The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

 

This month I choose The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan.  

Two engaging stories weave together and finally make sense of each other at the end.

It’s a story full of coincidences and improbabilities. There is even a ghost and a couple of love stories. There are mysteries aplenty too. Why was a biscuit tin containing someone’s ashes left on a train? Why is the ghost so angry? How will Laura ever be able to return all of the objects that her former boss found?

Yet it all works beautifully and makes for a very pleasant read.

Anthony Perdew, the original collector of the objects, was a short story writer and interwoven in the text are some of his stories about the objects - many of which actually come very close to the truth.

The characters are charming and in my view well-rounded and believable.

Ruth Hogan keeps you engaged as she outlines the tasks for The Keeper of Lost Things.  

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The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

 

This month I choose The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams  

Motherless Esme accompanies her widower father every day to the Scriptorium, an oversized, glorified garden shed where words are filed into pigeon holes. He is involved in putting together the first copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. As she grows older she also gradually begins working on the dictionary.

She also starts collecting other words that don’t make it into the dictionary.

This novel addresses several issues: feminism, the suffrage movement and in particular the suffragettes, the loss of life in the Great War, class differences, unmarried mothers and how a dictionary is made.

Pip Williams paints a vivid picture of historical Oxford and creates believable and well-rounded characters in The Dictionary of Lost Words. She captures Esme’s voice particularly well, including when she is a child.  

 Find your copy on Amazon 

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.   

How To grow a Garden by Frances Tophill and Charlotte Ager

 

This month I choose How To grow a Garden by Frances Tophill and Charlotte Ager  

This is beautiful large picture book. It’s certainly suitable for children but also makes a good read for their parents and grandparents.

A contents page near the beginning of the book identifies sections: Flowers and Herbs, Trees, Hedges and Edges, Grass, Fruit and Veg, Water, Exotic Plants and Further Resources.

Each double spread shows pictures of the topics discussed and provides bite-sized information.

At the end of each section there are suggestions about what you can do in each season.

The book opens with an introduction about how the text works. It invites the reader to join in an interesting journey.

Throughout the text there are many activities suggested to the reader.

There is a glossary and an index at the end of the book.

Frances Tophill and Charlotte Ager will certainly get you enthusing about your garden in their inspirational How to Grow a Garden.   

Find your copy here  

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.