When my reading group started back in 1988, most of us were time-poor mothers so we had a rule-of-thumb that our books could not be longer than 350 pages. Those days, however, are long gone, and some time ago we agreed that our January (aka summer) read could be a BIG book. Last year, for … Continue reading Andrew O’Hagan, Caledonian Road (#BookReview)
Scottish writers
Tom Gauld, Goliath (#BookReview)
It's probably just me, but I hadn't heard of Tom Gauld until a member of my little volunteer indexing team sent me a link to some of his "cultural" cartoons in The Guardian. I was immediately enchanted. And then, he lent me one of Gauld's graphic novels, the above-named Goliath. Being primarily a textual person, … Continue reading Tom Gauld, Goliath (#BookReview)
Sir Walter Scott, Waverley, Vol. 1 (#BookReview)
I admit it, I'm defeated - not because I'm not enjoying it, but because it needs more attention than my distracted brain can give it right now. Consequently, I am posting on just the first volume of Sir Walter Scott's first novel, Waverley. I read it for my Jane Austen meeting last weekend. We did … Continue reading Sir Walter Scott, Waverley, Vol. 1 (#BookReview)
Alexander McCall Smith, The Saturday big tent wedding party (Review)
I have a number of tenets - if that's not too grand a word for it - according to which I read. These include that I don't read series books and I don't read crime. However, the best rules are made to be broken, aren't they? And so, I break mine for our family holiday tradition which is to … Continue reading Alexander McCall Smith, The Saturday big tent wedding party (Review)
Andrew O’Hagan, The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe
Andrew O'Hagan's The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe is a fun - though also serious - book, so I'm going to start with something trivial, just because it will provide a laugh to those who know me: Like all dogs, I take for granted a certain amount … Continue reading Andrew O’Hagan, The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe
John M. Duncan, A Virginia barbecue
Now for something different from the Library of America - a little 3-page excerpt, titled "A Virginia Barbecue", from Scotsman John M. Duncan's Travels through part of the United States and Canada in 1818 and 1819, which was published in 1823. In it, Duncan describes a barbecue to which he was invited by Bushrod (what a … Continue reading John M. Duncan, A Virginia barbecue
Alexander McCall Smith, Tea time for the traditionally built
Alexander McCall Smith said at the literary event I attended recently that if he achieves nothing else in his life he is glad he introduced the concept "traditionally built" because it has brought such comfort to many women (particularly, he says with a twinkle in his eye, in America!). Tea time for the traditionally built … Continue reading Alexander McCall Smith, Tea time for the traditionally built
Conversing with “a slightly shambolic dandy”
"A slightly shambolic dandy" is how journalist Elizabeth Grice described novelist Alexander McCall Smith in Britain's Telegraph newspaper. Shambolic works to some degree, but dandy? That's not quite how I would describe him after tonight's literary event in which he "conversed" with Colin Steele, retired university librarian, long-term bibliophile, and reviewer for The Canberra Times. … Continue reading Conversing with “a slightly shambolic dandy”
Whispering Gums 