The growing pile of books at my bedside

Despite, or perhaps because of, now being a Kindle user, the pile of books on my bedside table still grows almost fast enough to give me sleepless nights. One reason for this is the endless recommendations from our book group meetings; at some point in the evening there will be a free for all when books get passed around. We all enthusiastically add them to our "to read" list and sometimes go on to buy them - and therein lies the problem, there are simply not hours enough to get through them all.

Last week's meeting saw a recommendation for Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson, a debut novel which has been very well received according to the reviews ("exceptionally accomplished", "dazzling" and "a very literary thriller" raved The Guardian). There was also a mention for Eve Green by Susan Fletcher, the sort of title and author combo which is bound to lead to confusion, which won the Whitbread First Novel award in 2005 (when Eve or Susan, whichever, was only 25). It sounds very touching and quite Welsh. In contrast, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller is an African memoir of a particular kind of expatriate mother; the author's interview on Woman's Hour grabbed my attention as much as the seductive title.

Finally, two recommendations from a reader of this blog whose judgement I respect and who writes a bit herself. First, Alice Oswald's Memorial which is, I'm told, a very pared down translation of the Illiad: "a long, simple, beautiful poem which acts as a memorial to the fallen in the Trojan Wars. It is mesmerising". It sounds compelling to me. And then, in a lighter tone, Howard's End is on the Landing by Susan Hill, another book with a seductive title. My reader says: "It is a personal perusal through the books on Hill's shelves which acts as a sort of memoir. A lifetime of reading, writing and mixing with and working with other authors makes her a fascinating companion to books that one knows so well. Before I knew it, I was feet up in an armchair and I'd stolen an hour from my day to enjoy it". Sounds like the perfect Christmas stocking present to me.