Tower and Town, October 2020 (view the full edition)A Good ReadLots of goodies this month, so I shall just dive in - Richard 'Pointless' Osman really doesn't need me to help promote his first novel The Thursday Murder Club, but I'm going to because I so enjoyed it. All the adjectives; it's intelligent and gently twisty, readable, funny, warm and kind. There are writers who appear on TV, and there are people off the telly who write a book - this is the former. Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi is a crime novel about writing crime stories, spiralling in and out and back on itself . At times it's a bit 'trying to be clever', but highly diverting. Talking of twisty, Ferdinand Mount has investigated the life story of his aunt in Kissing Myself Goodbye. I started dipping into this book thinking 'why should anyone care?' but it's an eye-popping read. Most families have the odd skeleton, but really...'Munca', as she was nicknamed, fabricated her entire life and ended up as 'twice-divorced, triply bigamous, four-or-five times married' with a 'seven-times-married illegitimate son'. Plus motor-sports, county cricket and a permanent suite at Claridges. It's a social history of the C20th and a reminder of how lies blight lives other than the liar's. 'We have become accustomed to being told how, when and what we should be eating' says Tim Spector in Spoon Fed: Why almost everything we've been told about food is wrong. The author is a professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London and writes clearly and critically about the hugely complex subject of nutrition. Looking at the alarming power of the food industry, and the over simplistic reporting of science in the media, he reminds us to follow the money - who funded the research, and who benefits from the findings about super/dangerous/miracle foods or supplements? It's challenging enough for the scientists, so Humanities types like me don't stand a chance without books like this (and one of my favourites Bad Science, by Ben Goldacre) to guide us through the morass of genetics, allergies, and fads. Running out of space - I've also enjoyed The Great Godden, a Young Adult novel by Meg Rosoff, in which a family's long summer holiday is hi-jacked by a dangerously charming interloper. Finally I'm just starting Epic Continent by Nicholas Jubber, a journey round Europe exploring national myths and epic poems and their continuing resonance. Njal's Saga, anyone? Debby Guest |