Recent reading: Jacob's room is full of books

I bought this book as part of my Christmas present to myself.  I read The Woman in Black many years ago but otherwise I have not read any Susan Hill.  I was interested in this one because it is a sort of diary of the reading she did over a year.  She uses the books she lists as jumping off points to discuss a wide variety of topics, some of which I found very interesting.  I do not know Norfolk where she lives so the writing about nature and the environment interested me.  I have lived in Oxfordshire, though, so was able to relate to her years there quite easily.  I gradually came to the conclusion that we like the same kind of literature as she says she is very fond of Olivia Manning and Virginia Woolf but does not do fantasy.  I was also interested in her comment that some novels are enjoyable but in the end 'do not amount to anything'.  She puts The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton in this category and so do I.  When I read it I was glad that I had been to Hokitika as that increased the reality of it but it was too 'magical realism' for me.  I think it is now on its way to the charity shop.

Of course, she reads far more than I do so I am glad she lists the books she read during the year.  In theory this means I can refer to the list to choose things to read. The other place where I differ from many people is in my preference for non-fiction over fiction.  Having gone to a school with particularly good English teaching and with many school friends who did degrees in English literature, I tend to think non-fiction is 'second best'.  I know I should not.  I have always been a social scientist and in my youth read sociology and anthropology extensively.  Now I read a lot of social history and I have always read feminist non-fiction.  This week's book is Claire Tomalin's autobiography and I also have her book on Katherine Mansfield waiting to be read.

Of course reading habits change.  Having spent my childhood as an avid user of libraries I was interested when Susan Hill said people do not use them like they used to and that her children buy books on Amazon instead.  I am glad to realise it is not just me although I do suffer from guilt that I am not supporting local bookshops.  We have one particularly good one in Penzance and I know people who support that but of course it is impossible for me to get there, hence my reliance on Amazon.  I was also interested in her comments about supporting charity shops and second-hand bookshops.  I tend to forget about those but my husband used to work in Oxfam and has become quite knowledgeable about sources of second-hand books as a result.  I realise I should look at more websites for second-hand books as a lot of what I purchase I only wish to read once.  And don't mention Kindle because I have more or less abandoned mine on the grounds that I do not remember anything I read on it for more than five minutes.  I gather a lot of people have also given up on Kindle although I know lots of other who are keen on e-books.  I can see why they are good if you are travelling or so short of space that you cannot keep any more.  I have been through the 'buy one, dispose of one' practice but now that my bookcases are not as full of quilting supplies as they were, I do not feel so guilty about adding books to them.