The frost and snow, strange as it may seem, brought me more reading time – because I was not able to get out as much as I usually do. I must add that another contributuing factor was that I had finished writing my new novel. Apart from checking it over and thinking of a new one I could devote some more time to reading. I turned to my bookshelves and enjoyed looking for a book to read, something that could give me a good read and relax my mind after the concentration of completing my new novel.
Eventually, I plucked from the shelves The White South by Hammond Innes. It was published by Collins in 1949 – a first edition that I bought second hand for 75p in Peebles many years ago. I had bought it then to add to my growing collection of whaling books because this was a story of rivalry on a whaling expedition in the Antarctic. Hammond Innes, with many books to his credit, was a superb story-teller who could hold the attention from the first word to the last. When disclosing factual information, as he does here about whaling from the enormous factory ships and whale catchers, he weaves the facts skilfully into the story so that the flow is never impeded. I enjoyed reading it again after all these years. Now what do I read next? I’ll have a nice time chosing the next one. Anyone else out there who enjoys chosing a book to read?
I have added some others to my bookshelves I must tell you about some other time.
