What I've been reading

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
by Joanna Cannon

narrated by Paula Wilcox

"England, 1976. Mrs Creasy is missing and The Avenue is alive with whispers. As the summer shimmers endlessly on, ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly decide to take matters into their own hands."

Ultimately unsatisfying, it's as if the author wanted to make the story arc more interesting so she chopped the two timelines into little bits and switched from one to the other so by the end the whole story had probably been told but I had pretty much given up trying to work out what had actually happened. Each character in turn was made to reveal his or her particular secret (which sometimes had nothing to do with the main story) and I carried on hoping that there would be a summary at the end. But there wasn't, and that made me quite cross, so obviously I'm not going to like this book.

The Lie of the Land
by Amanda Craig

"Quentin and Lottie Bredin, like many modern couples, can't afford to divorce. Having lost their jobs in the recession, they can't afford to go on living in London; instead, they must downsize and move their three children to a house in a remote part of Devon."

I was given this by H, unread, because in the first couple of chapters the characters are so unpleasant that it doesn't surprise me that he didn't want to carry on. But I find it difficult to stop reading unless a book is unreadable, and this one isn't. Everyone gradually starts to behave better, the mystery is a fairly good one and redemption of a sort is achieved at the end, so it was worth persisting.

Sailing the Wordly Winds: A Buddhist Way Through the Ups and Downs of Life
by Vajragupta

"Tossed around by gain, buffeted by loss, borne aloft by praise, cast down by blame, how can we not be ground under, lose all direction, confidence, and sense of purpose? This book focuses on the Buddha’s teaching of the worldly winds, how we can learn to navigate them more effectively, so that we can sail safely through life rather than being blown off course, however stormy the weather."

A very Buddhist book which I read during the weekend Retreat that I recently attended which focussed on its subject matter. It's helpful if you're into this sort of thing, which I increasingly am, although still baffled by much of the abstract terminology and concepts of the Buddha's teaching. If I were to pick out one bit in the book that I'm particularly conscious of putting into practice at the moment it would be the reminder to be aware of the difference between control and influence. I cannot control what is going on around me, all I can do is try to influence it. And that helps me to cope with it gracefully.