What I'm Reading
You can't beat a classic at Christmas, especially if it's a Charles Dickens one. However, I missed the Christmas connection somewhere, other than the story being published as one of Dickens' Christmas books on 20 December and it is set in January. Nevertheless, I read it anyway.
The subtitle is 'A Fairy Tale of Home' and it is a light domestic tale about insecurity and redemption. A married couple share an affectionate and caring relationship, but the husband fears that the age gap between them could be a problem. Age is referenced often and by different characters, so he is quick to believe that his young wife would have an affair with a younger man. The usual Dickens creativity is here: caricatured characters, aptly named, and an unmistakable opening. This involves a kettle that sings and shows a personality, indicating a lighter theme than some his other works. There is a contrast between the ugly rich people and good, happy and decent poor folk, but the social issues end there. The Fairy Tale element comes in the form of a cricket, that chirps musically when things are going well, but remains silent when things are not so good. It sits on the hearth like a good luck charm and has potential supernatural powers to ensure domestic harmony. A witty, uplifting tale suitable for the season of goodwill. Enjoy. 
Originally published by Bradbury and Evans on 20 December 1845. This edition published on 11 August 2022.
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Index
CategoriesAll images copyright A.J. Sefton 2023. Model: Amanda Pennington. Date of Publication
May 2023
Anthologies and Collaborations
Andersen, Knausgaard, Lagerlof, Hjorth A Scandinavian Christmas
Baddiel, Skinner, Lightning Seeds Three Lions: Football's Coming Home
Bloomsbury Yearbooks Writers' & Artists' Yearbook
Brownlie, Woolf Why Do People Fight Wars?
Collins Michelin I-Spy Guides I-Spy Castles: Spy It! Score It!
A
Abbott, Rachel The Sixth Window
Abdullah, Kia Truth Be Told
Adams, Max The King in the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria, In the Land of Giants: Journeys Through the Dark Ages
Adams, Richard The Plague Dogs, The Ship's Cat
Alexander, Claire Meredith, Alone
Andrews, Jessica Saltwater
B
Banks, Ian The Wasp Factory
Banville, John April in Spain, The Lock-Up
Barker, Pat The Ghost Road
Barstow, Stan A Kind of Loving
Benchley, Peter Jaws
Benedict, Alexandra Murder on the Christmas Express
Bennett, Robin Fantastic Football
Bilston, Brian 50 Ways to Score a Goal and other poems
Blatty, William Peter The Exorcist
Bolton, Sharon Little Black Lies
Boyd, Douglas Plagues and Pandemics
Boyne, John A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom
Bradbury, Ray Fahrenheit 451
Bradley, Nick The Cat and the City
Brandon, Nathaniel The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem
Brittain, Vera Testament of Youth
Brolly, Matt The Running Girls
Brown, Michael A Guide to Medieval Gardens: Gardens in the Age of Chivalry, Medieval Plants and their Uses
Burgess, Anthony A Clockwork Orange
Burns, Anna Milkman
Butterworth, Nick One Snowy Night: A Percy the Park Keeper Story
C
Campbell, Michele A Stranger on the Beach
Camus, Albert The Outsider
Carle, Eric The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Carrisi, Donato The Whisperer's Game
Carver, Martin Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings?
Christie, Agatha And Then There Were None
Cleeves, Ann The Heron's Cry
Cline, Ernest Ready Player One
Coeur, James Dance of the Rainmakers
Coleman, Keith J. The Afterlife of King James IV
Cowper, Frank Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk
Cummins, Fiona When I Was Ten
D
Dean, Abigail Girl A
Dean, Will First Born
Denzil, Sarah A. Silent Child
Dolman, Gary The Eighth Circle of Hell
E
Eastham, Kate The Liverpool Nightingales
Edwards, Mark The Magpies, What You Wish For, Follow You Home, The Devil's Work, The Retreat, Killing Cupid, In Her Shadow, Here To Stay, The House Guest, The Hollows
Eisler, Barry The Killer Collective
Elborough, Travis Atlas of Vanishing Places
Ellis, Bret Easton American Psycho
Esiri, Allie A Poem for Every Night of the Year (editor)
Ewan, C.M. The Interview
F
Farrell, Matthew I Know Everything
Figes, Orlando The Story of Russia
Filer, Nathan The Shock of the Fall
Finn, A.J. The Woman in the Window
Fitzharris, Lindsey The Facemaker
Flanders, Judith Christmas: A History
Ford, Richard Sorry For Your Trouble
