MARCH 2024 READING ROUNDUP

Miss Benson’s Beetle – Rachel Joyce. A Re-Read. Hardcover. What a marvelous story. How the unloved and unlovable Miss Benson goes in search of the fabled gold flower beetle of New Caledonia,  hampered by her assistant, the exuberant Enid Pretty. Their lives are transformed during their search,  which becomes a struggle for survival. The story was as fresh and satisfying as the first time around.   Highly recommended.

All the following titles are e-books.

How to be the Best Damn Faery Godmother in the World (or Die Trying ) – Helen Harper. Which has got to be one of the longest sub-titles in publishing history.  I read the entire series: Wishful Thinking,  Wish List, As you Wish, and Best Wishes.  Contemporary grown-up  Fantasy: office politics, faery godmothers being abducted, who is behind the crimes? Plus human interest stories en route. Well written too; a refreshing change. Enjoyable.

A Collision of Calamities . Book #7 in the Gobbelino London series by Kim M Watt. An Action packed finale to the series; Good triumphs over Evil but only after a cataclysmic battle, that really is Armageddon.  Kim Watt manages to include  all the major characters from the preceding 6 books in the grand finale. My favourite characters are the fearsome sorcerer, Ms Jones, wearing Doc Martens and riding a motorcycle, not to be trifled with. And, of course,  Gobbelino, the talking cat . For fans of grown-up*, paranormal, urban  Fantasy, I can confidently recommend this  5* series. I loved it.

The Thin Woman – Dorothy Cannell.   A Rom-Com mystery.  Ellie, overweight and unhappy, hires Ben to pretend to be her boyfriend for a family reunion. After a slow start we finally get a feel-good ending. Engaging characters. A light read.

*grown-up – I hesitate to use the word adult-fantasy-fiction, because these days, the word ‘adult’ generally indicates a sex-fest on every page, which is not the case here. Hence my use of the term grown-up.

FEBRUARY 2024 READING ROUNDUP

Another triumph for Tan Twan Eng with his third Malaysian novel: The House of Doors.

I particularly enjoyed the evocative Malaysian setting, during British colonial times (1910 – 1920 ) and the lyrical prose  in some sections. Johnathan Lee writes: An amazingly transporting novel about love, desire and duty. It does what the very best stories do –  it draws us into many fascinating worlds at once: the British Empires’ incursions into South East Asia, the secret life of one of England’s best writers and a forgotten murder trial  playing out in the Kuala Lumpur courts a century ago.”

The novel will feature in my year-end Best Reads of the Year, and will appeal to fans of literary novels.  An outstanding read, both for content and style. Highly recommended.

FICTION

The House of Doors – Tan Twan Eng .  Outstanding literary novel.

Just One damn Thing after Another: the Chronicles of  St Mary’s  series #1 – Jodi Taylor. A jolly good, rollicking read. An original take on the old theme of time travel. History revisited (literally), plenty of action & Boys’ Own adventure, plus a dry wit. A happy discovery – I can’t wait to read the next one!

  A Symphony of Echoes: #2 The Chronicles of St Mary’s – Jodi Taylor. Another rollicking adventure: The hanging Gardens of Babylon, Elizabethan England, and the hilarious team building exercise in 1666 Mauritius, hunting dodos.  Priceless!

New York Valentine – Carmen Reid.  Annie Valentine  & daughter  Lauren hit NYC on a mission to save The Perfect Dress business set up by BFF Svetlana and her daughter Elena. More Fashion, fun, romance and a charming feel-good read.  Recommended

Lost on a Page – David E Scott. A glorious mish-mash of genres: SF, Historical Romance, Tolkienesque Fantasy and crime noir, plus input from the 3 baffled  authors whose books-in-progress start to write themselves. Loads of action and adventure. 100% fun and fast

NON-FICTION    

KEPT: A Househusband in Paris – Gregory E Buford.  Greg and the 3 kids tackle a 2 year stint in Paris, while Mom is working her day job at the US Embassy Paris.  He and the kids love Paris, and being part of French life. His Aunt Ethel, from Texas, comes for a visit and the ensuing Visitor from Hell chapter  was both funny and horrendous. An enjoyable read.

JANUARY 2024 READING ROUNDUP

My 2024  reading year  got off to a good start, with the Martin McInnes literary novel , followed  by the Richard Osman Thursday Murder Club novel.

