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Sometimes I've enjoyed getting sidetracked by other words in dictionary when I'd just been meaning to look up one, but not quite as much as this guy. I like his selection of favourite words, especially happify. And unbep…
A sudden outpouring of book lust

This is a very delayed post, as I came across the the 30th anniversary editions of Virago Modern Classics in Waterstone's a few months ago at least. I couldn't believe my eyes: they were so beautiful and perfect, and I …
A strange disease seems to be affecting the blogosphere at the moment, or at least two blogs I am subscribed to (outside xanga) and another I check occasionally. It involves the writer suddenly shutting down their blog a…
Another non-review...

I was supposed to see Chains of Dew with Maxine last weekend, but unfortunately my journey to Richmond, which is usually a straightforward 15-minute train ride, was thwarted by delays and cancellations and all round tran…
It's quite odd attempting to update when I do it so infrequently these days. What do I put in? What do I leave out? Who really cares? I think the answer to that is very few people (although very important people), so I w…
A Fine Balance

I've almost, almost finished reading Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance. It's a slow burner of a book, and at times the quietness and subtlety of the prose almost lost my attention. But it's actually relentlessly brutal, p…
An extra snippet about 'Darkmans'...

...because I feel there is more I should say.***'Darkmans is really about history,' says Barker, explaining how she came to be fascinated by the 15th-century jester, John Scogin, whose mischievous presence hovers over th…
"Everything is arbitrary. Only art exists to make the arbitrary congeal. Not memory or God or love, even. Only art." - Nicola Barker, Darkmans.I've finished Darkmans, finally. It's the kind of book that, when you've fini…
"There are many imponderables in this life of ours, Gaffar," he murmured, "but one irreducible fact is that people who climb mountains are invariably c*nts." - Nicola Barker, Darkmans.(I laughed hysterically at the above…
Books. And eggy hair.

I registered at my new local public library yesterday. I almost failed to find it, because it's tucked away down what is probably the most peaceful and picturesque back street in the whole world. It's a very nice, new li…