The Things We Never Say

By Elizabeth Strout

I did not expect to enjoy this novel as much as I did. It follows Artie Dam, a popular and successful teacher who life finally overwhelms as he descends into loneliness and depression. Sad, it is but engaging and touching the nerve endings of people of my age I suspect. It asks the question of whether it is true that no man is an island. It doesn't really answer the question. 9/10

Poulenc a biography

 by Roger Nichols

An interesting biography of one of the key French composers of the first half of the twentieth century. He comes across as a complex figure but whose musical stature grew and endures. The biography has definitely coaxed me into listening to more of his music which has been a good experience 7/10 

A prayer for Owen Meany

 by John Irving

A sprawling novel of over 700 pages that took me a little while to get into but ended up being totally absorbing. It is set mostly in 1960's New Hampshire at the time of the Vietnam war and two boys, the narrator and Owen Meany grow up together and become best friends, even though Owen manages to kill John's mother at the start of the book with a wild, uncharacteristic swing of the bat in a little league baseball game.

It touches on friendship and faith as the narrator looks back from twenty years hence when he is living in Canada. It is sad and moving in places but also has one of the funniest passages I have read as the 1953 christmas pageant unfolds. 9/10