Notable that two of my most enjoyable fiction reads were written by writers (Osman and Das) who have strong backgrounds in the world of  TV productions /writing and I think this is what makes their books so readable. There’s plenty of action, stuff happens and the plots whisk along. Yes, the books both have moments of introspection, moral dilemmas, poignant decisions so there is emotional depth to the stories. But, mainly, the narrative moves.

FICTION

In Ascension – Martin MacInnes. Stunning 3^rd novel from Scottish experimental writer, if you enjoy SF do not miss! And non-SF fans will also enjoy.  See my review 20 Jan, on this blog.

The Last Devil to Die. #4 Thursday Murder Club series.  – Richard Osman. Unputdownable comic mystery notable for endearing cast of characters, a lovable dog, plus a wild fox; the crime plot works, but I read the series for the characters. A cracking good read!

In the Time of our History – Susanne Pari. Another Americandiaspora novel; Persian/Iranian  culture give women short shrift. An autocratic patriarch versus his wayward daughter who refuses to bow to his traditional plans for her life, and opts for independence and a career. The family dynamics and insights into Persian culture made this an engrossing read. Recommended

Never Meant to Stay – Trisha Das. Insert a childhood friend into a dysfunctional Bombay family and watch the fireworks. Indian rom-com with a hilarious wedding debacle finale. Entertaining light read.

The Next to Last Stand – Craig Johnson. Walt Longmire rides again, tangles with art theft from an American veteran, and delivers chunks of history about Custer’s Last Stand. One for the fans and afficionados of History of the Old Wild West.

The Depth of Winter – Craig Johnson.  Walt Longmire rushes off to Mexico to rescue his daughter who’s been kidnapped by a particularly nasty Mexican drug cartel. The action does not stop but the ensuing challenges, fights and general mayhem nearly put an end to the heroic sheriff. Tough and wily he may be, but not indestructible.  Throughout all the mayhem, Walt doggedly sticks to his personal moral code which costs him dear. An excellent read.

NON-FICTION

The Anthropocene Reviewed – John Greene . I didn’t read all the essay, some were very America-centric, so I gave them a miss. But I read about 60 % of the book, and what I particularly enjoyed was the Writer’s long, long perspective ranging back millions of years, into primeval epochs , which certainly puts our confused, aggressive 21^st century into a calmer perspective.

  Reading  the electronic version of JG’s book, I realized that for me, essay collections work better in hardcover format. Many of the essays deserved a slow, thoughtful  read and would benefit from many re-reads, but the LIBBY clock was ticking and telling me I only had another 3 … 2   …. 1   days left to finish my loaned book. Fair enough,  others were queued up to read the book, so I dutifully returned it. However, if I can find a second hand copy, with large-ish print, I shall certainly buy it and have a slow, satisfying re-read.

IN ASCENSION – Martin MacInnes [Book Review]

I fl

I’m still processing what I have read in this extraordinary novel.

I flicked the final page to Closed, and closed my eyes.  My head was teeming with questions. At book’s end, I definitely had more questions than answers.

During my long reading life, over more than 70 years, I have read literally thousands of books, but never anything like this book.

Firstly, it’s a genre blender of a novel. Yes, its SciFi. But: its also an eco-cli novel . It’s also a psychological portrait of a dysfunctional family: abusive father Geert, distant mother Fenna, scarred  eldest child Leigh (the main narrator), little sister Helena, who assumes the role of oldest child.

So the long novel ( 700+ pages in print, 1000 in e-bk)  has breadth, depth, nuance plus a ton of info about our solar system, the universe, and space travel. Despite this, and despite the leisurely pacing and detailed narrative, I continued to be engaged.

Leigh studies microbiology, and crews on a ship that’s exploring a hitherto  undiscovered deep sea vent, that yields mysterious, inexplicable phenomena. She’s then recruited to work on a secretive space programme that will aim for the very fringe of our known Universe.  The programme director reveals that an Unknown Object has been sighted In the sky, the implications of which are legion, but unclear. 

I found the detailed descriptions of a space travel training programme  interesting and absorbing. The writer  certainly did his homework on this.

To say more about the plot will bring us on to spoiler territory. Suffice to say  no hostile aliens or monsters inhabit this book; no manly heroics or triumphant returns to earth. This is not your Run of the Mill SF space opera.  Far from it.

The novel is a deeply thoughtful exploration of our role in the Universe, our place in the biological hierarchies of Earth, the future of life on Earth. It is a tour de force from a powerful imagination.

The ending offers no conclusive, tidy solutions. Rather, a number of loose strands, interconnected but inconclusive. I will be turning the ideas around in my mind for a long time to come.

