That’s reading as in what you do with a book, not Reading the place in Berkshire. Let’s take a break from all our outings and change the subject. Obviously, on our travels, I take something to read. In the old days it would be a bulky layer of books at the bottom of my suitcase. These days, for fiction at any rate, it’s an e-reader. (Mine’s a Kindle but others are available). I couldn’t write a post purely on books so at the end you’ll find a few other observations and some recent cocktails. For those of you who can see the header, it’s a bit late but JD took a photo of the sunset just before Halloween and managed to get a ghostly apparition in it.
I’m currently reading (very slowly, I’m really not sure where my time is going) a biography called ‘Myra Hess: National Treasure’ by Jessica Duchen, all about the pianist Dame Myra Hess (the title is a bit of a give-away). She had a lawn in the shape of a grand piano. I definitely need one of those. We do have a lawn roughly in the shape of Australia, if you squint and look sideways. I’m unable to get a decent photo so you’ll just have to believe me (or ask to see it next time you visit). Or borrow a pal’s drone, if anyone has one?
The book is interesting not just to learn about her, but possibly more that the book puts her life into context against the back drop of the Second World War. She was born in 1890 and died in 1965. There is a blue plaque to her at 48 Wildwood Road, Hampstead Garden Suburb with these dates, although the book states that she moved from there shortly after the war. She organised 1,698 concerts in the National Gallery to keep up morale in London during WW2, as well as playing multiple concerts in the USA and the Netherlands. This contrasts the living situation in the different countries, including rationing details, clothes as well as food. Although the book would be more appreciated by those who have a better knowledge of music and can hum the pieces referred to, there are a few recordings that you can find online to listen to in the background whilst reading. There’s also a fascinating glimpse into life in 1942, in the National Archives, called Listen To Britain, with her playing. Put aside 20 minutes and watch:
Youhttps://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-listen-to-britain-1942-online
Another non-fiction book of a totally different character is ‘Faithful Unto Death’ by Paul Koudounaris. It has an American slant but is nevertheless a fascinating read into our treatment of our pets after they die, with some great photos of graves and graveyards for dogs and cats (plus others). He’s an American photographer who spent a decade researching this book: if only I’d known I could have gone to a lecture on its launch, in October 2024 at Highgate Cemetery Chapel. Somewhere I have yet to visit. Maybe they have regular lectures and I could go to another, as an excuse to visit.
https://www.londonmonthofthedead.com/faithfuluntodeath.html
There is a famous painting with this title, by Edward John Poynter, in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. It depicts a Roman soldier in Pompeii. Another painting with the same title but slightly more revealing is by Herbert Gustave Schmaltz, depicting nude (all female, needless to say) Christian slaves in Rome. There’s also an episode of Midsomer Murders with the same title, but I don’t think I’ve ever watched this series, even though I love crime and mystery books (if they’re not too graphic).
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/faithful-unto-death
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-1938895
A light and entertaining scientific book by Kathryn Harkup is ‘Superspy Science’, addressing the science behind James Bond and how realistic it is. A fun read, especially if you liked the Ian Fleming books or the later films. Oddly enough, I mentioned a previous book of hers, ‘A is for Arsenic’, in Post 151 (July 2023), in which I also referred to a James Bond villain. This book was not published until 2024: did I plant a seed? (Do I have delusions of influence?)
Moving onto a bridge between factual and fiction books, try ‘Turbulence’ by Giles Foden. This is a lightly-disguised portrait of Lewis Fry Richardson (lightly-disguised, that is, if you’ve heard of him, which I hadn’t) who was a mathematician and meteorologist. He was a Quaker and unwilling for his weather forecasting methods to be used for working out when the D Day landings should take place (at least, in this book). In the second link below, there is a cute, short YouTube presentation of his life, including a ‘Forecast Factory’ that he envisaged, involving 64,000 mathematicians, to predict real time weather. For some reason it never caught on! Interestingly (to me), I picked this up just after our Swedish trip, only to discover the co-incidence of Fry Richardson and our pal Adrian attended the same school in York. If only I’d known I could have passed the book on.
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Richardson/
It also addresses the invention of Pykrete (named after Geoffrey Pyke, its inventor), a frozen mixture of wood pulp and ice that was proposed in WW2 to build ships that would be cheap to build and almost invulnerable to attack. The book starts with the suggestion that this could be used to bring water to the Middle East. It is pretty heavy on the science, be warned, but I really enjoyed learning all these obscure facts and there is humour as well.
https://www.combinedops.com/Pykrete.htm
If you want more education then try ‘The Stone Mason’ by Andrew Ziminski. I picked this up because he is local, based in Frome. It was his first book and an easy read: so successful he’s written another, about churches.
