Perveeen Mistry sighed, adjusting her hat on her sweating brow. The Satapur Moonstone is book two in the Perveen Mistry series set in India in the 1920's. Whilst book one felt rather undercooked (my own little in-joke as I included a recipe in my response to The Widows of Malabar Hill), book two is far … Continue reading The Satapur Moonstone | Sujata Massey #INDcosycrime
At first dawn the swathes of rain drifting eastwards across the Channel parted long enough to show that the chase had altered course. Post Captain begins with peace being declared. This is a not necessarily the happy occasion the modern reader might think it is. As Jack explains to an uncomprehending Stephen, It's the others … Continue reading Post Captain | Patrick O’Brian #Readalong
In her Preface, Louise Crisp describes her collection of poetry, Yuiquimbiang as an 'ecopoetic form that integrates political essay and environmental poetics: a project that evolved out of my double life as a poet and environmental activist'. The regions she writes about the East Gippsland and the Monaro. Crisp's poems and texts evolve from her … Continue reading Yuiquimbiang | Louise Crisp #PoetryMonth
Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany abdicated on 9 November 1918 and in the streets of Paris there was jubilation. One of the reasons I decided to pick up Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World at this point in history, was for the history. We are now 18 months into … Continue reading Pale Rider | Laura Spinney
Let me begin in my father's house. A good opening line tells you a lot. Right from the get-go we see there is a story to be told. There is a father (but not a mother) and that houses will be significant. We start with Erica returning to her old family home - a cottage … Continue reading The Labyrinth | Amanda Lohrey #AWW
I have written so few poetry posts over my 12 years of blogging, that I thought I might use this month, poetry month, to highlight a few of the older posts and bring some sense of order and cohesion to the few I do have. Robert Frost was one of my first attempts at poetry … Continue reading Robert Frost #PoetryMonth
Portrait of a girl, previously thought to represent Sappho the ancient Greek poetess, with tablets and pen. She is also known as Meditation. Italy. Roman. c 75 AD. Pompeii. (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images) I'm a book behind already in Nick's Master and Commander four year readalong of the series. I knew it … Continue reading Midnight Poem | Sappho
The abandoned hotel comes into view. Derelict, windswept. Who is Mette Jakobsen and how is it I have never heard of her before? In 2011 she wrote The Vanishing Act about a young girl growing up on a small snow covered island. In October of the same year, a brief story called The Island appeared … Continue reading The Wingmaker | Mette Jakobsen
Poetry Month (1–31 August) is a new initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry, poets and publishers.Our goal is to increase access, awareness, value and visibility of poetry in all its forms and for all audiences. The inaugural Poetry Month will be held during August 2021 with the aim of an ongoing … Continue reading August is Poetry Month
It's not yet eight. Stefan Valeriu can tell by the sunlight, which has crept only as far as the edge of his chaise lounge. He can sense it climbing the wooden legs, feel it caressing his fingers, his hands, his naked arm, as warm as a shawl... Such a sensuous, delicious, lazy way to open … Continue reading Women | Mihail Sebastian
My mother was blue, a pale blue mixed with the colour of ashes. I find myself drawn to memoirs that dive deep into difficult, complicated mother-daughter relationships. It's a dynamic fraught with push me/pull me tensions. Tensions that seem to only evolve with time. Is it possible to work them out? Come to terms with … Continue reading Nothing Holds Back the Night | Delphine de Vigan
My Week: Bah!Three Australian states are in various degrees of lockdown once again.The politics of fear is in full flight. It's hard not to get caught up in it, as states are pitched against states against the federal government, who sends it back against the states!Trying to remember instead that I am/want to be a … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #41
You must be logged in to post a comment.