Without doubt  the novel will be in my Top Three Reads of 2024.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/22/in-ascension-by-martin-macinnes-review-a-deep-dive-into-sea-and-space

https://lonesomereader.com/   for another in depth review

Martin McInnes was long-listed  for the Booker Prize in 2023.

MY 2023 READING YEAR

Most unusually  I have not been stumbling through the never-ending forests of the Back Lists.

This year I have been on the limitless  steppes of  Kindle-land, catching e-books on my Kindle Fire, close to launch day.

My rudimentary stats reveal that I’ve read around 100 books in 2023, the majority  being  e-books. It needs to be said that most e-books are relatively short –  sometimes novella length, which can be read in a day.

I’ve all but abandoned hard cover books due to the teeny-tiny print. I’ve tried a couple of Large Print books from the Library, which were readable from the vision point of view,  but alas! the Public Library stock is tiny, and the selection limited. So: back to Kindle-land.

For the first time, I’ve read a number of series this year. Between the indefatigable Joffe Books who appear to have an infinite stock of (mainly) British Whodunnits,  and Kindle who offer a vast choice  of cozy crime, romance and paranormal offerings,  I have succumbed.  With varying degrees of success. The three most enjoyable series I read this year were:

Kim M Watt – Gobbelino London: cozy paranormal mystery. Any book offering talking cats has me from page 1.

Ellery Addams – the Miracle Spring Series – female friendship, Bibliotherapy  and feel-good endings.

Carmen Reid – Annie Valentine, Family, Fashion,  Frocks and Fun. A real tonic!

Whilst not falling into the Series category, I found good, light reads in the Indian Diaspora Category, notably books by Amulya Malladi, Sonali Dev, Namrata Patel among others. Some of the novels were set in India, other in the USA. I’ve always enjoyed Indian novels, and  the genre appears increasingly in the e-book world but  in lighter mode,  as opposed to  the heavyweights like Rohinton Mistry and Amitav Ghosh from earlier years.

In past years I’ve followed the Booker Prize. This year, not so much.  Any on-line Booker novel is one hell of a price, so out of my reach. But after my last Booker defeat with Olga Tokarczuk, (The Books of Jacob: all that mud! all that religion!) I think I may be done with  Booker novels.

For what its worth, here are my annual nominations:

BEST READ OF THE YEAR – When I’m Gone, Look for me in the East – Quan Barry.

                                     Highly Original Buddhist themed novel set in Mongolia

4 FIRST RATE NOVELS –           The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty  – Vendela Vida – unpredictable – contemporary

The Perfect Golden Circle – Benjamin Myers – British contemporary – quirky, original

                                                Eyrie – Tim Winton – Australian contemporary – visceral

West with Giraffes – Lynda Rutledge  -American road trip with ecological message                                                                                     

BEST BIOGRAPHY       Terry Pratchett: A life with Footnotes – Rob Wilkins

BEST HUMOUR           Mr Monk is Miserable –  Lee Goldberg. The agonies of a germophobe confronted with Paris. Laugh out loud read (e-bk)

An honourable mention: Simon Brett’s Mrs Pargeter series – tongue in cheek British humour (e-bks)

BEST MEMOIR            Kept: An American Househusband in India – Gregory E Buford. Good humoured account of culture clash (e-bk)

So there we have it, I wonder what your top reads were ?

Finally:   A special thanks  to Book Jotter, who continues to  provide an invaluable  comprehensive weekly review over the bookish world.

NOVEMBER 2023 READING ROUNDUP

I finally read a paperback whodunnit from my TBR shelf: Vaseem Khan’s delightful Baby Ganesh Detective Agency and Bad Day at the Vulture Club. The delightful aspects were Ganesh, the baby elephant, the  morally upright Inspector Chopra retired from the Mumbai Police Force, the Indian setting; not so delightful was the crime  setting in the Parsee Tower of Silence and the vultures. But I’m a fan of Indian novels, and  Khan’s series in particular, so I bravely read on. A great read.

Remainder of my reads were all e-books.

A short Japanese novella, Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukagawa was another notable November read. What intrigued me was not the theme of what-is-the-meaning-of-life, but the background setting about the treatment of leprosy in Japan, which I found shocking. A quiet, poignant novel, very Japanese  in tone and story treatment. Very different.

