The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck
it’s absolutely fine and that’s why it’s not
Category: Book Review
The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
we’re not in Earthsea any more…
The Baby Is Mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite
short and sweet novelette with a lot going for it
Baby, Bring Back 1997 by Scott Laudati
a premium usa contemporary prose chapbook
Viriconium by M. John Harrison
almost 600 pages of not really my thing maybe
The Good Die Young: The Verdict on Henry Kissinger, edited by Rene Rojas, Bhaskar Sunkara and Jonah Walters
now that’s what i call henry kissenger
video: a sad evening in london making LEGO
why live when you could watch this???
The Third Man by Graham Greene
reading the script of a very acclaimed film…
Provenance by Ann Leckie
unexpectedly not on holiday, I read something light
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel
notes on a brief bought of heady influenza
In Limbo by deb jj lee
a book that potentially argues it’s worse to be depressed than abusive???
Against the Written Word by Ian F. Svenonius
a gen xer performing cynicism without realising it *has* gone out of style
Sorcerer by Ed Atkins & Steven Zultanski
i liked this play… does that mean it was terrible???
video: a morning in Delhi
in november i spent a morning in delhi
Getting By In Tligolian by Roppotucha Greenberg
excellent non-realist novella about public transport time travel
This Is Not A Novel by David Markson
it is a novel, but it’s a good one
Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris (True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse Book #6)
Yes, Charlaine Harris is the American Marcel Proust.
The Wind’s Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin
some of the best fiction you’re likely to find… plus some stories that aren’t
video: Riyadh by Day
in early November i spent ten hours(ish) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The Looking Glass War by John Le Carré
accidentally read a serious novel when i wanted a trash
XXXMAS SPECTACULAR 2023: DADDY CHRISTMAS, HE’S GONNA COME (IF YOU WANT IT)
an xxxmas gift from me and mine to you and yours
Aftermath by Rachel Cusk
excellent short book on breaking up and live-in domestic servants
Artemisia by Anna Banti
i struggle with a post over several busy days
Conditional Tense by Antjie Krog
a serious South African book about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
video: Cyprus by Night
i spent a few hours in cyprus en route to the east
Dune 5: Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert
how u dune? ur dune very well if ur dune 5
Driftglass by Samuel R Delany
time passes but the present and the futures we imagine don’t
Dead As A Doornail by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse #5)
some of my best friends are the vampires from True Blood
Adorable by Ida Marie Hede
reflections-on-a-serious-book-as-i-begin-my-journey-to-the-west
Journey to the East by Herman Hesse
on travel when depressed: it’s a balm, a binge, a fling, that feels good but fixes nothing
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
havin a live laugh love moment like a much simpler poet
The Hill of Devi by E.M. Forster
reading another of Forster’s late, weak (maybe pointless?) books
Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy
is it manic pixie incest dream girl or is it actually very good???
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
thoughts on a book read on a trip
Monkey In The Ruins Volume Three: Pripyat & the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Mark Beechill
a short text about visiting that Chernobyl as a tourist
A Load of Shit by John Berger
some notes on a pamphlet on poo
Mermaid Fillet by Mia Arderne
arguable masterpiece from a south african indie press
Drive Your Plough Over The Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
refreshing, uplifting and far from cloying depiction of someone living an ideal life
The Crystal World by JG Ballard
my dog’s toy duck is named “jg mallard” but i dont mention that in the post
The Wind Blows Away Our Words by Doris Lessing
getting political with Doris in the eighties
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih
an interesting Sudanese novel from the sixties
Malcolm Lowry: A Preface To His Fiction by Richard K. Cross
a fun read for a Lowry fan but probably little interest for others
Dead To The World by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse #4)
the sookie stackhouse fun continues
Kanye West Superstar by Byron Crawford
eeeeee it’s a little bit sexist
Joan Didion: The Last Interview
oh yes i didion’t
Spontaneous Particulars: The Telepathy of Archives by Susan Howe
interesting intellectualised essay on the beauty of physical literary archives
video: a weekend trip to North West Wales
a weekend trip to wales in the rain
A Handbook of Disappointed Fate by Anne Boyer
a great (as in “very good” not “large”) collection of prose from an acclaimed american poet
Call For The Dead by John Le Carré
are you a #bondboy or #smileyman?
Under The Banner of King Death by David Lester & Marcus Rediker
oh, a pirate’s life for me (without the fish-based diet and violence)
Triumph Of The Now 