october-november 2026 books…

Devotions: House Of Light+Dreamwork (Mary Oliver): I read (out loud) these collections of Oliver’s poetry from 1986 and 1990 as part of my daily, early morning routine… the ideal way (for me) to reflect on the coming of a new day. I never tire of Mary Oliver’s wise words.
Gigs (Mark Mosedale+Si Smith): I am incredibly fortunate to have lots of brilliantly-creative friends and family members, but my great friend Si Smith is perhaps the person/artist I most revere. He is the illustrator of this extraordinary graphic novel (with thought-provoking, biting, but often very funny words by his friend Mark Mosedale) which paints the picture of a world “in a frighteningly near future where Universal Basic Income has to be earned by completing gig work assigned by ‘he app’”… as the book’s cover puts it: “AI took the work. Gigs replaced jobs. Ordinary people are left to scrape together lives in a world that’s no longer built for them”. Together, over the course of nearly 300 pages, Mosedale+Smith tell six divergent stories that provide a powerful warning of “the oppressive world to come and a defiant celebration of the humanity that will sprout up in the cracks”. It’s a truly remarkable book (Si’s illustrations are just brilliant) – almost Orwellian in character, shocking, humbling, thought-provoking and moving. I’ve already read it twice… and I will no doubt keep on re-reading it over future months/years. Ridiculously, there are well over 2,000 illustrations and, of course, both times I’ve read it so far, I saw different things that I missed first time round. I can’t recommend this book highly enough… add it to your Christmas present list NOW!
Pastors And Masters (Ivy Compton-Burnett): The novel was first published 100 years ago; we’ve had our copy on our shelves for more than 30 years. Usually, I’m very fond of the work of English writers of the 1920s/30s… but, not this one, I’m afraid. This short novel is set in a third-rate boys’ preparatory school and deals with various dreary aspects of school life and a core plot which revolves around claims by three colleagues about the authorship of a literary work… and, in addition (thanks to Google): “institutional tyranny; the dominance of patriarchal and religious authorities; and female subservience”. Clearly, Compton-Burnett was a highly-rated writer (the book’s cover describes her thus: “probably the purest and most original of contemporary English artists”). I’m afraid I found the novel hugely unimpressive and, frankly, rather boring.
South (Sir Ernest Shackleton, edited by Peter King): I first read this book in 2015; it gives Shackleton’s account of his Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-17. It’s grim, gruelling stuff in terrifying conditions (and all undertaken with no communication with the outside world!). Shackleton’s ship, the ‘Endurance’, was crushed by the ice and he and his men made the 600-mile trek to reach solid land. It’s superbly written (and also contains Frank Hurley’s stunning photographs) and, clearly, Shackleton was a remarkable man – and a true leader (and almost worshipped by the team in his charge) in atrocious circumstances. Since that time, however, his life and his account of the expedition have been revalued by scholars (including Peter King) and have provided illuminating additional details, such as: the major defects in his organisation; inadequate finance; lack of training provided for his crew; failure to provide proper supplies of food … and other various ancillary issues: his womanising; his temper; his disregard for his parents in their declining years; his attitude towards his wife and children – including living off his wife’s money etc. Nevertheless, it’s an impressive, truly epic and harrowing story.
The Grim Smile Of The Five Towns (Arnold Bennett): This book of short stories was first published in 1907. Bennett was born and raised in the Potteries and the Five Towns relate to Tunstall, Burslem. Fenton, Stoke and Longton. I really enjoyed the stories (the book’s cover refers to the “pride, pretensions and provincial snobbery of the Potteries” being handled with “amused tolerance” by the author) and was very pleasantly surprised by their humour. I particularly enjoyed the names of some of characters – such as Vera Cheswardine and Sir Jehoshaphat Dain! Very enjoyable.