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Continue reading →: The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien
This is an outstanding achievement of writing by Madeleine Thien, one that challenges the reader though attention is richly rewarded, a wonderful piece of story-telling.It’s an adventurous piece of work also, defying categorisation into genre. In a haven for those displaced from their homelands called the Sea, a girl cares…
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Continue reading →: Muckle Flugga by Michael Pedersen
Pedersen is the currently the Makar of Edinburgh, the city’s literary ambassador, with a specific role to write poetry about the city. This is his debut novel, a boldly experimental piece set on a remote island and involving just three characters. Muckle Flugga is a few kilometres north west of…
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Continue reading →: Is A River Alive by Robert MacFarlane
Books concerning environmental ethics tend to be depressing; what they tell us is almost all bad news. MacFarlane’s latest therefore, is a breath of fresh air in that he unearths characters that are truly inspirational in their endeavours and their passion for their rivers. Macfarlane travels to, and explores three…
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Continue reading →: An Update From ShapIt’s good fun being back at work again, and in a stressless role. There’s a line in the first season of The Bear when an older experienced front of house at a very smart restaurant explains to Richie (in training) how he made the adjustment from healthcare to working in…
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Continue reading →: Sinners
USA / Canada / Australia 2025 Long may the recent lean towards genre-blending in films continue. Following Emilia Pérez comes this hybrid western / musical / fantasy / horror / drama / comedy piece. Even the music is of stark contrast, from the blues the setting of 1930s Jim Crow…
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Continue reading →: Good One
USA drama 2024 I was foolish enough to say to a friend on Friday that it had been a pretty average year for films so far. The following two nights I watched two films that are the best I’ve seen so far this year, and turn that statement on its…
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Continue reading →: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Climate Fiction – Australia – Published March 2025 This is an entertaining piece of climate fiction that feels exaggerated, and with plenty of convenient coincidences, to reach a wider audience. I can’t really argue with that, or label it as a criticism; it seems the book is getting plenty of…
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Continue reading →: A Carnival of Atrocities by Natalia García Freire
translated from the Spanish (Ecuador) by Victor Meadowcroft – Publsihed April 2025 One day a number of people walk out of their Ecuadorian town of Cocuan, a place that is not on maps, for no apparent reason, other than they see their town as being ‘a carnival of atrocities’. They…
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Continue reading →: Dearest Sister
or Nong Hak – Horror – Laos 2016 A teenage girl from a poor and remote Laos village arrives to the city to after her blind cousin, and finds out that her cousin has the ability to speak to the dead, though neither realise at first, that their messages are…
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Continue reading →: Shap, Cumbria: the hiking season and back to work..I was only back in Shap for 3 days and the hiking season started, which meant work. Though I’ve done a few hours online work each week, I haven’t actually attended for any work for six years, something of a shock to the system. New Ing Lodge provides bed, breakfast…
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 