This, the first read of the New Year proves that everything doesn't have to be at the speed of light in order to have presence and worth. It reads as multilayered modern language with a poetic heart. Passages, especially those you may most identify with, are so chunkily filled with concepts, observations and experiences to …
Category: sharing book titles
The Bookseller’s Tale by Martin Latham
Where can you find Paolo Sarpi and Mick Jagger, the earliest book peddlers and Nazi's, comfort reads and medieval marginalia, bouqinistes and UNESCO bookstalls, shy nerds and arrogant pedants? The answer is...in Martin Latham's book. Not only is the subject matter varied, but so too is the wide variety of characters you meet along the …
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
I read Haroun and the Sea of Stories recently (the book however is 30 years old) and it smacks of right now even after all this time. The author, all those years ago, wrote this fantastical tale for his eleven year old son Zafar. Don't be fooled, though, into thinking it is in any way …
Fiction therapy
During the past five months of change, I have turned to books and movies for their cerebral sustenance and the comforting familiar ritual they provide. Amidst all the tumult and unknown variables, having books around me offers the same feeling of protection as a big strong hug. At the end of days replete with antagonistic …
It’s coming…
We are just now dipping our toes into fall, and already there is the frisson of Christmas in the air. Briskness of breezes and warm cozy accoutrements gently tug at our memory strings. Those living overseas find it normal to shop for and ship their Christmas parcels in the fall to ensure they make it …
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
If you loved Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, then prepare yourself for Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. Douglas Stuart's mastery of tempo, tone and detailed description produces physical reactions whilst reading. There are many stories about poverty and alcoholism. Families on any given street in any given country and from all walks of life could …
For whatever mood you are in
Triage of reads that, in my opinion, work well together When you are in the mood for some deep introspection Romanticism, yearning, disappointment, betrayal in much earlier times. Nail biting action, fast paced and adrenalin pumping reads you can chew on. The raunchier, experimental, freer side of living and writing. (Bukowski title in English is: …
Before Miss Manners there was Washington
I just finished reading, almost in one breath, The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. Interesting to the book, after the formidable writing of course!, are photos (found at the beginning of each chapter) taken by Walker Evans (mostly known for his photos of the Great Depression). Between 1938 and 1941 Evans rode the New …
Sharing books
My sister first introduced me to Anne Perry and her historical (Victorian era) detective fiction. Her two most popular series are The Monk Mysteries set in the 1850s/60s and the Thomas Pitt Mysteries set in the 1880s/90s. She also has a WWI series and a Christmas series along with loads of other works. Her evocation …
Sharing books
They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera For those of you that read the last page of a book and then begin the actual story...this time the author has called you out. As you can plainly see, the ending of the book has taken pride of place in the title. Difficult to talk …
Manu writes 