Cornflower Blues 2008 - part 2

  

   

  

     Trying to pick the choicest morsels from the literary chocolate box isn't easy. How to compare the light and fluffy with the dark and bitter, the soft buttercream with the rich ganache? You can't, as it's a matter of taste and the fancy of the moment whether you're reading literary or popular fiction (though distinctions can be invidious), something for the beauty of its prose or the skill of its story-telling, a work of rigorously researched fact or one of pure imagination.

    Over the year I've read the undistinguished and the outstanding, the perfectly passable and the prize-winning, but I'm reminded of a remark made by Barbara Taylor Bradford: when asked by an interviewer whether the lack of critical acclaim for her books bothered her, she said "Not at all. You see, I have these things called readers....". If a book works - on whatever level that may be - then it ought not to be dismissed,  and I'm wary when someone says, "Oh, X can't write" as they are so often taking a short-sighted view of X's strengths and damning them for their weaknesses alone, forgetting that there's more to a book than just a finely-turned sentence.

   But preaching over, offering you the books I've enjoyed most this year (and that's not a complete overlap with the best novels I've read in 2008, but is pretty close) is what this post is about, though I have had to omit some other excellent ones to keep it to a manageable length, and choosing has been very difficult.

First, an old favourite still delighting me after countless re-reads: Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm (with which I began the year).

Rosy Thornton's Hearts and Minds was a great treat of a book (though as with so many others, its cover does it a disservice). I wrote about it here.

In the comfort read category comes Adele Geras' Hester's Story (now that cover is spot-on!).

Linda Gillard's Star Gazing is here again and deservedly so (this was its first mention).

A great hit of the summer was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer.

It's hard to single out one book by Alexander McCall Smith as they all give so much pleasure, but I'll plump this time for The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (you can get the gist here).

The writer's vast knowledge of and passion for her subject were evident in Justine Picardie's Daphne (my thoughts are here).

Next, an impressive first novel, Inside the Whale by Jennie Rooney (more in this post). 

Another misleading cover but a first class book - Deborah Lawrenson's Songs of Blue and Gold.

Then two read by the book group: Sue Gee's The Mysteries of Glass (it got my vote, if not everyone's) and just the other day The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (a big hit).

Congratulations if you're still reading, but I can't leave out The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams, another outstanding first novel (which I've reviewed elsewhere).

That's it for now, though who knows, I may find something to add to this lot before the year is out!

Comments

[adele geras]

Most honoured to have Hester's Story as a Book of the Cornflower Year. Thank you. Behaviour of Moths is certainly one of the best I've read this year, I quite agree.

[Linda Gillard]

Thanks, Cornflower. It's an honour to be in such illustrious company. :-)

My new discoveries this year were Lloyd Jones, Sophie Hannah and (shame on me for taking so long to discover her) Penelope Fitzgerald.

[Deborah Lawrenson]

A big thank you from me too!
I'm not going to be able to resist - I must have all the Cornflower List I haven't yet read! As luck would have it, I've just put Hearts and Minds into my bag for a trip to Switzerland - how twilight zone is that in the light of your linked review?
Daphne is certainly one of the best books I've read this year. And I am wild of eye and green-tinged when I see the gorgeous cover of The Behaviour of Moths, definitely a treat in store.

[Juliann]

What a wonderful list. I see a few I have read and a few that will definately go on my list. Your blog is lovely.

[Sarah]

I'm not up to a best of list, so can only admire you for it! Cold Comfort Farm and AMS are always reliable, and like so many I really enjoyed The Guernsey book. I'll look out for your other picks.

[Peter the flautist]

My reading, at least in the last quarter of this year, has been minimal, with about 30 novels in total. Of the CBG books that I read (the majority) I liked "Voss", "Alias Grace" and "The House of Mirth". Other books I recommend to Cornflower's readers are "After Dark" (H Murakami), "Rubyfruit Jungle" (R M Brown), "Persepolis" (Satrapi), "Kokoro" (Natsume Soseki), "Second Harvest" (Jean Giono) and "The Immoralist" (A Gide).

I am currently re-reading (a rare event indeed) Colette. I have just finished "The Pure and the Impure" and have started "The Ripening Seed". Aftera gap of 30 years her writing is still as magical for me as it was when I first read her books.

[Danielle]

Great list and I concur wholeheartedly with what you say in your introductory paragraphs! I loved Linda Gillard's book as well as Sue Gee's. I'm still working on the Allingham (though enjoying it immensely--it's the second Campion book I've read this year). And I see I have a few others that I will need to check out and will probably love as well! Many thanks for all your wonderful suggestions.

[Danielle]

Oh, I discovered Colette last year--I loved her Cheri and the Last of Cheri--very worthy of a reread and I still need to check out her other works!

[Peter the flautist]

She is just the most wonderful writer, one day I'll have a go in French. For me the two books I don't really like are Cheri and Last of Cheri, but perhaps a re-read will show my views have changed in 30 years. I very strongly recommend her book "My Mother's House and Sido". I am always puzzled as to why she seems to have fallen out of favour, her sensuousness is just magical.

[3m]

I loved The Behaviour of Moths (called The Sister in the U.S.) I participated in the Barnes and Noble First Look Book Club, and sadly, many people did not like it and thought there was too much detail about the moths.

That's what made it so interesting to me! There were so many interesting comparisons to the moths and the characters in the story.

I loved the book.

[Danielle]

I'm afraid the only book I've read by her is Cheri and the Last of Cheri and it just worked for me--the right book at the right time, though I obviously didn't have anything to compare it with. I do have My Mother's House and Sido (it's a pity it or any of her books are not readily available--I managed to get my hands on a copy), so perhaps it will be one of my 2009 reads! I think I need to read something by her soon in any case!