Franchetti, Livia Shelf Life
Frank, Anita The Lost Ones
French, Tana The Searcher
French, Dr. Ryan The Sun: Beginner's Guide to Our Local Star
G
Garcia, Miki The Caribbean Irish: How the Slave Myth Was Made
Galvin, Anthony Death and Destruction on the Thames in London
Gennoe, Dan All Neon Like Love
Glasfurd, Guinevere The Year Without Summer
Goldin, Megan The Night Swim
Golding, William Lord of the Flies
Gray, Daniel The Silence of the Stands
Gray, Philip Two Storm Wood
Gresham, William Lindsay Nightmare Alley
Griffiths, Elly Now You See Them
H
Haddon, Mark The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Haig, Matt The Midnight Library
Halsall, Rona The Ex-Boyfriend
Hammad, Isabella The Parisian
Hanington, Peter A Single Source
Hardinge, Francis Deeplight
Hart, Andrew The Woman in Our House
Hawkins, Paula The Girl on the Train
Healey, Jonathan The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England
Holmes, Marianne All Your Little Lies
Horst, Jorn Lier Dregs
Hurley, Graham Limelight
Hutchinson, Gillian Sir John Franklin's Erebus and Terror Expedition
Huxley, Aldous Brave New World
I
Iggulden, Conn Wars of the Roses: Stormbird, The Gates of Athens
J
Jackson, Shirley The Haunting of Hill House
James, Henry The Turn of the Screw
James, Linh Le #Toots
James, Maggie Blackwater Lake
Jones, Terry Terry Jones' Medieval Lives
K
Kane, Ben Spartacus, The Arena, The Shrine, Lionheart
Katz, Ani A Good Man
Kaufman, Andrew E. Twisted
Kawaguchi,Toshikazu Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Kay, Adam Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas
Kay, Susan Legacy
Keegan, Claire Small Things Like These
Kent, Anna The House of Whispers
Kern, Adam I Am the Secret Footballer
Koepp, David Aurora
Kostova, Elizabeth The Historian
Kwon Yeo-sun Lemon
Kunzru, Hari Red Pill
L
Lanchester, John The Wall, Reality and Other Stories
Lea, Zoe The Secretary
Lees, Georgina The Girl Upstairs
Lefteri, Christy The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Leitch, Fiona A Cornish Christmas Murder
Leky, Mariana What You Can See From Here
Levy, Deborah The Man Who Saw Everything
Leyser, Henrietta Beda: A Journey Through the Seven Kingdoms in the Age of Bede
Leyva, Jasmine The Invisible Vegan (documentary)
Linley, Sarah The Wedding Murders
Logan, T.M. Lies, Trust Me
Lonsdale, Kerry Last Summer
Lowe, Katie The Furies
M
MacDonald, Elizabeth A Matter of Interpretation
Maginn, Simon Sheep
Mark, David Suspicious Minds
Mantel, Hilary A Place of Greater Safety, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, The Mirror and the Light
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia One Hundred Years of Solitude
Marston, Edward The Railway Detective's Christmas Case
Martel, Yann Life of Pi
Mayhew, Mickey House of Tudor: A Grisly History
McAllister, Gillian Wrong Place Wrong Time
McCann, Colum Apeirgon
McDonald, Helen H is for Hawk
McGowan, Claire What You Did, The Other Wife, The Push
Melville, Herman Moby Dick
Meredith, Harry Marcus Rashford: Football Rising Stars
Michaelides, Alex The Silent Patient, The Maidens
Mitchell, Caroline Silent Victim, Left For Dead
Moncrieff, Ada Murder at the Theatre Royale
Moreton, Cole The Light Keeper
Morgan, Sarah The Christmas Escape
Morrison, Dorothy Yule: A Celebration of Light & Warmth
Mosse, Kate The Taxidermist's Daughter
Mulrooney, Greta Never Came Home
Anthologies and Collaborations
Pride, Piazza We Are Not Like Them
Sadler, Serdiville Cromwell's Convicts: The Death March from Dunbar in 1650
Samuels, Olorunnipa His Name is George Floyd
Shibata, Kawakami, Ito, Murakami, Matsuda, Furukawa, (authors) Goossen, Taylor (editors) MONKEY volume 2
N
Nancollas, Tom The Ship Asunder: A Maritime History in Eleven Vessels
Napolitano, Ann Dear Edward
National Geographic [Kids] Everything Anglo-Saxons: Unearth History with Facts, Photos and Fun
Natsukawa, Sosuke The Cat Who Saved Books
Nesbo, Jo The Snowman
Netley, Rebecca The Whistling
Neuvel, Sylvain Only Human
O
O'Brien, Anne A Tapestry of Treason
O'Farrell, Maggie Hamnet
Osman, Richard The Thursday Murder Club
Oyeyome, Helen Gingerbread
P
Paris, B.A. Behind Closed Doors
Parsons, Tony #Taken
Patchett, Ann The Dutch House
Patterson, James Criss Cross
Paver, Michelle Wakenhyrst
Peers, Chris Offa and the Mercian Wars
Pert, Rebecca Still Water
Pinborough, Sarah Insomnia
Pobi, Robert City of Windows
Post, Andrew Chop Shop
Postorino, Rosella The Women at Hitler's Table
Price, Rosie What Red Was
