The only other of the Oz books that I’ve read other than The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (which was the only one I knew as a child) is The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) but on revisiting it now after many years, I was surprised to find how, besides being a fun and imaginative adventure…
Review: ‘Captain Burle’ (1882) by Emile Zola #Zoladdiction2024
Having had to give up on plans to read The Ladies’ Paradise for want of time, I decided to read instead ‘Captain Burle’ (1882) a short story by Emile Zola for #Zoladdiction2024. The story explores themes of honour, friendship, sacrifice, corruption, dissipation, the contradictions many times inherent in people, and indeed also life’s ironies. Captain…
Shelf Control #274: Death Sends for the Doctor by George Bellairs
Wednesday, the 3rd of April 2024, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do…
Book Review: For Now It Is Night (2024) by Hari Krishna Kaul and translated by Kalpana Raina, Tanveer Ajsi, Gowhar Fazili and Gowhar Yakoob #ReadIndies2024
I received a review copy of this book from Archipelago Books via Edelweiss for which my thanks. For Now It Is Night (2024) is a collection of 17 short stories written originally in Kashmiri by author Hari Krishna Kaul and translated in this collection by a team of four translators, among them his niece Kalpana…
Shelf Control #268: 5 Books from my NetGalley Shelves
Wednesday, the 21st of February 2024, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do…
Shelf Control #267: 5 Books Lurking on my Edelweiss Shelves
Wednesday, the 14th of February 2024 and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do…
Six Degrees of Separation: From Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow to The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (January 2024)
Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme hosted by Kate at Books are My Favourite and Best. Inspired by the concept of 'six degrees of separation', originally set out in a short story by Frigyes Karinthy, which suggests that any two people in the world are connected through a chain of six or fewer…
Shelf Control #259: A Vicarage Family by Noel Streatfield
Wednesday, the 20th of December 2023, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do…
Shelf Control #253: The Luck Runs Out by Charlotte MacLeod
Wednesday, the 8th of November 2023, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do…
Book Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold (2015) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and translated by Geoffrey Trousselot
First published in 2015, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a book that has certainly got mixed reactions, but my own, now that I finally got to it, was quite favourable, in that these (mostly) bittersweet tales set around a strange café in Tokyo, which allows one to time travel but with…
Literary Potpourri 