If you enjoy factual history books then I’d recommend this site to help you find your next good book. I daren’t look at it in too much detail or I’ll have a reading list into the next decade. Also to be avoided is the Goodreads page on ‘books about books’ which lists a mere 100 published in 2025 alone.
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/
Moving on from true science to fiction, I enjoy John Scalzi’s books but haven’t read one for a while. They are science fiction with a good sense of humour. I picked up ‘Starter Villain’ and thought he’d changed direction, it was what I would call general fiction, about a chap down on his luck in small town USA. Until, that is, his cat starts typing messages to him. If you enjoy silly but thoughtful stuff I’d recommend him. (Rather aptly, and fortuitously, in view of the cover, this is number 007 of the photos in this Post).
There was a report in November about a retired history teacher impersonating an Admiral of the British Navy. On reading the article, I came across The Walter Mitty Hunter’s Club. They are dedicated to exposing anyone who impersonates military personnel and their website is here:
https://thewaltermittyhuntersclubhq.co.uk/
If you’ve never heard of Walter Mitty, he was the eponymous hero of a 1939 book by James Thurber, ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’. I was given it this Christmas. A Penguin Modern Classic, at only 112 pages I should be able to make it my last book of 2025 (once I finish Dame Myra). Parts of it appear in one of my original Penguins, number 871, published in 1953. Too delicate to read, although it’s very tempting. I’ve given one of the cartoons which is quite appropriate for me, at the end of this Post. (Copyright James Thurber). The story was made into films, starring Danny Kaye in 1947 and Ben Stiller in 2013. If you’ve never heard of James Thurber, an American humourist, you might have seen some of his cartoons. Here’s a link to a few on this website; if I ever find myself in Ohio I think I’ll have to visit his house, which I’ve just learnt is now a museum.
https://jamesthurber.org/gallery
Away from books for today. We found out that London Business School (LBS) is sponsoring a Clipper boat for the 2025-26 race, pure co-incidence despite JD’s links with both. Yet more of a dilemma on which boat to support. Actually, it’s not as I’ve been too busy to look at the Race Viewer this time. Life moves on. Although JD did go and wave them off. Quick look: they are currently rounding Tasmania and LBS are in fifth position on this race, and lying second overall.
Recently, for the first time, we used a public (service station) charger for the electric car. We increase our knowledge every day. As JD stood there watching it charge up, a chap came over from the next berth (?) and asked for advice on how to use them. Just hope we got it right. (We did).
We went to see The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde) at the Noel Coward Theatre in October, starring Stephen Fry as Lady Bracknell and Olly Alexander as Algernon Montcrieff. I think it’s the first time in a while we’ve been to see something that’s not a musical (although there was a fair bit of music there). It was hilarious, not just the two actors I’ve mentioned but Hayley Carmichael as the butlers Lane and Merriman plus Hugh Dennis as the Reverend Canon Chasuble. Thoroughly recommended if you find yourself in London before my next birthday, when it is due to end. The theatre was originally the New Theatre, opening in 1903, and Noel Coward had his West End debut there in 1920. In 1973 the name was changed to the Albury and in 2006 it became the Noel Coward.
https://www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/whats-on/the-importance-of-being-earnest
Well, I think I’ll finish for the day, but to enable you to see the New Year in, here are three cocktails you’ve missed. There were many more but I didn’t take photos (and if I have no proof, who’s to know we drank them?)
Doctor Cook: 60 ml gin, 15 ml lemon juice, 10 ml Maraschino liqueur, 7.5 ml sugar syrup (I substituted 17.5 ml lingonberry syrup as that’s what I had), 20 ml Vegg White (a vegan egg white alternative and less messy) and a pinch of salt. Shake well with ice, strain and shake again to get the emulsification, pour into a glass and drink.
Short Legs non-spritz: I omitted the Prosecco hence not a spritz nor long, but feel free to make it longer. Mix 22.5 ml Campari with 7.5 ml each of brown crème de cacao, crème de framboise and lemon juice then add 30 ml pineapple juice and as much Prosecco or other sparkling wine as you want.
Finally, I note that King Charles III has taken a leaf out of my book and created a cocktail for a special occasion, namely the German State visit in early December, when a Black Forest Gateau cocktail was served:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d9jwvqyx8o
Here’s one I created, just need to think of a suitable occasion to name it after. Do we have a national flower day? Australia had Violet Day after the first World War, before Poppy Day was created. However, every website I’ve found seems to have a different date recorded.
The cocktail was a one-off as I was finishing bottles, so maybe no date is needed. Mix rose liqueur, crème de Violette, Earl Grey gin, plum vodka and Something and Nothing rose & hibiscus soda. I appreciate that you might need to go out and buy every single one of these ingredients: looking at the apprehension on JD’s face you might decide it’s not worth the effort!
That’s all for 2025, enjoy seeing the Old Year out and the New Year in folks!
George and John's boating trip no longer 