting myself a holiday target of 100 pages a day, approximately one-third of the book, I ended up reading the whole thing in one day. That speaks absolute volumes. Beyond this, it is a heartfelt insight into the lies we tell ourselves and subsequently believe when we make the worst kind of comparison possible – comparing ourselves and our lives to an imagined perfect version of them. It is simultaneously light-hearted and deep. It is a reminder to look at the good around us, whatever our beliefs and whatever our situations. In true Matt Haig fashion it is a warm and empathetic, an account of a woman who judges herself and her choices far more harshly than those around her may do. Sound familiar? It does to me!
In all, I thoroughly enjoyed this imaginative, relatable, exploratory tale about what would happen if, as I’m sure many of us have wondered, we could have another go at life.
If you have made it this far then I hope you enjoyed my ramblings. Yes, they are primarily for my own reflective and creative benefit, but reading is an inherently social beast so do let me know if they are resonating with, encouraging or simply interesting you. More importantly, do let me know if you have read these books, what you would recommend, and how your own #50books2021 challenge is going!
Mr B Reads 