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Articles by Phil Batman
The Three-Legged Stool: More Confessions Of A Forty-something F**k Up By Alexandra Potter
arts Have you noticed what a perfect world we live in? Well, according to social media at least, where everyone seems to enjoy the ideal existence. I’ve done it myself: posted the photo of four smiling faces with a ‘what a lovely day with besties – and so lucky with the weather.’ I didn’t post a photo from the day at Saltburn-by-Sea when the sea fret was so thick we sat at the waterfront café, muffled up to the eyebrows, looking at a grey blur because we couldn’t actually see the water.
Driftwood: Maureen Fry And the Angel Of The North By Rachel Joyce
arts Harold Fry lived in our office at school for a while and introduced himself to all of us in turn as his book was passed from eager hand to eager hand. Queenie quickly followed. I can’t remember any books being more popular but if I was still there, I think Maureen Fry would become familiar in the same way, and with the film having been released and so perfectly cast, Harold and Maureen have suddenly become real.
Friends Or Lovers: Lovelight Farms By B.K.Borison
arts Lovelight Farms could not be more different from the last book I reviewed but as they say, a change is as good as a rest. It is a romantic comedy in which best friends become so much more – eventually, when the obvious is pointed out to them! Once started, you need to read it to the end just to discover how the inevitable actually comes about. It’s a quick, easy read, harmless fun, with the occasional hot-under-the-collar moment and some laugh aloud cameos.
Case Study: Caesar - The Mirror Man By Lars Kepler
arts Set in Sweden, this Nordic Noir novel is a real page turner. It is the eighth in the Joona Linna series but the first I’ve read. Detective Joona Linna is a complex detective and I’m assuming that if I had read previous novels, I would understand him rather better but nevertheless, this is an excellent standalone novel and the essence of the man, driven by his work, is clear. It begins innocuously enough – for a murder/detective thriller – with the abduction of teenager Jenny Lind.
Used And Abused : Our Ethel By Phil Batman
arts Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve read a book, front to back, quite so quickly. I know I use the word ‘compelling’ occasionally, but this defines it. 1953 doesn’t seem so long ago to me even though it does pre-date my birth but the opening of this novel feels like we’ve been transported much further back than that. As the title suggests, it’s set in the North, specifically, Yorkshire with an occasional foray to Rochdale, but it’s the people and events which matter, not the location.
Could you be our new social media fellow?
The British Association for Local History (BALH) is seeking our second annual Social Media Fellow, to commence September 2021 The purpose of the Fellowship is to develop the online profile of the BALH and its associated publication activities concerned with the study and teaching of local history across the British Isles, and offer support and mentorship to the appointed Fellow.
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