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“It was salutory to remember, I told myself, that writers and other creative artists do not relish other people’s ideas. They usually have more than enough of their own, and well-meant suggestions only add to the burden of their already over-stocked minds.” Miss Read, Farewell to Fairacre (1993)
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My last 5 posts
- “As the sun pulls away from the shore … January 7, 2020
- Happy holidays! December 20, 2019
- Shore leave ends November 23, 2019
- Steampunk typewriter November 16, 2019
- Am writing, am reading, am really really busy November 12, 2019
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Category Archives: Fiction
Sea Fever
Matching my current reading focus is John Masefield’s “Sea Fever” (quoted here, in full, from The Poetry Foundation’s website): I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, Fiction, Seafaring
10 Comments
Sea cruise, baby!
No need to get excited. I plan to travel virtually, in honor of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Over the next few months I’ll be aboard stories set on ships (with perhaps a rowboat or two) that will take me up … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, Fiction, History, Seafaring
Tagged Herman Melville
8 Comments
In Welsh hills
Another review to add to Paula Bardell-Hedley’s Wales Readathon. Chatwin’s novel of 20th century life in the Black Hills of Wales wasn’t in my TBR pile for this month, but it called to me from the pages of Anthony Bailey’s … Continue reading
Posted in Am reading, Dewithon, Fiction, Historical fiction, Wales, Wales Readathon
Tagged Bruce Chatwin
7 Comments
Backward Rambles
Little Follies: The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences and Observations of Peter Leroy (So Far) (1995), Eric Kraft What do you remember from your childhood? How far back do your memories go? More importantly, how much can you trust your memories? … Continue reading
Tidying the village
‘Miss Read’, 37 novels set in 3 fictional Cotswold villages (Fairacre, Thrush Green, and Caxley). Titles include Storm in the Village (1958), The Market Square (1966), and Return to Thrush Green (1978). Also Time Remembered (1986). One of my followers has recently suggested that … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Historical fiction
2 Comments
“The chosen of All-Muggleton”
Packing for a lengthy trip that includes a great deal of moving on and off trains, buses, boats and trams (not to mention walking) presents a particular challenge for a reader who hopes to travel light: How many books should … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Classic, Fiction, Humorous, Travel, Travel book
Tagged Charles Dickens
8 Comments
Bookshop for sale
The Bookshop (1978), Penelope Fitzgerald (156 pp.) Occasionally an ad appears in one of the papers I read about a bookstore for sale. The latest one is in the Scottish borders, and so enticing! The idea of living one’s life among books … Continue reading
