What I've been reading

Lord Peter Views the Body
by Dorothy L Sayers

narrated by Ian Carmichael

"Dorothy L. Sayers' aristocratic sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, is rarely at a loss when it comes to solving a seemingly insoluble crime. Whether confronted with a severed head in a bag, a particularly nasty case of blackmail, a sofa of horrifying origin, or even another Lord Peter Wimsey, the upper-crust eccentric retains his sardonic sense of humour while unravelling the most bizarre criminal conundrums."

This is a set of short stories featuring Lord Peter, and she makes a good fist of it even though there is so little time to set up the crime and the solution. You can usually work out where the plot is going as soon as all the characters are introduced, or maybe I've just read them before. Yes, I'm pretty sure I've read them before, but I like having stories read out to me.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

by Bill Bryson
narrated by Bill Bryson

"Using his old fantasy life as a springboard, Bill Bryson recreates the life of his family in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality. In a period that saw the inexorable rise of television, the opening of Disneyland, the testing of the atomic bomb, and the explosion of choice in everything from food to cars, Bill Bryson's days followed in reassuringly cosy succession, enlivened by modest triumphs and disasters."

He reads it pretty well too. Although I didn't grow up in that era, I recognise the feeling of nostalgia for a time when responsibilities were few and the days were long. It's a comfortable book to listen to, and just what I needed.