And then, in much lighter vein, the wonderful, fantastical world of Kim M Watt’s  two PIs: Gobbelino, the snarky talking cat and his human partner, Callum plunged into umpteen dangerous chases, brawls and escapades (Kim W writes exciting  action sequences ). Mysteries, crimes, and a cast of fantastical creatures – a family of gentrified trolls, angry blue imps attacking like mozzies, the fearsome wizard Ms Jones, she of the Doc Maarten boots, a donkey ruminating on existentialism … to mention but a few of the glorious characters. Love the series, can’t wait to read more .

And finally, good old Sherlock Holmes – see further down under Re-Reads.  I enjoyed the solving of the crimes via Holmes extraordinary powers of deduction, but oh! all that Victorian melodrama as the background setting.  Conan Doyle’s version of women as frail, pale creatures given to frequent fainting when life’s little problems popped up …. that jarred.

FICTION

Bad Day at the Vulture Club – Vaseem Khan – see intro

Sweet Bean Paste – Durian Sukagawa, trans. Alice Watt  –  see intro

The House – Teresa Waugh. Post WWII Britain, gracious old houses & aristocrat owners struggle to survive the new world. Very Downton Abbey read, but enjoyable.

Cremains – Rob Johnson . Keystone Cop type criminals  v.s. Amateur ‘Tec Bunglers in the UK.  Meh .

Gobbelino London and a Scourge of Pleasantries – Kim M Watt – A splendid adventure, featuring a powerful female magician in search of her purloined grimoire. Chaos ensues.

Gobbelino London and a Complication of Unicorns – Kim M Watt – Not as pink & pretty as you might imagine. An introduction to mind-boggling reformed, gentrified trolls. Hilarious!

Gobbelino London and a Contagion of Zombies – Kim M Watt – scary! And unputdownable.

RE-READING

A Study in Scarlet – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  – see intro

The Sign of the Four – – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – see intro

NON FICTION

Kept: An American Househusband in India – Gregory E Buford. A culture clash of note,   but good natured throughout. Enjoyable

Don’t Go There: From Chernobyl to North Korea – Adam Fletcher. Title says it all: DON’T GO THERE.  Short travel pieces from a Brit who should know better. A salutary read.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

SEPTEMBER 2023 READING ROUND-UP

This month’s top read is a thought provoking debut  novel: A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi, an accomplished novelist with 9 published novels to her credit.

The trigger event is the historic Bopal gas leak of 1984, which killed nearly 4 000 people and permanently  disabled thousands more, including her fictional heroine Anjali, and her sickly son Amar.

21 year old Anjali is married off by her parents in an arranged marriage to Prakash, an  officer in the Indian Army. The marriage is unhappy from the start, due to Anjali’s immaturity  and romantic fantasies, and Prakash’s womanizing. Then Anjali does the unthinkable. She divorces Prakash. So what? you might be thinking. From a 21^st Western perspective, why not?

From a traditional, conservative Indian perspective this was  beyond shocking: the wife must always make a marriage work, no matter what the circumstances. And if there are problems within the marriage, it is automatically and unquestionably the woman’s fault. India may have entered the space race and the future, but social mores remain stubbornly traditional.

Anjali ultimately re-marries Sandeep, a calm, quiet professor. But: re-enter Prakash. Throw in her family, her ailing son Amar, Sandeep’s unpleasant sister and Prakash’s family,  and trouble ignites.

The novel  is a psychological and social exploration of the three main characters, and raised all sorts of questions in my mind en route. To describe it as a thought provoking read is an understatement. 

The title is skillfully chosen, and the finale of the story is poignant. Memorable, and recommended.

FICTION

A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi.  E-bk. See above.   Not a very long novel, but the content is heavy weight. Those interested in women’s issues will thrive on the book; other readers will find it a memorable read. Recommended.

Serving Crazy with Curry – Amulya Malladi. E-bk.   Mother / daughter conflict through the decades, through the Indian diaspora; and then an unsuccessful suicide attempt  by the daughter  …  which is the catalyst. I enjoy modern Indian novels,  and  Amulya Malladi is not scared of tackling difficult subjects.  A good read.

Celebrity Shopper – Carmen Reid. E-bk. Annie Valentine, together with the fabulous Svetlana, conquer  Paris  Fashion Week, and a 10mile Charity Hill Walk in their Ladies Who Lunch outfits, including high heels – it Fun, Fashion, Family, Froth and Drama every feel-good page of the way.  Carmen Reid gets rom-com 110% right every time.  My fave Rom-com writer.

