Safe Return Doubtful

Books

From 2025 By chance, eight of the nine are in translation.

House of Fury by Evelio Rosero translated from the Spanish (Colombia) by Victor Meadowcroft (or Way Far Away, I read them both this year)

Dealing With The Dead by Alain Mabanckou translated from the French (Congo-Brazzaville by Helen Stevenson)

Río Muerto by Ricardo Silva Romero (translated from the Spanish (Colombia) by Victor Meadowcroft

The Mysterious Disappearance of the Marquise of Loria by Jose Donoso translated from the Spanish (Chile) by Megan McDowell

I Gave You Eyes And You Looked Towards Darkness by Irene Solà translated from the Catalan by Mara Faye Lethem

Into The Sun by Charles Ferdinand Ramuz translated from the French (Switzerland) by Olivia Baes and Emma Ramadan

The Wax Child by Olga Ravn translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken

On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia translated from the Portuguese (Brazil) by Padma Viswanathan

The Pelican Child: Stories by Joy Williams

Non-fiction
Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumoh, Tragedy and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue by Buddy Levy

Is A River Alive? by Robert MacFarlane

Island of the Blue Foxes: Disaster and Triumph on the World’s Greatest Scientific Expedition by Stephen R. Bown

Tigers Between Empires: The Improbable Return of Great Cats to the Forests of Russia and China by Jonathan C. Slaght (Book of the Year)

Older
The Blue Room by Georges Simenon translated from the French (Belgium) by Linda Coverdale

I Was Looking For A Street by Charles Willeford (a memoir, so non fiction)

Game of the Gods by Paolo Maurensig translated from the Italian by Anne Milano

Mouthful of Earth by Branimir Šćepanović translated from the Serbian (Montenegro) by Lovett F. Edwards

Dark Lies The Island by Kevin Barry (Fjord of Killary)

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

Codex 1962: A Trilogy by Sjón translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb

AudioBooks
Something new for me this year, listening to audiobooks. The future for this format is very exciting I think, with more money being spent on more dramatic presentations.

True Grit by Charles Portis read by Donna Tart

Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas (Richard Burton amongst others..)

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov read by Julian Rhind-Tutt

The Sundial by Shirley Jackson read by Kirsten Potter

Movies
From this year..

Sentimental Value (Norway) 8 / 10

Motel Destino (Brazil) 8 / 10

The Life of Chuck 8 / 10

Weapons 8 / 10

Sinners 9 / 10 – Film of the Year

Sujo (Mexico) 8 / 10

Good One 8 / 10

Dearest Sister (Laos) 8 / 10

Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Centre of the Earth (Ukraine) 8 / 10 documentary

Lombard (Poland) 8 / 10 documentary

His Three Daughters 8 / 10

Vaazhai (India) 8 / 10

No Other Choice (South Korea) 9 / 10

Older
Requiem for a Dream 2000 8 / 10

From Beyond The Grave 1974 9 / 10

Dr Terror’s House of Horrors 1965 9 / 10

The Kings of the World (Colombia) 2022 9 / 10

The Disaster Artist 2017 8 / 10

The Fall 2006 8 / 10

Night Train 1959 (Poland) 8 / 10

Series
Not a great year… but I am hard to please..

Shōgun 8 / 10

The House of Guinness 8 / 10

Dept Q 8 / 10

Get Millie Black 8 / 10

Shorter drama, concealed under the misleading title of humour..

The Rehearsal 9 / 10 (I’m still on season one, hurrying to get caught up..)

Atlanta Season 4 10 / 10 Outstanding..

The Bear Season 4 9 / 10

Older stuff
I’m working my way through The Twilight Zone midway through Season 2, episodes from the year I was born. Odd episodes can be 9s though some are more dated. I alternate it with Alfred Hitchcock Presents, I’ve just finished Season 1 from 1956, similarly, odd ones are excellent. Some of the episodes in both programmes are written by authors who are considered today to be special; Cornell Woolrich, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch and Roald Dahl.