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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
- Farewell to Aotearoa May 28, 2020
- More from down under May 8, 2020
- Free-range April 30, 2020
- Creative thinking April 28, 2020
- More from NZ April 25, 2020
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Category Archives: Historical fiction
Furthest south
To kick-off my themed posts over the next few weeks: I give you books set in New Zealand and Australia, many by Kiwi and Aussie authors. If you’re following me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll know why. Here, though, I’ll … Continue reading
Posted in Am reading, Culture clash, Fiction, Historical fiction, New Zealand, Travel
Tagged Keri Hulme
1 Comment
In the near future
Lory at The Emerald City Book Review recently wondered if her readers had reading plans for the year. Excellent question, if only because it gives me a chance to prep you for what’s to come on this blog. My usual … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Australia, Fiction, Historical fiction, History, New Zealand, Travel
11 Comments
Fortean doings
A bonus post for R.I.P. XIV (Readers Imbibing Peril) — what more could anyone ask of this week before Halloween? Today, a YA trilogy drawn from Edison’s and Tesla’s rivalry that raises important questions about morality, mixed in with some … Continue reading
Posted in Am reading, Historical fiction, Humorous, Macabre, Mystery, RIP, Science fiction
Tagged Eric Elfman, Neal Shusterman
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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
Amuse bouche: magical realism version
The Enchantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie (Random House, 2008) Here, I offer you another tidbit to tempt your palate for other-worldly tales: a story of a mysterious European and of Akbar, the 16th century Mughal emperor. The European goes by … Continue reading
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
This and that and some other things
For the past 3 weeks, it hasn’t been Radio WTWP (wall-to-wall Proust, with a tip of the hat to Prof. Peter Schickele) on my reading shelf. Here’s some other stuff I’ve been clearing out: Desmond Seward’s The Demon’s Brood, a 300-page bare-bones … Continue reading
Why I love libraries
I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir, but I’d like to point out what can happen in a library that can’t happen anywhere else: discovering old books you never even knew had been written. I’d gone to my college libe to borrow … Continue reading
