Spring weather has arrived in London. Finally! May has been busy, but it’s amazing how much energy you can get from sunshine and warmer temperatures. On my way home from a meeting I took a shortcut through St. James Park, which is one of the more scenic London parks. And it offers a variety of bird life including (weirdly enough) parakeets and pelicans. Lovely, isn’t it?
May also gave me the opportunity for a quick visit to the place I grew up, north of Copenhagen. It was great to be back and Copenhagen had even better weather than London.
Reading Nonfiction
My aim of reading more nonfiction in 2023 isn’t overly successful so far. But after my focus in April on the Women’s prize, I turned my attention to nonfiction in May.
The Girl with Seven Names was easily a five star reads. Hyeonseo Lee grew up in North Korea, but escaped to China, when she was 17 years old. Learning about life in North Korea was fascinating, but it was equally interesting to hear about Hyeonseo Lee’s experience of the modern China and South Korea having grown up isolated from the rest of the world. The book was well written and quite a page turner. It has been mentioned that Hyeonseo belonged to one of the more privileged North Korean families, but I don’t think that made her story less interesting.
Empire of Pain is the story about the Sackler family, who produced the painkiller OxyContin, which played a key role in the opioid crisis in the US. I recently finished Demon Copperhead, and it was interesting to learn more about the opioid crisis, which is central in Barbara Kingsolver’s novel. I found Empire of Pain a riveting story. The limitless greed and complete lack of concern for other human beings was despicable, but perhaps the most shocking thing was, I wasn’t at all surprised. Having worked in London’s financial centre for a number of years, I guess I’ve seen it all.
Furthermore, I am in the process of reading These Precious Days (a series of essays by Ann Patchett) and The Big Picture which is about, well, the big picture (science and philosophy). So far I am enjoying both of them. Especially, I am positively surprised by Patchett’s book. Not being much of an essay reader, I didn’t know what to expect. But Patchett’s thoughts on a variety of topics are engaging, interesting and just wonderful to read.
Agatha Christie in Covent Garden
I don’t do favourites. Variety is key and I like one thing on one day and another thing the next day. However, if you put a gun to my head, I would probably name Agatha Christie as my favourite author. As it happens, I walk past her quite often, but until recently it never occurred to me to take a photo. Maybe because she is based on an extremely busy corner in Covent Garden.
Anyway, it struck me, that I actually have quite a few authors in my local area (or at least I have their memorials / statues) and I thought it might be fun to compile a post, where I write about these authors and their connection to London. Let me know if you would find that interesting.
That was all for now. Wish you a lovely Sunday!
The Sunday Post is hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer.
Great post! And I would find the statue/post thing incredibly interesting. A great idea. Glad you’re enjoying the weather – me too! Just wonderful what a difference it makes!
Thanks! And I will see what I can do about the authors (memorials) in London post, it’s something, I would really like to write. Yes, weather makes a huge difference. Even if we always complain, I am happy to live in a place, where the seasons change. Sunshine is much more appreciated after a miserable winter.
I grew up reading Agatha Christie and I still can’t get over Hercule Poirot – his little grey cells and the wonders of an organized mind! How about a review of ‘The murder of Roger Ackroyd’ or is it asking for too much?
The murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of my favourites, although to be fair I have quite a few Christie favourites. Maybe I will write a review at some point, but I think it’s one of these stories, where it’s beneficial to know as little as possible in advance.
Yes! Great idea for a series of posts! And isn’t the sunshine fabulous!
Yes, the sunshine is great, I love this time of year before it gets too hot. Hopefully, we will avoid an actual heat wave this year. 😊 Let’s see if I can deliver on this idea, I quite like it, but it may take a bit of time to put together.
Whenever you’re ready, Stargazer 😎
Lovely photos.
Thanks Martie!
It’s still gray here. That’s okay, frankly. I’m not looking forward to that blazing hot days of summer. but what a lovely park and walk.
I agree about blazing hot days, hope we will avoid them this year in London. Air condition is quite rare around here, so it can be challenging. Of course we shouldn’t complain about nice weather….
No, Take nice weather when you can get it. The summers here have gotten to be 90-100 (32-38C) routinely. Air conditioning is more common, happily. One wall in the kitchen gets warm to the touch; the plates in the cupboard get warm. It’s nuts.
