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Continue reading →: Nature’s Ghosts by Sophie Yeo
Non-fiction – British Literature This was shortlisted for the Wainwright Conservation Prize though didn’t go on to win it, which makes me keen to read the winner, Czerski’s The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works, as if it’s as informative and entertaining as this, I will be in for another…
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Continue reading →: The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
Published 1796 – British Literature At the age of just 19, in 1796, Matthew Lewis wrote what was to be, one of the greatest Gothic novels of all time. Lewis was certainly inspired another English writer of the day, Ann Radcliffe, but he experimented with the conventions of the Gothic…
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Continue reading →: Sannaisten Peninsula – a Ghost StoryThe woman with the dog called Moo, named from the Moomins, who I met a few days ago in the Bothnian Sea National Park, had recommended Sannaisten peninsula and told me about a children’s camp there, that she used to work voluntarily at, and , that she thought would be…
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Continue reading →: Time of the Flies by Claudia Piñeiro
translated from the Spanish (Argentina) by Frances Riddle Published 2024 Inés is reintegrating into society following a fifteen year stretch in prison for killing her husband’s lover. She starts a successful fumigation business in an unlikely partnership with, Manca, a former cell-mate, whose contribution is as a private detective. One…
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Continue reading →: Three Burials by Anders Lustgarten
Contemporary British fiction – published 2024 This is a dark satire of almost every contentious political issue of contemporary Britain; the broken refugee system, the decline of the NHS, the crisis of the Met police, pandemic issues, and the rise in popularity of the extreme right, and that’s not all.…
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Continue reading →: Archipelago DaysThe rain today came with some relief, though the warm temperatures continue. It has been particularly warm at night for the last couple of weeks, meaning that Roja stays outside as late as possible, usually until just before midnight. I’m not keen on hot weather either, which is one of…
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Continue reading →: Keep On Keeping On..A more or less typical day on the road. If for any reason thought turned towards settling down and living in one place for a while, another reason to shelve that and keep on keeping on. Unpredictable. Adventurous – new people, new places. Fun. There were some things I wanted…
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Continue reading →: Rare Singles by Benjamin Myers
Published 2024 – north of England literature Myers is clearly a passionate and versatile writer. I wonder though that sometimes his passion gets the better of him and manifests itself as a sort of whimsical reminiscence in books like The Offing, The Perfect Golden Circle, and this.This is perfectly enjoyable,…
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Continue reading →: The Bothnian Sea National ParkThe Bothnian Sea National Park, or Selkämeri, was established in 2011 and occupies a 160 kilometre strip along the coast. 98% of it is water. There isn’t much hiking or cycling to be done, most of its visitors come for bird-watching, pootling around in a kayak, or diving. Nonetheless I…
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Continue reading →: Notes From An Island by Tove Jannson
translated from the Swedish by Alexander Chee Tove Jannson, a Finn who wrote in Swedish, was best known for her children’s books, The Moomins series, which she began in 1945. These may be her claim to fame, but she had a darker and more humorous heart; “I could vomit all…
To live more widely
supera superiora sequi
SafeReturnDoubtful is my alias.
Where is Andy?
I was so much older then…
Quote of the Week
Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, ‘What road do I take?’ The cat asked, ‘Where do you want to go?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it really doesn’t matter, does it?’
Lewis Carroll
Safe Return Doubtful 