2019 books, #36-40

Old Possum's book of practical cats, by TS Eliot. Illustrated by Axel Scheffler. London: Faber, 2009.

A 50th birthday present from Manda two years ago - belated thanks... Eliot is one of my favourite poets (he'd have to fight that one out with Seamus Heaney), but I have the straightforward collected version, and I think I've only read the Old Possum poems once.  Scheffler works his usual magic on the illustrations and this is a joy to read.

Long road from Jarrow: a journey through Britain then and now, by Stuart Maconie. London: Ebury Press, 2017.

Stuart Maconie decided to walk the same road as the Jarrow Marchers, 80 years to the day after they did the route. He talks about the original marchers (and the myth of the original marchers) and the social conditions of the time, but also looks at it through an immediately-post-Referendum lens, looking at the social divisions in Britain then and now.  And as it's Maconie, it's done with a gently mocking eye.  He asks people in the towns he's passing through what they know about the Jarrow March (surprisingly little in most cases); and personally, I was really surprised that they, and he, passed through my home town of Chester-le-Street on the first night... not something I think is commemorated anywhere in the town.  He also covers moments from history of the towns he goes through - the railways at Darlington; Hillsborough while going through Sheffield; the Italian community in Bedford... He finishes at Parliament (where the marchers never entered) talking to Tracy Brabin, MP for Batley and Spen and successor to Jo Cox. It's really difficult to describe this book - there's so much about contemporary Britain in it. Highly recommended.

The moor, by LJ Ross. Kindle edition.

A DCI Ryan mystery. A circus comes to the Town Moor in Newcastle, and the sound of a jingle on the radio brings back a horrific and forgotten memory to a young girl, who seeks out Ryan; she has remembered her mother being murdered on the circus's previous visit to the Town Moor, when she herself was just a toddler. The whole of Ryan's crew get involved in both looking after the girl, and tracking down the mother's killer.  Another enjoyable Ryan story, with a twist in the tail ready for the next in the series.

Con law, by Mark Gimenez [audiobook]. Read by Jeff Harding. Audible edition

John Bookman (aka Book) is a constitutional law professor at a stuffy university; he's also a Harley rider and a martial arts practitioner. When former intern Nathan asks for his help, he bikes down there with his current intern Nadine, only to find he's arriving in time for Nathan's funeral. Book becomes embroiled in the world of fracking and pollution, and it all gets pretty dangerous.  Gimenez is no Lee Child when it comes to action sequences, but the plot is great, and it's framed by Book's constitutional law lectures and the conflicting characters attending them, which are also extremely enjoyable for geeks like me who admire places with a written constitution.

The salt path, by Raynor Wynn. Kindle edition.

Raynor and her husband Moth are made both bankrupt and homeless as a result of an investment with a friend which goes horribly wrong. The day after they lose their home, Moth is diagnosed with a terminal, degenerative illness. The temptation is to give up, but they have nowhere to go and nothing to do after a lifetime of farm work; so they go walking the South West path, all 615 miles of it.  I wish this weren't a true story, but it is, and is told warts and all. I know a lot of people have found this book inspirational and uplifting; I didn't; but I was in awe of the determination and sheer bloodymindedness people can rise to when they have no real alternative.