Book club: Blogger Hannah Kirsop reveals her summer reading list

Turning over a new leaf to pursue a true passion

Let’s start by you telling us a bit about yourself… I live down a very bumpy track in Horsmonden, with my husband, Jonny, my three children - Harry (13), Rosalie (10) and Bill (8) – and our three dogs. We have lived here for five years but I grew up in Sevenoaks and went to school there. I always knew I would likely end up back in Kent, especially as my mother lives in Tonbridge and my sisters live in Plaxtol and Goudhurst. Although I met my Scottish husband at uni, his parents moved to Otford near Sevenoaks when he was 14 so really a life together in Kent was inevitable!

Have you always been an avid reader? Yes! My mother loves reading and instilled the reading bug in me and my sisters from an early age. We always teased my father as he wasn’t a big reader and he would start a new book every holiday and never finish it. When I was younger, holidays were always my most prolific reading time and I would have loads of library books filling up the boot of the car as I was always terrified I would run out! Now I read all year round and always have a book on the go.

What do you enjoy most about books? I love escaping into different worlds – not that I don’t love my own world - but there is something very liberating about reading a book and immersing yourself into the world of another. I always have a ‘to do’ list buzzing round my head or thinking about something for the children so I find that reading is the one way I have of really switching off from real life.

Is reading and writing reviews your full-time job now? It’s not at the moment, but I’m really enjoying doing something for me again. I stopped working in the City a couple of years ago to spend some time focusing on my children and my father who was unwell. I really miss working but don’t want to go back to what I did before so that’s why I decided to start my book blog the Bainden Bookshelf.

Hannah Kirsop traded working in the City for running her own book club and blog. Here the editor of Bainden Bookclub – and newly appointed literary critic for the Times of Tunbridge Wells - tells Eileen Leahy why reading can enrich us all in so many ways…

How did the Bainden Bookshelf come about? I have always loved discussing books with people and making recommendations, and soon after we moved to Kent, I set up a book club for local ladies. We try to meet once a month and take it in turns to suggest a book. After I stopped working one of them suggested I do something book related. This trigger, combined with some career coaching, led me to starting my blog under the name @baindenbookshelf and to start writing reviews for the Times of Tunbridge Wells. These are the first steps on my new journey and I’m so happy I took the plunge…

And what’s the relevance of your blog’s name? I chose the name ‘Bainden’ as it’s part of the name of our house as well as the name of our book club. We also have a huge bookshelf in our kitchen which I love so it seemed the perfect alliterative combination!

Which authors do you admire and why? This is a really difficult question to answer! I have huge respect for all authors, whether I’ve enjoyed the book or not, for having the inspiration, confidence and tenacity to write a book for popular consumption.

If forced, I would have to say Agatha Christie as I have been reading her books on and off, again and again, since I was about 11.

The other author I admire is Raynor Winn – her book, The Salt Path, was an incredible story of mental and physical strength, determination and faith. For her to be able to do what she did, and write an inspirational, best-selling book about it, is pretty amazing.

Hannah’s favourite books:

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans by Agatha Christie This introduced me to Agatha Christie and the crime book genre. I have read most of her books several times and she will always be my literary equivalent of a cup of tea and a blanket

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. I love this for its multi-generational story involving a wartime setting but mainly for the love story which captured a 14-year-old girl’s heart

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. This is the best and most surprising plot twist that a book has ever offered

Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed. This provides pure escapism and inspiration when I need it

War Doctor by David Nott. This opened my eyes to life in a conflict zone and the selfless efforts of all aid workers If you wanted to convince a screen loving toddler into reading how would you do so? With younger children, reading books to them or playing audio books can be brilliant ways of engaging them in stories. With little effort on their part, they are able to enjoy the books whilst still powering the imagination in their heads to picture the characters and the scenery etc.

And what’s your advice to get tweens and teens into books? With older children and teenagers, it is all about channelling into what they like and pursuing that – there is so much varied reading material these days, touching on so many genres, with graphic novels and audio books for those who find pages of dense text less appealing, that there should be something for everyone!

“There is something very liberating about reading a book and immersing yourself into the world of another”

Hannah’s top five summer reads

Translated fiction: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon Set in 1945 Barcelona, Daniel is taken by his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books where he chooses one book to keep – The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Intrigued by the author, Daniel attempts to track down copies of his other works but someone is one step ahead of him, burning every copy. A ‘story within a story’ with murder, love and a touch of madness thrown in.

Fiction: Paradise City by Elizabeth Day Set in modern London, the book profiles four strangers whose paths eventually cross in different ways. With engaging and sympathetic characters, it is a wonderfully 'human' book, which highlights each character’s flaws and the mistakes they make but also demonstrates the power we all have as people to overcome challenges and do the right thing.

Non-fiction: Shoe Dog by Phil Knight The story of Nike founder, Phil Knight’s, path to creating his now $30 billion company isn’t a staid, dry analysis of how the business grew and developed…it is written with real characters whose personalities, experiences & relationships drive the story from a $50 loan and some cheap Japanese running shoes to the Nike we see today. A surprising page-turner, it feels like a piece of fiction as the story is almost too incredible to be true…

Crime: The Puppet Show by M.W. Craven Introducing Washington Poe, the detective investigating a serial killer in the Lake District. He is soon partnered with the socially awkward but wonderfully bright Tilly Bradshaw and together they track down the criminal following a set of clues only Poe could interpret. Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger award 2019 for Best Crime Novel of the Year, this is a brilliant (if somewhat dark) detective story with an appealing & charismatic double act in Poe and Tilly.

Page-turning classic: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Following the eerie encounter with a woman in white in London, the reader is hooked by this atmospheric and haunting novel which follows Walter Hartright as he guides us through the intricate plot. Told with multiple narrators, letters and diary entries, this is an oft forgotten gothic classic, which is as gripping as any modern thriller – an epic novel of love, betrayal, deception and revenge.

www.baindenbookshelf.com @baindenbookshelf