I read this most every holiday season as well as watch the Denholm Elliot BBC dramatization. It’s on YouTube. The poetic language is beautiful heard aI read this most every holiday season as well as watch the Denholm Elliot BBC dramatization. It’s on YouTube. The poetic language is beautiful heard aloud. The story is funny, sentimental and tender and brings me back to my childhood every time.
“She said the right thing, always. She looked at the three tall firemen in their shining helmets, standing among the smoke and cinders and dissolving snowballs, and she said: “Would you like anything to read?”
“One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now and out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep.”...more
“It’s fruitcake weather!” Thank you Ann Patchett for recommending this absolutely lovely Christmas story by Truman Capote. I’d never heard of it but w“It’s fruitcake weather!” Thank you Ann Patchett for recommending this absolutely lovely Christmas story by Truman Capote. I’d never heard of it but will add it to my annual holiday indulgences, along with Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales. ...more
Sisters looking out for each other and the kindness of community in this otherwise sad story set in a Norwegian city during the Christmas season. The Sisters looking out for each other and the kindness of community in this otherwise sad story set in a Norwegian city during the Christmas season. The story became murky and muddled towards the end. ...more
Lovely colour illustrations and fun anecdotes of over 100 independent bookstores around the world, with the majority featured in USA. From the book, mLovely colour illustrations and fun anecdotes of over 100 independent bookstores around the world, with the majority featured in USA. From the book, my own bucket list - City Lights - San Francisco, USA El Ateneo Grand Splendid - Buenos Aires, Argentina Shakespeare & Co - Paris, France Words on the Water - London, England Powell's Books - Portland, USA Parnassus Books - Nashville, USA Livraria Lello - Porto, Portugal and a few I've been to - Elliot Bay Books - Seattle, USA Richard Booth's Bookshop, Hay-on-Wye, Wales Munro's Books - Victoria, Canada ...more
Aubrey Gordon, creator of the Your Fat Friend platforms, shines a light on fat stereotypes in media, bias in employment and in health care. She calls Aubrey Gordon, creator of the Your Fat Friend platforms, shines a light on fat stereotypes in media, bias in employment and in health care. She calls for changes in laws and cultural attitudes. Well researched and gives plenty to think about for people of any size. Listened to the audiobook, read by the author....more
Thank you RWK for a better kind of economics book.
Ecological economy - "how we organize ourselves to sustain life and enhance its quality. It's a wayThank you RWK for a better kind of economics book.
Ecological economy - "how we organize ourselves to sustain life and enhance its quality. It's a way of considering how we provide for ourselves." p28 ... and Gift economics. – "nurtures the community bonds that enhance mutual well-being; the economic unit is "we" rather than "I". p31
"I store my meat in the belly of my brother. " p30...more
First go at Billy Collins poetry. Enjoyed most of them, especially -
Contemporary Americans The Wild Barnacle Irish Spider Talking to Myself Ireland FloFirst go at Billy Collins poetry. Enjoyed most of them, especially -
Contemporary Americans The Wild Barnacle Irish Spider Talking to Myself Ireland Floating on a Map of the World
In the poem, The Card Players, cleverly he references Cezanne … and … Bugs Bunny.
Several poems relating to his travels … Hawaii. Italy. Ireland. ...more
Author Chloe Dalton was not an animal person and not particularly an outdoorsy nature lover either. During the pandemic she left London for the countrAuthor Chloe Dalton was not an animal person and not particularly an outdoorsy nature lover either. During the pandemic she left London for the countryside to work from home. While out on a stroll, she discovered an abandoned newborn hare - a leveret - that changed her life in ways she could not begin to predict. Keeping her contact with the un-named hare (she doesn't want it to be a pet) to a minimum, she intervenes just enough to ensure it survives and mostly observes with fascination its habits and personality. Beautiful, clear, informative writing with facts about hares; they're capable of superfetation, for their size they're faster than cheetahs and they smell like digestive biscuits. To be in the hare's proximity, Dalton is often drawn out of her cozy home and into nature, noticing much she hadn't before, and challenging modern farming practices. A few years ago I loved Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk but I now think H is for .... Hare. Readers of Macdonald's memoir and Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass will find much to love in this absolute treasure of a book that shows how we can be expanded if we remain open to new experiences.
