It’s like being a kid again, coming home from the library with an armful of books. All of these are by authors I’ve been following. Some are the latest in a series.

Privilege in Perpetuity is perhaps the odd one out. It is one of the small texts I have been reading published by Bridget Williams Books. Fragments of a Disputed Past by Joanna Kidman et al, The Inequality Debate by Max Rushbrook, and Marilyn Waring’s Still Counting (which I read twice in the last two weeks) are some of these. All are about issues affecting New Zealand society.

Behind these choices of books is my decision to stop attending our new-format book group. Instead of an enjoyable meeting of friends to discuss literary fiction and non fiction, the hosting bookshop has turned it into a ticketed event which, after attending three times, I find has lost its spark.

Now it’s time to read for sheer enjoyment. Which isn’t to say you don’t learn something worthwhile from ‘lighter’ fiction, such as the Richard Osman Thursday Murder Club series. The author seems to have found his stride in the third book which I have just finished reading. The characters are sympathetically drawn and given a voice through the alternating points of view. Various levels of criminal offending and moral choices are ‘played with’ but never heavy-handed and there’s plenty of humour to entertain the reader.

Some books just let you be a passive reader and I don’t enjoy those very much – but, for sure, they have their place – balm for the troubled soul as Stephen Fry described the books of P.G. Wodehouse. On the other hand, books from which you learn about a culture or a time in history or consider a different experience or philosophy, invite you to be an active reader.

Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series plunges you into suburban New Jersey and reminds me of my social anthropology studies at university. Yes, I know she’s a popular fiction machine, but there’s a good reason for her popularity. It’s fun. The ancient Roman settings of the books of classics scholar Lindsey Davis are better than a time machine – everything is translated for one thing! Vaseem Khan’s Malabar House historic fiction series also takes you to a different place and time and, like Sujata Massey’s Indian books, into the lives of Zoroastrian Parsi, who first migrated from Persia around the 8th century. Graham Norton’s intense interest in people is clear on his television show and is very much present and enjoyable in his fiction. I’ve written about Denise Mina’s book Conviction in a recent post and I’m looking forward to another edge-of-the-seat adventure in Confidence. Deanna Raybourn’s Victorian series featuring detective Veronica Speedwell has entertained me from time to time, but Killers of a Certain Age is a one-off about four retired hit-women who get together to save their own lives when the tables are turned.

So, which book to read first? I can’t wait to get started!

Continue reading “Booked!” →