Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Thursday 21 March 2019

Recent Reading



This church book was a re-read and having now visited far more churches I took in a lot more than when I first read it! Lots of information on saints, apostles etc.





The Glorious Oak is quite a short book and looks at our relationship with the oak, the tree's life cycle and flora and fauna that depend on it together with some of the folklore and myths associated with the tree.






This is the third Betty Smith book I have bought on Warwickshire and another one that I really enjoyed.




The Mike Harding "Little Book" series on various aspects of churches are all very good.




The 3rd Wesley Peterson book I have read and this series just gets better and better.



To be honest I am not sure why I uploaded this Agatha Raisin book? I may have seen it mentioned on someone's blog or in a magazine or perhaps it was one of those books that Amazon are in a habit of recommending? The book is quirky and all rather "tongue in cheek" with plenty of humour, village gossip and village events and includes a lot of meals and drinking in the pub. Some reviewers on Amazon suggest the series is addictive. I still can't quite make up my mind about it but it was certainly different and I may read the next one.




Another of the Mike Harding series of books on churches.




This Gothic thriller type book by Elly Griffiths was just gripping and one of those books that is very hard to put down!!




13 comments:

Pam said...

I got The Secret Life of an Owl for Christmas (John Lewis-Stempel) it's still on my to read pile but just the covers alone of his books are gorgeous and enticing! I like the look of the Elly Griffiths book, I love a crime novel.

Ragged Robin said...

PAm - Thanks. The covers of so many books are so wonderful :) I've really loved all the Elly Griffiths books I have read.

Amanda Peters said...

The church book will be handy to dip into, and I do have a large photo book on the Oak tree, amazing tree and how much life it supports, (will lookout for this one). The other books look an interesting read, going to have to start reading some of the books I have been getting. I love hunting them out, buying them and having them on my shelf just as much as reading... may need help if this carries on !!!
Amanda xx

Ragged Robin said...

Amanda Peters - Thank you. Yes the church book is a really good reference book. The photo book on the Oak Tree you have sounds good :) As you say looking for books, buying them and having them in the bookcase creates so much pleasure :)

Rosie said...

All the books look interesting. I like the look of the 'How to read a church' book and 'The Little Book of Misericords' too. I enjoyed Elly Griffiths's 'Stranger Diaries' and have just collected the latest Ruth Galloway book 'The Stone Circle' from the library so will start that this weekend. I have the latest Kate Ellis Wesley Peters book on order the the library too. I agree how the series just gets better and better. Happy reading and have a lovely weekend:)

Ragged Robin said...

Rosie - Thanks so much. The How to Read a Church book is good but does concentrate I thought on the religious side of things (which is helpful for interpreting stained glass etc) Another good one is "The Church Explorer's Handbook" by Clive Edwards which, from memory, concentrates more on the architectural features. I will re-read that one next! I so envy you getting your hands on a copy of the latest RG - will the mystery of the father of the baby be solved???????? Hopefully there are a lot more Wesley Peterson books for me to read :) Enjoy your reading and have a great weekend too :)

Rustic Pumpkin said...

My to read pile just keeps growing and growing. I must get a copy of How To Read a Church though. As for Agatha Raisin, I've heard them described as addictive too, but not my cup of tea.

Anonymous said...

I came across Agatha Raisin on TV having been unaware of the books. The author is the same woman who wrote the Hamish MacBeth books - another TV series from some time ago.

I like the cover of the Misericords book!

Ragged Robin said...

Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much for visiting and leaving a comment. A few weeks I listed all the books on my Kindle waiting to be read and it was dozens! And I didn't count the "proper" books in the to be read piles! I suspect if I do read more of Agatha Raisin I will get fed up quite quickly!

Toffeeapple - Thank you - I haven't seen either of the tv series although I noticed on the cover there was one for Agatha. Misericords are so wonderful :)

Caroline Gill said...

I have a copy of the misericord book (which is lovely...) and feel sure I would enjoy the first two books you mention. The more I read about oaks in wildlife columns etc., the more wonderful I think they are. I thought of you this afternoon as we wandered around Mellis churchyard in Roger Deakin's home patch. We didn't get there until dusk, but the primroses were a joy and the rooks overhead were very noisy! The churchyard is managed for wildlife in conjunction with Suffolk Wildlife Trust - a great idea.

Ragged Robin said...

Caroline Gill - Thanks so much. So pleased you also have the misericord book. We had a miniature oak in a pot in the garden which had self-seeded but sadly we lost it during the dry spell last summer :(

Mellis churchyard sounds really wonderful with the primroses and rooks and it is a brilliant idea for a wildlife trust and church to co-operate in management. I have a vague memory of Warks WLT doing something similar a few years ago but not sure if the project is still continuing. I have a couple of Roger Deakin books to read!

CherryPie said...

An interesting selection of 'reads'. The factual ones are more appealing to me :-)

Ragged Robin said...

CherryPie - Thank you - I tend to have 3 books "on the go" at any one time - one fiction and two non fiction!