"I am content with the small part of her life that overlaps with mine. Ours are different worlds. She can cross into mine, but hers will always be out of reach to me, and that is as it should be." p267...more
First novel I've read set in Oman. It was interesting to learn about a setting unfamiliar to me, from the ancient falaj / aflaj canals to the modern cFirst novel I've read set in Oman. It was interesting to learn about a setting unfamiliar to me, from the ancient falaj / aflaj canals to the modern capital city of Muscat. That being said, this is an introspective novel focussed on the emotional lives of milk-sisters Ghazaala and Asiya who drift in and out of each others lives. While the setting was unfamiliar to me, the themes of friendship, romantic love and motherhood are ones I'm often drawn to. The writing is poetic and while I did enjoy sections as I was reading, I didn't find myself pulled to pick it up to find out what happened next. ...more
In poet Safiya Sinclair's beautifully written memoir I learned about both the history of Rastafarianism and her parents' interpretation of it. Not jusIn poet Safiya Sinclair's beautifully written memoir I learned about both the history of Rastafarianism and her parents' interpretation of it. Not just reggae, ganja and dreadlocks, but also the subordination of women and the harsh discipline of children. Her father condemned and raged against Babylon while yearning for its trappings. "It was a shock to me how unsteadily our world teetered, how quickly my father had become a hurricane." Her mother did her best to protect her children. "How could one live under the influence of a partner so long that any other possibility seemed terrifying." Like Tara Westover's memoir, Educated, Safiya and her siblings gain a wider view of the world through schooling. For Safiya, poetry is the way she finds her voice and her independence. "I knew then that I could build myself a world that was beyond his reach. That on the page, I was not the princess, I was the dragon."...more
The Message delivered! These essays are both personal and political. At just over 200 pages, Ta-Nehisi Coates's clear, concise writing never rambles, The Message delivered! These essays are both personal and political. At just over 200 pages, Ta-Nehisi Coates's clear, concise writing never rambles, it gets to the point. He is a deep thinker and relentlessly curious, even when that curiosity leads him to uncomfortable answers that challenge what he thought he knew.
"I am thinking of young writers everywhere whose task is nothing less than doing their part to save the world." ...more
"This is a picture book, but it's not a children's book." It's an illustrated chapter book - an all ages fable. It’s filled with Trevor Noah's wit and"This is a picture book, but it's not a children's book." It's an illustrated chapter book - an all ages fable. It’s filled with Trevor Noah's wit and humour and Sabina Hahn's whimsical illustrations of a boy (who looks like a young Trevor Noah) and his teddy bear ... and waffles and snails. It's "a book about that undiscovered country just beyond the shadow of home, and the lessons we learn in that unpredictable landscape." Lessons in being curious, listening and resolving conflict. If you liked "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse", and really, who didn't?!, you'll like "Into the Uncut Grass". ...more
Earliest chronically in the Love Medicine trilogy, I've loved meeting the cast of characters from Matchimanito as Elder Nanapush recalls family storieEarliest chronically in the Love Medicine trilogy, I've loved meeting the cast of characters from Matchimanito as Elder Nanapush recalls family stories to his grand daughter Lulu. Whether funny or shocking or violent or tragic, there are many memorable scenes and I won’t wait long to return to this series.
"We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall."
"But once the bureaucrats sink their barbed pens into the lives of Indians, the paper starts flying, a blizzard of legal forms, a waste of ink by the gallon, a correspondence to which there is no end or reason. That's when I began to see what we were becoming, and the years have borne me out: a tribe of file cabinets and triplicates, a tribe of single-space documents, directives, policy. A tribe of pressed trees. A tribe of chicken-scratch that can be scattered by a wind, diminished to ashes by one struck match."...more
Listened to this audiobook dense with information about places in the world I'd rarely thought about. Sometimes depressing, occasionally hopeful and eListened to this audiobook dense with information about places in the world I'd rarely thought about. Sometimes depressing, occasionally hopeful and endlessly fascinating. Thanks Zoe, for the recommendation!...more
A well written debut with an excellent premise but oh my, this was a challenging read, especially the early chapters. Shedding light on the brutal abuA well written debut with an excellent premise but oh my, this was a challenging read, especially the early chapters. Shedding light on the brutal abuse and violence inflicted on Korean women through the Korean and Second World Wars, Ms Mook does what she has to to survive. I had to skim some of the more graphic scenes. In the later chapters where the pieces of this puzzle of a novel come together, there is a powerful ending. From victim to survivor to a woman taking agency over her life, I wish I'd liked this more.
P230 “Sometimes, Mihee, the biggest deception of all, and the kindest there is, is the be deceived. That could mean invaluable comfort to the other, sweetheart."
P244 “Sometimes the only and best thing you can give to others suffering is your ears.”...more
I loved Alyan’s novel, Salt Houses and a follow her activism and non fiction writing via her Instagram so, I wanted to try her poetry. Political and pI loved Alyan’s novel, Salt Houses and a follow her activism and non fiction writing via her Instagram so, I wanted to try her poetry. Political and personal poems chronicling her young adulthood, by her twenty ninth year she's experienced a lot. Angry, frustrated, disillusioned, melancholic.
I'm Not Speaking First "I want to love something without having to apologize for it."
Gospel:Diaspora "sometimes I wear a cowboy hat sometimes I wear a kaffiyeh" ...more
I love learning history through a well researched novel. Three characters, centuries apart but geographically connected by two rivers, the Thames and I love learning history through a well researched novel. Three characters, centuries apart but geographically connected by two rivers, the Thames and Tigris, and metaphysically connected through a single drop of water. "Water remembers. It's people who forget."
Mesopotamian history, lamassus, the goddess Niisaba, the beautiful culture and the persecution of Yazidi peoples, the British Museum, the role of libraries and the 3,000 lines long, 3,000 year old poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Elif Shafak is a gentle teacher so, although I was intimidated going into this novel, I was soon swept up in the characters' stories and the stealth learning woven into the plot had me Googling and learning all the way through. For me that didn't detract from the novel, it enhanced it.
As each chapter took me back to either Arthur, Narin and Zaleekhah's story, I fell further in love with them and marvelled at the way Shafak created connections in their stories and even with me.
An immersive, empathetic, epic novel. One of my favourites of the year. ...more
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