We’ve avoided the worst of the wildfires in this area of California, but they still happen. Not like Australia a couple of years ago, but it’s still very frightening and devastating.
I have brother in Arizona and a sister in Alaska. I get no sympathy when I complain about the weather.
I am glad to hear wildfires haven’t been too bad near you, that must be so scary. Arizona and Alaska – from one extreme to the other! I wouldn’t want to live either place, although my holiday in Alaska (in summer) was an amazing experience! Compared to a lot of places, I actually quite like the weather where I live, so I will stop complaining now (until the next time 😆).
Thanks for the reminder about Empire of Pain. I delayed listening to it because I thought it would make me too angry.
Great post and glad you’ve got better weather. Raining furiously here but I’m enjoying it.
I can promise you, Empire of Pain will make you very angry, but it is a riveting and insightful read, which I am glad to have picked up. Maybe wait until you are in the right headspace for such a book.
Do you have a lot of sunshine? Then I can imagine, furious rain may be a relief. 😊
I’m now prepared to be angry😏 Yes, we get lots of sunshine so the rainy days are a comfort.
What a beautiful park! And I agree- the nice weather definitely gives me energy. ):
It is a lovely park. I love all of these oases around town. Yes, it is so nice with longer days and warmer temperatures.
Wonderful photos! Everything is so much better when the sun shines. I’d love a series of posts about favourite authors and their connection to London!
Thanks Nicki, yes a bit of sunshine brightens up the day, both literally and metaphorically! Great, I will get to work on the post about authors in London!
The pelicans are much bolder now than they were more than sixty years ago when I was a schoolgirl neat St. James’ Park. Always a lovely space. As to your books – I haven’t read even one of them – yet. And yes, please do a local-to-you authors series.
Oh, you went to school in central London. That must have been amazing – or did you find it too busy? I remember visiting London and a child and being quite overwhelmed.
Back in the ’50s and ’60s it wasn’t so thronged. It was at the outer reaches of Westminster, not in Tourist Central. As a child, our family walked nearly everywhere, and that brings a place down to size.
I guess London has changed over the years. Even today, I love walking around in the streets, it is the best way to get to know a city properly.
Oh, yes please! A whole post about London authors would be great. Funny, I’ve been to Covent Garden many times and never saw this. I must look out for it on my next visit.
Maybe, it’s because there are so many people in that area. And managing that specific corner, where several busy streets meet, is a challenge of its own. So who has time to look at a monument? I do enjoy the thought of walking past Agatha Christie, even if I don’t always look at her.
I would definitely like that idea for a post 🙂 Great photos and interesting to read about your non-fiction. I never used to read any non-fiction but over the last few years it has become almost half of my reading! Sometimes I like to take a break from the fictional world and read about something real, if that makes sense.
Half of your reading is nonfiction – that is so impressive! I set a moderate target of one nonfiction book per month (I typically read 4-5 books per month) but even that is hard. However, I guess it’s a matter of habit and when I pick up nonfiction, I often enjoy it even more than fiction. The best real life stories sometimes exceed anything a good fiction writer can come up with.
I think the writing style of non-fiction also appeals to me, as mostly it’s more straight-forward than fiction and sometimes I’m just not in the mood for clever narratives.
That is a good point. Although nonfiction can be challenging in a different way than fiction.
I like the author/London connection idea and would be intrigued to hear more about it through you hahah! As for St. James Park, I’ve never to it and it’s much more north-east than what I discovered of London back in 2019 but I do have fond memories of Hyde Park! 😀
Hyde Park is lovely as well, that is where I normally run. But it isn’t quite as photogenic as St. James’ Parl. I quite like the author in London idea, let’s see if I can deliver 😉
Pretty pictures! I hope you are enjoying more good weather since. The Ann Patchett book reads sort of like a memoir even though it’s essays … I still think of the woman she wrote about with cancer who stayed at her house. It’s a gem of a book really. I always liked her nonfiction more than her fiction. Happy reading
Sooki! Yes, she made a huge impression on me as well. It was such a moving story. Amazing what can come out of taking a stranger (almost stranger) into your house and getting stuck together in lockdown. I look forward to read more of Patchett’s work, both fiction and nonfiction.
Oh my god. That Agatha Christie! She’s one of my favourite authors too! It’s so incredible to see the statue!
It’s quite a nice statue. I love the little details such as the steam cloud from the train morphing into a sphinx. 😊