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Continue reading →: International Booker Longlist – Wish List
It’s that time of year again.. well, at least I’m excited about it. The announcement of the Longlist for the International Booker Prize, which will be made next Tuesday, 24th February. I’ve read almost fifty novels that will qualify. For the last few years I have enjoyed naming my favourites…
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Continue reading →: Aftermath of Storm NilsStorm Nils has devastated this area of southern France. There is a lot of flooding with many residents having to leave their homes. Though the area is liable to floods there has not been anything as serious as this in living memory. 90 mph winds brought trees down as well,…
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Continue reading →: Berlin Shuffle by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz
translated from the German by Philip Boehm – originally published in 1927, translated edition in December 2025 This is a tremendous piece of writing, though its subject matter, the resilience of characters just about surviving in the squalor of 1920s Berlin, is bleak and depressing. It is set in a…
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Continue reading →: The Dead Don’t Bleed by Neil Rollinson
British Literature – Published 2026 In his debut novel Rollinson sticks to material with which he is familiar; he grew up in Newcastle in the 1970s and that forms the backdrop for a good portion of this novel; a city in the midst of industrial decay with its dying coalfields,…
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Continue reading →: Big Rivers – Stormy DaysI knew that to head over the Pyrenees would mean a big change in the weather, but the forecast on the southern side in Spain was not good for the next week anyway. On Monday morning I made the journey, heading first of all into Andorra for a stamp in…
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Continue reading →: There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
British Literature – published 2020 – science fiction I was inquisitive about this, as I had read several good reviews, though I usually don’t read this sort of mix of science fiction and cosmic horror. The premise also, was enticing, turning the idea of memes on its head. A meme…
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Continue reading →: Serra d’OsDespite the storms battering Portugal and most of Spain the northwest, Catalonia in particular has had a week of fine winter weather, though that does seem to be coming to an end tomorrow. On Friday morning I moved on from Bovera northwards through the city of Lleida to the foothills…
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Continue reading →: Pedro The Vast by Simón López Trujillo
Chilean Literature translated by Robin Myers – Horror – Published August 2025 Pedro is a widower with two children, 16 year old Pato who is on a long suspension from school, and 10 year old Cata. He works on a eucalyptus plantation in the Nahuelbuta mountains of central Chile (a…
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Continue reading →: The Hill in the Dark Grove by Liam Higginson
Welsh Literature – Published 2026 – Folk Horror Higginson’s debut novel is a slow burner, a dark and largely effective Welsh folk horror set in Snowdonia as I knew it (I have spent many wonderful days in these mountains) or Eryri as it is now known. At its heart though,…
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Continue reading →: Sirāt
Spain, France, Morocco – 2026 It’s taken me almost a week to gather my thoughts after seeing this, which is to its credit immediately. The thing was, that I’m still haven’t quite made my mind up about the way the film heads in its last part.. but enough about that,…
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 