Q
Quinn, Frances The Smallest Man
R
Raisin, Ross God's Own Country
Ramos, Joanne The Farm
Ramos, Kate Plant Powered Mexican
Rashford, Marcus You Are a Champion
Reeves, Alex The Anarchists' Club
Reid, Iain We Spread
Remarque, Erich Maria All Quiet on the Western Front
Rennison, Nick 1922: Scenes From a Turbulent Year
Robertson, C.S. The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill
Rooney, Sally Normal People
Roper, Richard Something to Live For
Rosen, Michael Many Different Kinds of Love
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Royce, Deborah Goodrich Finding Mrs Ford
Rudd, Alyson The First Time Lauren Paling Died
Russell, Kate Elizabeth My Dark Vanessa
S
Sacks, Michelle The Dark Path
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye
Scott, Anika Finding Clara
Sefton, A.J. Growing In Damp Places
Selman, Victoria Truly, Darkly, Deeply
Sigurdardottir, Yrsa The Absolution
Simmons, Dan The Terror
Simms, Laura Looker
Singer, Brett The Petting Zoo
Skalietska, Yeva You Don't Know What War Is
Slaughter, Karin False Witness
Smith, Scott A Simple Plan
Smith, Wilbur Call of the Raven
Smith, Zadie Grand Union
Stevenson, Benjamin She Lies in the Vines
Stockham, Alison The Cuckoo Sister
Stoker, Bram Dracula
Strang, Em Quinn
Strauss, Barry Ten Caesars
Stuart, Douglas Shuggie Bain
Swift, Graham Last Orders
T
Tan Twan Eng The Garden of Evening Mists, House of Doors
Tartt, Donna, The Goldfinch
Taylor, Pamela Pestilence
Thaine, Craig Teaching and Developing Writing Skills
Tolkien, J.R.R. Letters From Father Christmas
Trafford, J.D. Without Precedent
Turow, Scott The Last Trial
V
Vatner, Jonathan Carnegie Hill
Vaughan, Sarah Anatomy of a Scandal
Venning, Timothy Royal Mysteries of the Anglo-Saxons and Early Britain
Vonnegut, Kurt Slaughterhouse Five
W
Walker, Nico Cherry
Walker, Rosie The House Fire
Ward, Catriona The Last House on Needless Street
Ware, Ruth The Tale of Mrs Westaway, The Woman in Cabin 10, The It Girl
Watson, S.J. Final Cut
Whitehead, Colson The Nickel Boys
Whitehead, Richard The Times World Cup Moments
Willder, Louise Blurb Your Enthusiasm: An A-Z of Literary Persuasion
Williams, C.K. The Woman at No. 13
Williams, J. T. Portraits and Poison
Williams, Ursula Moray Gobbolino the Witch's Cat
Wilson, Antoine Mouth to Mouth
Wilson, Ryan Let That Be a Lesson
Wimpenny, Jo Aesop's Animals
Wood, Naomi The Hiding Game
Woods, Hannah Rose Rule Nostalgia: A Backwards History of Britain
Woolf, Virginia A Room of One's Own, To the Lighthouse, How Should One Read A Book?
Z
Zusak, Markus The Book Thief
Settings in EnglandBedfordshire My Uncle Silas
Berkshire Jude the Obscure; The Wind in the Willows
Buckinghamshire Three Men in a Boat
Cambridgeshire Tom's Midnight Garden
Cheshire -
Cornwall Penmarric; Ross Poldark; Jamaica Inn
Cumbria The Loney;
Derbyshire A Place of Execution
Devon And Then There Were None
Dorset On Chesil Beach
Durham Cuddy;
Essex The Essex Serpent; The Turn of the Screw
Gloucestershire Cider With Rosie
Hampshire The Woman in White
Herefordshire -
Hertfordshire -
Lancashire Devil's Day
Leicestershire -
Lincolnshire -
Liverpool A-Z Liverpool Hidden Walks; The Liverpool Nightingales
London A Christmas Carol; Atonement; The Family Upstairs; Portraits and Poison; A Demon in My View; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Middlesex -
Norfolk Never Let Me Go;
Northamptonshire -
Northumberland The Last Kingdom;
Nottinghamshire Friday Night, Saturday Morning; The Girl She Wanted
Oxfordshire Three Men in a Boat
Rutland -
Shropshire -
Somerset The Running Girls;
Staffordshire Growing In Damp Places
Suffolk Wakenhyrst; A Dark Adapted Eye;
Surrey A Room With a View
Sussex Now You See Them
Warwickshire - Hamnet
Wiltshire Brideshead Revisited
Worcestershire -
Yorkshire Dracula; The Offing;
Settings in Other CountriesFrance The Paris Apartment
Iceland Outside;
Ireland Normal People; The Slowworm's Song; The Sea; Small Things Like These; The Woman at No. 13; The Lock-up;
Denmark The Trouble with Happiness
Germany The Women at Hitler's Table;
Japan The Cat and the City; Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Netherlands May;
Russia Crime and Punishment
Scotland Sleep;
Spain April in Spain
Reviews are organised by reading order for 60 days, then by publication date. Number of reviews available: 352.
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© Copyright 2012-2023 A.J. Sefton
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