Understanding  the British – Adam Fletcher. E-bk.   Blurb says: A hilarious guide from Apologising to Wimbledon .Fletcher is a funny man, no doubt about it. I’m not sure all hi sfellow Brits would agree! But: If you need a super light and funny  read,  buy this one.

The Charity Shop Detective Agency – Peter Boland.  E-bk. Well written, with quite a twisty plot. A charming  fox terrier called Simon le Bon, and three older ladies who tackle the crimes. I’m looking forward to the next book.   An enjoyable cozy crime.

The Lost Bookshop- Evie Woods.  E-bk.  If you’re in the mood for a bookish Fantasy read, laced with incredible magic, a historical background, and Gothic undertones, you will adore the book.  If you tackle the book with a critical eye, then you will not enjoy the book. An enchanting (literally) Fantasy read.

NON- FICTION

The Crinkle Crankle Wall – Sabina Ostrowska. E-bk See my review, posted on  21 Sept 23. A candid, humorous account of moving to Andalusia, Spain,  in search of the perfect rustic life. Reality clashes with dreams and inexperience. An engaging, authentic read. Very enjoyable.

A hoopoe on the Nispero Tree – Sabina Ostrowska. E-bk. Book 2 in the ongoing saga of Sabina and Robert, in their new Andalusian life on their olive farm.  Ditto above.

Don’t Come Back – Weird Travel series #2 – Adam Fletcher. E-bk.  Winner of the Writer’s Digest Memoir Award. Fletcher tells us about his forays into South Africa, Cuba and Indonesia. Fairly lighthearted, somewhat stereotypical, but overall it was entertaining. I was going to quibble about the South African section, but in view of the author’s plea to promote his books, decided to err on the side of generosity. Enjoyable armchair travel.

Sabina Ostrowska moves to Andalusia [book review]

 We all have daydreams about a new, idyllic life – a sophisticated apartment in New York? owning a Game Farm? Living a green, sustainable life and escaping our rushed, digital world?  Two  people turned a daydream into reality: Sabina Ostrowska and husband Robert Ryan were living the Expat life in  the  glitzy, materialistic UAE, where Consumerism is King,  but life as expat academics lost its charm after 8 years, and the dream of a simple rustic life in Spain grew more and more alluring.After many years of watching TV program Grand Design anchored by Kevin McLeod who always displays boundless confidence regarding owner/builder projects, they were inspired to buy  a rustic farm cottage in Andalusia, situated on an olive farm, near the small town of Montefrio .  They planned to  renovate and upscale the cottage to provide a rustic holiday retreat, and a future income. I wonder if  Kevin McLeod has read Sabina’s account of their project? He & his TV programme have a lot to answer for!Book 1, The Crinkle Crankle Wall relates the difficulties, dramas, toil and travails of emigrating to Spain, dealing with Spanish bureaucracy (a nightmare), especially when you don’t speak Spanish; experiencing the harsh Andalusian winter weather, living in terrible conditions on what was more of a building site than anything else;  lack of water on their property …. The misery goes on and on, but Sabina and Robert gamely press on and Book 1 ends with her brave declaration  that despite everything,  their new life  is what they want.Book 2, A Hoopoe on the Nispero Tree continues in much the same vein. Sabina give a good humoured and very candid account  of their ignorance and incompetence in building matters; their haphazard  way of living and tackling tasks; their initial almost complete lack of Spanish …. Luckily for the couple, their farming neighbours were  helpful and supportive despite the language barriers. Another godsend were  YouTube Tutorials which  proved to be invaluable.At the ending of Book 2,  lack of money is hampering their desire for full time  farm living. What to do? Book3, Olive Leaf Tea awaits, and I’m looking forward to reading it.  

JULY 2023 READING ROUNDUP

West with Giraffes – Lynda Rutledge. The quirky  title hooked me in the first instance and the event filled story in the second.

 Orphaned 1938 Dust-bowl Okie farm-boy survivor, Woody Nickel hitches to his cousin on the east coast, but then along comes a mammoth storm that uproots him all over again. He’s bewitched by the sight of two crated giraffes being unloaded on the dockside, and he follows them, clear across the country, from East to, California, in the fabled West.   I’m not a huge fan of Road Trip novels, but this one had me reading avidly.  Survival, disaster, adventure, romance – it’s all there. Young Woody’s cross-Continental trip is his coming of age odyssey too.

A great read.  I wish I had the book as a hard copy and not an e-book, because it’s a story that merits re-reading.

