Books Recommended by Our Reading Friends
Margaret Williamson
April 2021
Helen, a friend and one-time motorhomer now living in France, recently recommended several books with a theme of travel and countryside. Some of these are now on our Kindles (the ideal travelling companion) ready for the anticipated return to the road. (Note: None of us are on Amazon commission – and other sources are available, such as bookshop.org).
The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England by Graham Robb, a keen walker and cyclist living on the border north of Carlisle.
The Discovery of France by Graham Robb. A brilliantly told journey through the story and history of the country, from the Revolution to the First World War, uncovering the real France. My great friend Pat (retired French teacher and Francophile) adds her praise: "Wonderful, totally absorbing, I read increasingly slowly because I didn't want it to finish, one of the best books I've ever read, although I don't think any part of it equals the shock/horror of the first few pages."
The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe by Graham Robb. Cycling the legendary 'Via Heraklea' from the south-western tip of the Iberian Peninsula, across the Pyrenees and towards the Alps, Graham changes his view of pre-Roman Celtic civilisation.
The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna, originally written in Finnish in 1975, published in English in 1995 (and in many other languages). Finnish wit as sharp as the Arctic weather.
The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland and The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood by John Lewis-Stempel. Two of many books by Britain’s finest nature writer.
The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by the Welsh poet W H Davies ("What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare"). First published in 1908, it covers his life as a tramp in England and America. Our own well-worn paperback has a preface by George Bernard Shaw.
April 2021
Helen, a friend and one-time motorhomer now living in France, recently recommended several books with a theme of travel and countryside. Some of these are now on our Kindles (the ideal travelling companion) ready for the anticipated return to the road. (Note: None of us are on Amazon commission – and other sources are available, such as bookshop.org).
The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England by Graham Robb, a keen walker and cyclist living on the border north of Carlisle.
The Discovery of France by Graham Robb. A brilliantly told journey through the story and history of the country, from the Revolution to the First World War, uncovering the real France. My great friend Pat (retired French teacher and Francophile) adds her praise: "Wonderful, totally absorbing, I read increasingly slowly because I didn't want it to finish, one of the best books I've ever read, although I don't think any part of it equals the shock/horror of the first few pages."
The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe by Graham Robb. Cycling the legendary 'Via Heraklea' from the south-western tip of the Iberian Peninsula, across the Pyrenees and towards the Alps, Graham changes his view of pre-Roman Celtic civilisation.
The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna, originally written in Finnish in 1975, published in English in 1995 (and in many other languages). Finnish wit as sharp as the Arctic weather.
The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland and The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood by John Lewis-Stempel. Two of many books by Britain’s finest nature writer.
The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by the Welsh poet W H Davies ("What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare"). First published in 1908, it covers his life as a tramp in England and America. Our own well-worn paperback has a preface by George Bernard Shaw.