Tulip Fever is one of the most captivating historical fiction reads I have had the pleasure of enjoying in recent years. Tulip Fever takes place in Amsterdam in the 1630's during a time of immense wealth that is brought into the country by merchants and tulip sellers. If you enjoyed that other iconic historical novel…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach
This is the first fantasy novel of acclaimed Japanese writer Kazuo Ishiguro. Previously, I have read The Remains of the Day, an incredible book that was turned into a successful film of the same name. Although creating a fantasy novel is a huge departure from his usual setting. In many ways, this book contains the…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
I just love these songs though, they have something sexy and slightly dark and thrilling to them, a perfect antidote to the sugary-sweet pop that masquerades as modern music and the more cliched romantic songs you would expect for Valentine's Day. There's a bit of house, disco, chill-out, jazz, rock, funk...all of it is pretty amazing in my opinion, let me know what you think. Are there any songs you can remember that remind you of certain romantic encounters? let me know...
The author of the award-winning historical mystery novel The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Kate Summerscale is back with another novel,this time based on a real life infamous divorce court case of 1858. The first registered divorce in English history. Back in the era when divorce was well and truly a dirty word. The chief exhibit…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace by Kate Summerscale
* Contains no plot spoilers Short fiction can be a fickle thing and sometimes difficult to love with some not so polished or ridiculous moments. Yet Murakami’s short fiction is an exception. He can weave magic better than anyone about the intricacies of human relationships, the vagaries and oddities of the human heart and dark…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review – Men without women by Haruki Murakami
*Contains no spoilers This is a slim book. In little more than 200 pages you are able to sink into a well-rounded and thoroughly immersive story. In the hands of a less-skilled writer, this would be impossible. For Murakami though, 200 pages is more than enough to captivate and absorb. Big in scope, the story…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review – South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami
In November 2016, the singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, renowned for his melancholic and romantic ballads, died a few months after the woman who inspired many of his famous songs - his Norwegian lover and muse, Marianne Ihlen. On the summery idyll of Hydra, Greece in 1960, there was a bohemian community of artists and musicians living…
Continue reading ➞ So long, Marianne: Leonard Cohen and his muse Marianne Ihlen
The moment I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere They’re in each other all along. -Rumi
Kulning is an ancient, sweet and sorrowful form of Scandinavian music used to herd cows and goats back down from their high mountain pastures in parts of Norway and in certain provinces of Sweden, Jämtland and Härjedalen. In practical use since medieval times, the mysterious tones were also thought to be a deterrent to potential predators like wolves…
Continue reading ➞ The art of Kulning: Night-scented stock are called in for the long summer evening
Found on Imgur
Today is a monumental day for people in the USA, with the supreme court ruling in favour of same sex marriage. The battle was long and at times filled with frustrations. But with the world such an overall shitty place lately, I think it's so important that we embrace events like this that give a…
Continue reading ➞ The USA along with 23 other countries say “Yes” to Love
I discovered this beautiful rendering of a classic interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. What a better time to post it than on Christmas Eve. This is a simple message but it's always relevant, fresh and immediate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmvmnYEy9NY I hope you have a great Christmas wherever you are. Love is all you need! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb2YSAVHmIE…
Our digital world is swarming with recently made-up words like YOLO and SWAG, plus misappropriated words like 'awesome' to mean pretty much everything. This demands that literary types everywhere come out of the woodwork in protest! Here are some luscious and fulsome words to sprinkle liberally into your communications. Alternately you could wield these words as Gandalf would…
Continue reading ➞ 50 Beautiful Words To Sprinkle Into Communications
