Retirement Blues Goodbye!

Retirement Blues Goodbye! Along Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Path

Richard Cowley

You can download this book for free from Amazon for one day only on 29th June!

After a career which took him worldwide, Richard Cowley was looking forward to settling into retirement and having time to paint and pursue his many interests. Instead, he found himself in the doldrums - until he hatched a plan with an Aussie friend to walk Wainwright’s coast to coast footpath from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay.

‘Could two neo-pensioners survive the trail and arrive at the other end with heart valves intact? he ponders? 

I particularly enjoyed his descriptions of some of the more eccentric characters they met along the trail, especially the ‘Mad Hatter’ owner of the B&B at Danby Wiske. The paying guests’ shower was out of order so the author was using the landlord’s ensuite. He was greeted in the morning by a dismayed landlord  - ‘you’re not having another shower are you? ‘There was no such thing as a full English Breakfast – guests had to choose elements of it – and tea was dispensed in trickles as if it was ‘the elixir of life.’

Each chapter was a complete section of the walk, with some entertaining nuggets about the place, and thoughts and musings along the way. The freedom of letting go of possessions and dull routines really kickstarted some big changes ‘from now on I’d engage with the mainstream of life, not merely as a pensioned off bystander...’

An enjoyable, amusing and inspiring read. 

Pam

More Book Group Reads..

Texas life journey read by Pauline ..

And adventure in the Congo read by Edith ...

The Thing About Prague

Rachel Weiss

The Thing About Prague

Prague is one of Anna’s favourite cities, so she gave this one a try. The author gave up her life in Sydney to move to Prague, where she lived for 3 years.  Although this was the place where her family had originated from, she didn’t feel she fitted in there, and found the language really difficult. The book was partly travelogue and partly memoir, and Anna found the writing informal and almost like reading a blog. 

Classic Travel Reads

Some of the books selected by our book group members are enduring classics...

A Short Walk in The Hindu Kush
Eric Newby

When explorer and adventurer Eric Newby finally realised that Haute Couture was not the career for him, he sent a cable to his friend Hugh Carless, saying ‘Can you travel Nuristan June?’ 

So began a classic journey from Mayfair to the wild mountains of the Hindu-Kush in Afghanistan. Written with great humour and self-deprecation, Newby describes their adventures through this stunningly beautiful, but inhospitable and dangerous country. This book was first published in 1958.

Cath



Sailing Alone Around the World
Joshua Slocum

Colvyn gave this one a 3 .5 - 4 star rating. He particularly enjoyed the understated writing, and the Shackleton style approach to adventure. Joshua Slocum was in his 50s when he set  out in 1895 to sail around the World alone. 

He spent 3 years at sea circling the Earth in 'Spray' his 36ft sailing boat. He was undaunted by storm and Pirate attacks, and met many famous, and infamous, people along the way. This book has never been out of print since 1900. 


Seven Years In Tibet
Heinrich Harrer

Pam was recommended this one, and gave it a 3 star rating. It was originally published in 1953, and has become an adventure classic about  Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer's 1943 escape from a British internment camp in India. He trekked across the Himalayas into the remote region of Tibet, where foreign visitors were rare. Even so, he became tutor to the Dalai Lama, which gave him a rare glimpse of Tibetan rites, culture and tradition. The Chinese invasion in 1950 prompted Harrer's departure. Pam enjoyed the insight into Tibetan life, but didn't find the description of the treks through the mountains especially gripping. 

Travel

It's the time of year when we're all thinking about holidays, so it seemed like a good idea to dip our toes in some travel. It's not a genre we've explored much before, and we all selected a book of our own choice Here's the first one - more books being added soon! 

The Perfect Storm
Sebastian Junger

Barnes & Noble

Elizabeth gave this our top rating of 5 stars. It's about the loss of the fishing vessel Andrea Gail as her crew fought to survive 60ft waves in the North Atlantic Ocean's worst storm. Junger writes of the desperate reasons behind the risks, and the family and friends left behind. It's tells the story of the crew's last days and hours, the communications with other fishing vessels, and the failed but heroic rescue attempts. 

If you enjoyed this one, try 'The Hungry Ocean' by Linda Greenlaw. She was the female Skipper of the Andrea Gail's sister ship who survived the storm. This book is more to do with her everyday life as a courageous and talented woman who loves being at sea, and fishing. 

Reading 'The Perfect Storm' inspired Elizabeth to write this:-

The perfect storm, is there such a thing?

Descriptions of it's ferocity

as though the wind and water have wings,

forty five foot waves from the depths they reach

building up their power

smashing all in it's path to pieces,

Sailors struggling against it

Boats being tossed about like toys

Will they see shore again?

Wives, children Girls and Boys,

People on the shore WATCHING

the waves as they roar,

Suddenly! houses ripped out to sea

People and buildings bought to their knees,

Rescuers out in this savagery

all at risk to saves others from the deadly seas,

When calm descends, all counting the cost

Fathers, Sons, Husbands LOST

claimed by the sea,

lives destroyed and lost

Elizabeth Adams

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

Penguin Books

Our book of the month is a first novel, 2014 Costa Prize winner, and shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. 

Maud, the narrator-heroine is determined to discover why her friend Elizabeth has gone missing. It’s an unsolved mystery, but Maud’s investigation is compromised by confusion and memory loss as a result of dementia.