Summer fields and books

Books
Death comes to the Archbishop
It is some years since I read Willa Cather and I couldn’t remember much about her. I feared at the start that this priestly travelogue might not be that interesting, but very soon changed my mind and became involved in the astonishingly long and brave journeys. I'm afraid I had to look out the atlas to see where New Mexico was and then I googled Albuquerque and the mountainous pueblos, and so the novel gave me an insight into a world I knew nothing about.
But it wasn’t exactly a novel, more of a series of stories and anecdotes, simply but movingly told.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Amazing book, a rough guide to science, erudite and well written.  I find my mind glazing over during some chapters about atoms and particle physics (and have to admit Einstein is beyond me) but e.g. those on volcanoes and earthquakes are fascinating.  Don't read this book  if you are a worrier because he says we could easily be destroyed by a random meteor like the dinosaurs.  Even if meteors continue to miss us, Yellowstone Park, which is one enormous volcano, could one day errupt and finish us off.  Tokyo is due a major earthquake but even if you don't live there earthquakes can happen absolutely anywhere.  Moral appears to be eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die.  This book will take me ages to read, but maybe I'll just dip in and out.

Tennis
Can't do much at the mo as am busy watching Wimbledon, with a bit of football now and then. Just recovering from the Mahut/Isner match.

February flowers and Friday Nights

Friday Nights by Joanna Trollope.I like JT but this book didn’t entirely grab me. Perhaps there were too many characters, too many viewpoints: Paula – too impulsively selfish, Lindsay - too anxiously unselfish, her DJ sister – too punk, Blaise and Karen - too work-absorbed, and Eleanor the older single woman, kind but dry. Trouble is, though they were interesting at first, I didn’t really mind what happened to any of them. Not a lot did actually happen, but then theme rather than plot is the point of a JT novel, and she is a writer who likes to explore different aspects of modern life. She has researched the disco scene pretty well, as far as I could tell, and dipped her toes into spectator football - though I skipped some of this - and, of course, the children were charming and well drawn. As usual, there are insightful gems, but maybe there was too much unlikely self-analysis in the dialogue. Surely most working women don't have time for psychobabble.

What was the book about? Female friendship, and the fact that men can disturb the balance. But it strikes me that most of the characters in this book didn’t have a huge amount in common with each other in the first place. Here is a Times review.

December fields and garden

Cold December morning. Unfortunately I must have taken it too early (yesterday, 9.15am?) as it is too dark to see the frost on the trees. This morning a gang of fieldfares are stealing the remains of my apples, but they are too shy to be photographed, hence above credit RSPB. Similar to a mistle thrush but more interesting, they only visit in winter, not sure where else they go.