2016: Twelve Months of Photos & Books

I thought I’d take a look back over 2016 in terms of my photos on Flickr and the Reading entries on SparklyTrainers, and pick a favourite image and a favourite book for each month. Here goes:

January

Photo

A beautiful sunny weekend in Walton – a good start the the year

Sunday strollers enjoying the beach between Walton and Frinton
Sunday strollers enjoying the beach between Walton and Frinton

Book

Hard to believe that it’s 12 months since I was reading Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb. The first book in the third trilogy featuring FitzChivaly Farseer, in his old age guise as Tom Badgerlock, exemplifies Robin Hobb’s ability to use a fantasy saga to show a full and long life, how people change and how they handle change.

February

Photo

Domesticity

New Mid Century Modern dining table and chairs
New Mid Century Modern dining table and chairs

Book

No stand out book this month, but I did enjoy Walking Home From Mongolia – Rob Lilwall.

March

Photo

Forty Acres, and family

Dore Abbey, Abbeydore
Dore Abbey, Abbeydore

Book

I’ve always loved Historical Fiction, and Philippa Gregory’s The White Princess shows us Elizabeth of York in the part of her long life where she served as the point of connection and transition from Richard III and Henry VII.

Frustrating (Or simply a reflection of the medieval world?) how the history I was taught at school, college and university focused so much on the men – one of the things Philippa Gregory’s Cousins’ War series does so well is to show the Wars of the Roses and the arrival of the Tudor Dynasty from a female perspective.

April

Photo

Back to Nepal, On and Off the Beaten Track through Solukhumbu with Val Pitkethly, Chhiring and crew, Steffi and Charles

Me, and the view of the mountains above Thengpo
Me, and the view of the mountains above Thengpo

Book

An easy choice this one, and up against hard competition, but Sara Wheeler’s Oh My America! is top notch travel writing (as always), which looks at women of a certain age exploring/travelling/living/surviving in the USA in ages past.

May

Photo

Home

Barbican sunset
Barbican sunset

Book

Hard choice this month … If I could allow myself a three way tie, I’d have (in order of consumption):

But I can’t, so Simon Winchester’s Atlantic wins because of its range and readability.

June

Photo

Dad and Jean’s first visit to Walton-on-the-Naze

Walton Rocks
Walton Rocks

Book

June’s tough choice is the inverse of May’s – no stand out reading really, so I’ll plump for Voices by Arnaldur Indriðason on the grounds that it’s early Erlendur and offers excellent Icelandic Nordic Noir and provides plenty of perspective on the dour detective’s personal life, past and present.

July

Photo

It would have been Jean’s party, except I hardly have any photos of that, so a very, very close second is the walking weekend in Snowdonia with Catherine and Hazel

Snowdon: Summit (1085 m / 3560 ft) - Looking down at the Miner's Track, the Pyg Track and Llyn Llydaw
Snowdon: Summit (1085 m / 3560 ft) – Looking down at the Miner’s Track, the Pyg Track and Llyn Llydaw

Book

I can’t wait to see private eye Cormoran Strike onscreen, and I’ve loved every one of J. K. Rowling’s crime series so far including July’s pick, Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith.

August

Photo

Bank Holiday weekend in Walton

Walton Maritime Museum
Walton Maritime Museum

Book

For its clever yet readable visits to China ancient and modern, The Incarnations by Susan Barker wins this month.

September

Photo

Fantastic Autumn in Ladakh

Polo match, Leh
Polo match, Leh

Book

Three weeks in Ladakh made for thin reading, but S. J. Parris’s Treachery was an enjoyable exploration of late Elizabethan England and felt like we’d arrived at the end of a good era for Giordano Bruno.

October

Photo

Indian Summer

Walton beaches and pier, in early evening light
Walton beaches and pier, in early evening light

Book

At the Edge of the Orchard – Tracy Chevalier with Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow by Maria Coffey as a very close second for insights into the other halves left at home when climbers head to the mountains and don’t come back.

November

Photo

An extra special Wine Wednesday treat

An early Christmas Present from the lovely team at Russia Row Pizza Express
An early Christmas Present from the lovely team at Russia Row Pizza Express

Book

I enjoyed Some Luck, book 1 in Jane Smiley’s Last Hundred Years Trilogy, far more than books 2 and 3. Life felt simpler then, harder but more honest.

December

Photo

Austria, Winter Walking, Trins

Me at the top of the Blasergipfel
Me at the top of the Blasergipfel

Book

If I’d have finished in in 2016, Tim Hannigan’s Murder in the Hindu Kush would have won easily, but I didn’t so I’ve gone for a spot of magic in present day London with Hidden by Benedict Jacka.