What I'm reading ...

I have started Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North by Rachel Joyce. Although I should be on non-fiction, I’m still on holiday, so this short fiction book seems appropriate. Having read a companion book recently, I was keen to read this one. Here’s the blurb:

Ten years ago, Harold Fry set off on his epic journey on foot to save a friend. But the story doesn't end there.

Now his wife, Maureen, has her own pilgrimage to make.

Maureen Fry has settled into the quiet life she now shares with her husband Harold after his iconic walk across England. Now, ten years later, an unexpected message from the North disturbs her equilibrium again, and this time it is Maureen's turn to make her own journey.

But Maureen is not like Harold. She struggles to bond with strangers, and the landscape she crosses has changed radically. She has little sense of what she'll find at the end of the road. All she knows is that she must get there.

Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North is a deeply felt, lyrical and powerful novel, full of warmth and kindness, about love, loss, and how we come to terms with the past in order to understand ourselves and our lives a little better. Short, exquisite, while it stands in its own right, it is also the moving finale to a trilogy that began with the phenomenal bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and continued with The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy.

Apples Never Fall - by Liane Moriarty

As expected, this book was complex and intriguing, with a couple of timelines around the key events. I felt slight smugness when I spotted a red herring before it was revealed, but otherwise I was kept on my toes.

The book ended with another twist, which could even lead to a sequel.

In any case, I will return to this author.

What I'm reading ...

I have started Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. Although I should be on non-fiction, I am holiday, so I wanted a gripping read. This author has never let me down so far. Here’s the blurb:

Joy and Stan Delaney have four grown-up children, a successful family business and their golden years ahead of them.

Then Joy vanishes.

Questions are asked.

The police get involved.

Scratch the surface and this seemingly happy family has much to hide - and with good reason . . .

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy - by Rachel Joyce

I was a little skeptical when I started out with this book. Had the author seen an opportunity to cash in on the success of the Harold Fry book and stretched out a few threads to make some kind of story. The answer is No.

The book is a very well written exploration of how people interact and respond to events around them. It tells most of the backstory of the original book, which is done in a very creative way: Queenie writes a long letter to Harold Fry.

Overall it was a delightful read, with the same light touch on the emotions of the original book.  At the end there is a lovely twist.

I have just learned that there is a third book which tells Maureen Fry’s story. A must read.

What I'm reading ...

I have started The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce. I read the Harold Fry book a while ago and enjoyed it. This is the companion/sequel. Having just seen the Harold Fry movie, I was inspired to get this book. Here’s the blurb:

When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait?

A new volunteer at the hospice suggests that Queenie should write again; only this time she must tell Harold everything. In confessing to secrets she has hidden for twenty years, she will find atonement for the past. As the volunteer points out, 'Even though you've done your travelling, you're starting a new journey too.'

Queenie thought her first letter would be the end of the story. She was wrong. It was the beginning.

Told in simple, emotionally-honest prose, with a mischievous bite, this is a novel about the journey we all must take to learn who we are; it is about loving and letting go. And most of all it is about finding joy in unexpected places and at times we least expect.

Solve For Happy - by Mo Gawdat

As expected, this book was very thought provoking. Clearly, Mo is a very smart guy and wants to understand Life, the Universe and Everything. He makes many valid observations and lots of interesting ideas. However, overall I was disappointed, as I felt that his Two Big Ideas were flawed.

I was attracted by his idea that life is not limited to our physical existence on Earth. He says life has always been there and always will. His justification for this assertion involved quantum mechanics and relates to the fact that measuring/observing something influences it. He extends the idea to the conclusion that, if something is not observed, it cannot happen. So, life in some form must have observed the Big Bang. I believe that this is an erroneous interpretation of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle etc.

He also talks about Intelligent Design. Although I have felt for a long time that the Universe as a whole [laws of physics, mathematics etc.] seems too complex [and maybe too beautiful] to be the result of chance/accident, I strongly support Darwinian evolution. Mo seems to think that evolution is all about chance, which results in the numbers not adding up. This is incorrect.

My conclusion is that, although the book is not a waste of time, it does fail to convince me on these key issues.