february 2025 books…

Among The Cities (Jan Morris): I love Jan Morris’s writing. This book (first published in 1985) is a compilation of 37 essays, written over a period of 26 years (1957-1983), describing her experiences of the cities she travelled to. Although I read it from cover-to-cover, it’s also one of those books one could just dip into. Typical of Morris, these are very different travel essays - definitely not ‘travel guides’, but providing wonderful insights into the joys (and frustrations) experienced on her journeys - taking in descriptions of shopkeepers, cafés, colours and smells et al. These are no reflections compiled from ‘long weekend’ excursions, but often the result of extended stays (or frequent re-visits)… indeed, one of the essays (Spanish Cities, 1963 – Franco was still power) resulted from her American publishers’ invitation “to spend 6 months in Spain and write a book about it”. Of course, some of these cities have changed beyond recognition… for instance: Beirut (essay: 1956) after its destruction in 1982 and Berlin (essay: 1957) after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Entertaining, illuminating and fascinating.
Everyman’s Poetry: RS Thomas (ed. Anthony Thwaite): I bought this book in 2010 (first published in 1996), but had previously only ‘dipped into it’ from time to time. For the past few week, I’ve been gently working my way through this book as part of my pondering time at the very start of each day (usually reading it aloud to myself)… and I’ve found it surprisingly compelling. Thomas (1913-2000) was an ordained priest who served in six different rural parishes in Wales over a period of 40 years. His poetry is frequently quite dour, even gloomy – often about isolation (and written in isolation) and the people within his parishes and the landscapes of the remote depths of rural Wales. He was troubled by religious doubts throughout his life… and perhaps, given my own faith issues, that’s what I found resonated for me.
Hard Rain (Mark Edwards+Lloyd Timberlake): Dylan’s 1992 song (written during the Cuban Missile Crisis… and the 13-year-old me thought the world was about to end) forms the backdrop to this powerful book Edwards’ and Timberlake’s text, some stunning photographs and, of course, the lyrics to Dylan’s “A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall”. Today, of course, we know that it’s not just nuclear war that could wipe out civilisation… climate change has the potential to be equally catastrophic. Back in 2006, the authors maintained that the world was in collective denial… it seems that we just weren’t able to get these issues on our political radar screens. I’ve had my copy of the book from shortly after it was published (in 2006) and it’s just so sad to reflect that, nearly 20 years later, awareness of the environmental crisis has improved, its impact has arguably only worsened. Beautiful, powerful, sobering book.
Hijab Butch Blues (Lamya H): This is our Storysmith bookgroup’s latest book… in recognition of ‘LGBT+ History Month’. The author is a queer, brown-skinned Muslim (‘Lamya H’ is a pseudonym – presumably to protect her own identity and the fact that her family are unaware that she’s queer). It’s an unflinching memoir about reconciling faith, life circumstances and her own ‘queer experience’ in a world where racism, Islamophobia, homophobia and transphobia are familiar issues. It recounts Lamya’s life after she moves from a ‘Muslim country’ to the U.S. for college with the stories of the prophets and figures in the Quran that help her understand, contextualize, celebrate, or heal from the traumas and tribulations of her life. The book provides an insight into her personal journey and growth in both her faith and herself, broken down into three essays: grappling with the various intersections of their queer, Muslim, immigrant identities; addressing the difficulties of coming out and navigating the world as queer, Muslim, and brown; and illustrating the ways in which her faith has helped guide/create a life for herself. In many ways, it seemed to me that that the book was written as a form of therapy or self-counselling… as well as a vehicle for encouraging others. A fascinating insight into the struggles and challenges that face the likes of Lamya… fascinating but, for me, without being compelling.
Foster (Claire Keegan): This is our Bloke’s latest book choice (selected by me!)… so this is another re-read! I love Keegan’s writing and this book was probably my favourite of 2024. This short story, which takes place in the hot summer of 1981 in rural Ireland, is narrated by a young girl… who is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the relatives’ house, she finds affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom… but (in the words from the book’s cover), “there is something unspoken in this new household – where everything is so well tended to – and the summer must come to an end”. It’s a novel of a mere 88 pages, but it is profound, beautiful and utterly lyrical. I absolutely loved it – one of those books that stay with long after the final page has been read. It’ll be interesting to see what the ‘blokes’ think about it!