I’ve already tagged the novel to appear in my Top Five Reads for 2023.

FICTION

West with Giraffes – Lynda Rutledge . E-bk.   A road-trip novel, the title says it all. Literally.  A 5 star read: adventure, drama, history, romance, crime, tragedy, an eco-theme, this novel has it all. A 5* read – try not to miss it.   Book is available in other formats.

The Shepherd’s Crown – Terry Pratchett.  The very last book from the unique, inimitable Sir TP. Perhaps not his best, but a fitting  finale to a plethora of fantasy satire books set on the Discworld. Fans will relish it, and definitely shed a tear.        Recommended.

Shopping with the Enemy – Carmen Reid. E-bk. Fashion – Mothers v.s. Daughters.  Family – evil ex-husbands. Figures –  terrifying spa regime. Fun and fast. Great entertainment

So Shall you Reap – Donna Leon. Her Venetian crime novels, featuring Inspector Guido Brunetti, are one of my firm favourites. I read her books  for the characters and the authentic Venetian setting. I don’t much care Whodunnit, but I am invested in her stock characters, and the daily Venetian life which she so  faithfully portrays. A must for Brunetti/Leon fans.

The Mango Season – Amulya Malladi. E-bk. Oh! the agonies of choice:  Family or Fiancee? Live in India or the USA? Culture v s modern lifestyle? Thank goodness I’m thoroughly Western and don’t have to face such heart breaking choices.  Fans of  Indian novels will enjoy this one. I did.

Mr Monk is Miserable – Lee Goldberg. E-bk. The title says it all. Natalee foolishly bullies Monk into a Paris trip: bodies everywhere, many excursions into subterranean Paris. The highlight of Monk’s trip is being able to clean the Avenue des Champs- Élysées  on an automatic street cleaning machine. Obsessions rule. But hey! This is Mr Monk. Great fun.

Wild Fire – Ann Cleeves. An Inspector Jimmy Perez/Shetland Islands whodunnit.  A nuanced, well written novel. Ann Cleeves has written over 30 critically acclaimed novels, won awards for crime writing.  Life on a remote island is by no means the escape or paradise that people fondly imagine. Dark emotions, gossip,  and jealousy abound.  Crime fans will enjoy.

The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder – Victoria Dowd. E-bk.  A country house setting for a classic whodunnit, taking place in current times.  Some very unpleasant characters try to establish who is  bumping them off, one by one. Well written and plotted, but not for me. Whodunnit fans will enjoy the convoluted plot.

MID-YEAR READING 2023

I meant to write this in June, but hey!  It’s winter and the idea froze in my brain …

What’s happened in my reading world thus far? 

An awful lot of e-books, because I joined Kindle Unlimited and found myself up to my eyebrows in cozy mysteries.  Some were pretty good, most were okay, and a few were dreadful. But they suited my troublesome eyesight.

  So many print books have teen tiny print that defeats me.  That’s the problem with buying books online, frequently they turn out to be  unreadable, due to the print size.  So: no more online purchases for me.

Up until 30 June, I’d read 39 books. I have no reading targets, because  I find them limiting and distracting.  I firmly believe reading is not a competitive sport. This year I didn’t even set a TBR goal. Instead, I’ve cleared out my shelves by donating unread books to a worthy animal charity, so that seriously trimmed the TBR backlog. A few hardy survivors remain.

In January I had a grand plan to cover the entire year.  Every day I would read a few pages from one of these books:

Inspired by my daily reading of Lev Parikian’s charming book Light Rain Sometimes Falls during 2022, a process I enjoyed, I thought : why not continue the process? What a good idea!  Except follow-through somehow became derailed.  I have no idea where Mason Curry’s Daily Rituals   has wandered off to, and I only started reading Mzanzi Zen 2 weeks ago.

A few pages of Anthony Osler’s approach to Zen in daily life is invigorating and restorative. I enjoy anecdotes of life on a remote olive farm in Colesberg, in the Eastern Cape. Osler sprinkles his stories with Zen haikus, Koans, poems, and the black and white photographs speak volumes.

Highlight of the year, thus far, was the Mongolian novel  When I’m gone, Look for me in the East  by Quan Barry.

I’m looking forward to the current Booker Prize winning novel, Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov.

Other than that, a recent discovery that the Mr Monk TV series books are available on Kindle brought a smile to my dial.

I also intend exploring the Large Print section of the Public Library system.  Each Library has a small selection of titles, fingers crossed that they are not all Whodunnits and historicals! I live in hope.