I’m planning to cover 2023’s reading in my usual “year in review” post, but this is slightly different. Book recommendation site Shepherd asked me for my top three reads of the last 12 months, October to September.
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Oh I do like to be a côté de the seaside!
31 May
After a very long winter I finally managed to get away on holiday to somewhere hot and sunny – which means that you are in for a photo post. You can revel vicariously in my photos of sun, sea and quirky ceramics, or you can just skip this one if it would make you too envious.
Continue readingA Blaise of Glory
31 Jan
If you read my review of 2022, you may remember that it wasn’t a great year in reading for me. This year, however, has started with three absolute bangers – although I actually started reading them in 2022. The other two were The Martian and Wool, both of which I started in December, but this blog post is about Blaise Pascal’s Pensées, which I read slowly over the course of the year.
Continue readingMy year in review – 2022
31 DecObjectively, this has been a bit of a bad year for me healthwise, relationshipwise and careerwise. Subjectively, though, it’s doesn’t seem like a bad year, mostly because I finally managed the mega interrailing trip (see the Travel section) and I spent the whole year working on a project that really interested me.
Continue readingCatching up with Christmas films
20 Dec
Last year, I came across a list of Christmas films (I think it may have been one of those cheap-to-make countdown programmes that they fill schedules with, but I don’t remember) and was surprised by how many I hadn’t seen. I mean, I have seen a lot of Christmas films, and deliberately avoided a lot of others (anything Hallmarky) but there are still quite a few significant gaps, apparently.
Continue readingFive books to make you think
12 SepThere are a number of reasons for an author to have a website. So that people can get information about my books is the obvious one. So that I can share my impassioned or facetious opinions without inconveniencing my general acquaintance is another. But a third, which is quite fun, is that sometimes people contact you unexpectedly via the website.
Continue readingThe Sun Always Shines on my Top Five
23 Aug
Inspired by my last post, where I collaborated with a fellow A-ha fan, I thought I would give you a wee run down of my top five A-ha songs.
Continue readingLet’s play Edinburgh Fringe bingo!
15 Aug
This post was composed in collaboration with my old friend, fellow A-ha fan and English teacher extraordinaire, Susan Main. We recently took a wee trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as it used to be) and encountered many of these phenomena.
Continue readingInterrail day three – Bruges to Leiden
30 Apr
Thankfully I slept a lot better in Heidi’s attic than in Hotel Barry. I did slip coming down the vertiginous, smooth wooden steps in my socks while carrying a rucksack, but fortunately managed to keep my balance and only hurt the soles of my feet rather than breaking my neck.
Continue readingInterrail day two – Brussels to Bruges
29 Apr
Well it was not a great night. Hotel Barry won’t be getting a complimentary review for its lumpy pillows and pokey bathroom, although it wasn’t their fault that a man (who was presumably either mentally ill or extremely drunk) yowled outside the window at 2am. A late night rummage in my logically-packed bag for ear plugs solved that problem, but I have booked somewhere else for the way back.
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K C Murdarasi 