Tower and Town, June 2021 (view the full edition)A Good ReadReading, which is pretty well universally accepted in modern Western society as a 'Good Thing', can be quite divisive. This strikingly unoriginal thought came to me while reading The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne by Jonathan Stroud. There are various schools of thought about adults reading 'children's books'. Some (Martin Amis) think that only brain-damaged adults could or would enjoy 'kidlit', while Katherine Rundell, who writes excellently for younger readers has also penned a defence of children's books. If you haven't read Why You Should Read Children's Books Even Though You Are So Old and Wise I do recommend it; if you think you agree with Amis, it might change your mind. I would certainly look askance at any grown-up who only read books for younger readers, but I'd be just as bothered by anyone who dismissed a book because they felt they were too old for it, or the book too young for them. Some young adult or 'crossover' fiction can, and the best of it does, tackle issues and develop character in narratives every bit as sophisticated as anything found on the 'adult' fiction shelves. Sometimes I think the 'adult' books are only defined by the fact that the sex, drugs and whatever are depicted more overtly. Anyway, clambering back down from my soapbox, and remembering the point of my being here, I thoroughly enjoyed the aforementioned Scarlett and Brown, officially for readers of 12+ (which I am). Set in a recognisable but dystopian England, following an unspecified catastrophic event, or events, it's a suspenseful adventure story, with a Wild West feeling, brilliant comic description and enjoyably advanced vocabulary. A 'kick-ass' bank-robbing heroine encounters a naïve boy who's escaping an institution run by a sinister and controlling organisation. Yes, it has echoes of Philip Pullman, but I thought it was (and don't tell anyone) a bit more fun. A definitely (well, usually) adult interest is gardening, and gardening books are many and various. Not new, but recently recommended to me is Charlotte Mendelson's Rhapsody in Green, a volume about her obsessive efforts to grow her own food in entirely unsuitable surroundings. A small, sooty, slug infested London garden plot is the arena for a passionate failure to grow a variety of fruit and vegetables, mostly in pots. Self-deprecatingly comic writing disguises a wealth of knowledge and interest, and botanical Latin. I'm not sure what serious gardeners might make of it, but it made me laugh. Charlie Corbett, who lives in Stanton St Bernard, has written 12 Birds To Save Your Life, about how dislocation from the natural world has damaged humans as a species, and, of course, damaged the environment. It's well written, personal and heartfelt. Debby Guest |