Book Group: The Quiet American – Graham Greene

It’s hard to believe but when I first read The Quiet American (about 12 years ago) I completely missed the point!  So much water has flowed under the political bridge since then that it would nigh on impossible to do that now. (Pyle) was absorbed already in the Dilemmas of Democracy and the responsibilities of the West; he was determined [...]

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Night Waking – Sarah Moss

Anna Bennett, historian and Oxford fellow, has discovered that the formality and rigidity of academic life is incompatible with the uncontrollable demands of  a young family.  Following a very embarrassing incident,  she agrees to spend the summer in Colsay, a fictional uninhabited Scottish island owned by her husband.  This doesn’t make raising the children any easier, not when the baby refuses [...]

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Dutch Literature Giveaway: The Winners

That was possibly the most popular giveaway on my blog ever!  I’m delighted at the interest shown in translated fiction and I do hope that those who don’t win today will still find something with which to participate in Iris’s forthcoming Dutch literature month. And so to the results.  I asked random.org to generate a two number set [...]

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The Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi – Charles Dickens

I have problems reading Dickens.   His novels are too long, with too many caricatures. I find I have to watch a TV adaptation before I can make a start and then I have to read according to a schedule dictated by the original installments. Then, and only then, does a Dickens novel work for me. There [...]

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200,000 hits – Let’s celebrate with some new books …. for you!

I’ve got enough books to be getting on with.  Can you believe I said that?  But ’tis true. However, the 200,000 hit milestone requires some kind of celebration.  So instead of buying more books for myself,  let me send you some books to say a heartfelt thank you. Now I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Dutch Literature Month which [...]

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TSS: Back online – let’s celebrate with some new books

I’m impressed.  It only took 2 days for my internet provider to send a replacement router and so here I am back online.  Well done, TalkTalk. It’s good to be back (even though you never had a chance to miss me), so I feel like chatting about the bumper crop of new arrivals at Lizzy’s [...]

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There will be a short intermission …

… while my internet connection is fixed. Meanwhile I shall read lots and lots and lots.

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The BabyBarista Files – Tim Kevan

I abandon more comic fiction than any other type of  book.  The joke wears thin or depends on crudeness.   So reading the first in a series of comic/satiric novels and  immediately picking up the second is a unique experience for me.  Yet that is exactly what happened with The BabyBarista Files. Tim Kevan practised as a barrister [...]

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TSS: The this-book-and-that meme

I don’t know how he does it. Stuck-in-a-Book has come up with another great meme.  Perfect for Sunday Salon chatting. 1) The Book I am currently reading Well, I actually have 6 books on the go.  Books that I’m reading slowing, snacking on between meals if you will such as 50 Literature Ideas that You Really Need [...]

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(Spurious) literary pics: Taking Advantage (2) On The Isle of Arran

Continuing my exploration of the West of Scotland in this glorious spring weather  …… Here we are approaching the Isle of Arran, Brodick Castle nestled in the trees, and … ….. captured for posterity, I finally set foot on one of its islands after 22 years of living in Scotland.  It really was a special day,  probably the [...]

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