January 2013
1 post
Top 10 books read in 2012
I read 83 books in 2012, so whittling it down to 10 has proved quite hard work. A few stinkers aside, it’s been a good year. So I’ve had to be pretty ruthless, and to make the final cut I decided to rule out any re-reads - the final list is just books I’ve read for the first time in 2012. So that’s goodbye to Mo Yan’s The Garlic Ballads, Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers...
July 2012
2 posts
Karen Jennings - Finding Soutbek
Finding Soutbek is the first novel from Karen Jennings, a South African author who has previously been known for her prize-winning short stories according to her author biography. She’s a new discovery for me, and a welcome one.
In the blurb, Holland Park Press describe the novel as “a thought-provoking tale of modern South Africa”, and it’s hard to argue with that....
June 2012
3 posts
Primavera day 3
And so to the final day of the festival proper which is also the most jam-packed with bands we’ve been looking forward to. Animic are the first up. Prior to Primavera I didn’t know much about them, having picked them up from my last.fm radio and subsequently listened to the album a few times. They are a local act and seem to have a decent following despite being one of the first bands...
Primavera day 2
The first queue of the day for Jeff Mangum starts at about 2:30, when we get the tickets themselves. We were a bit annoyed to be paying another 2 euros each on top of the festival price for the privilege and to have to queue for 45 minutes, but we figure that’s the price you pay for seeing a legend and play nice.
[Then we take another trip to the beach where I lay lazily thinking about how...
Primavera opening party and day 1
I was going to blog the whole Barcelona trip, but it turns out it was really hot and I was pretty lazy, so I didn’t do as much as when we went to Budapest. So I’m sticking to the bands - as if there weren’t quite enough of them to be getting on with!
The Primavera opening party was at a different venue from the rest of the festival, at the Arc de Triomf. It was free and open to...
January 2012
2 posts
Arnold Jansen op de Haar - Angel
Arnold Jansen op de Haar’s Angel is called a sequel to The King Of Tuzla, but if you were expecting more of the same you’re likely to be disappointed. Angel is a completely different read. It continues to follow Tijmen, formerly a professional soldier in the Dutch army, whose experiences serving in Bosnia and reflections on them afterwards make up the bulk of The King Of Tuzla. Some...
November 2011
2 posts
A trip to Budapest - part two
We obviously slept in too late for breakfast, so our first port of call once we leave the hotel is Eco Cafe, handily located just round the corner. We’d earmarked Saturday for our trip across the river to Buda, where the castle is. After eating, rather than take public transport, we decided to walk down to the river and see a bit more of the city on foot. On the way we passed the Shoes on...
A trip to Budapest - part one
DIsclaimer: I really should have written this a few weeks ago, ie as soon as possible after getting home, but obviously I’m a lazy sod so this hasn’t happened. There may be inaccuracies/gaps in my memory.
Our home for the weekend is Mamaison Residence Izabella Budapest. I cannot recommend this place highly enough. For around €75 a night between the two of us, we got a one bedroom...
October 2011
2 posts
Téa Obreht - The Tiger's Wife
I picked this one up at random in Glasgow Waterstones, back when I was working up there and had little better to do with my evenings than potter around bookshops on their late opening night (Thursday, I think). Emblazoned on the front is that it’s the winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction for 2011, which I don’t really approve of, but evidently I didn’t let that put me off....
Albert Camus - Exile And The Kingdom: Stories
So, a couple of months ago we decided to have another go at a book club, our last one having died an untimely death late last year. In lieu of choosing another arbitrary method, I decided that people got to choose books in the order they showed interest in joining. So after Nick’s choice of Love In The Time Of Cholera, next up is mine, Exile And The Kingdom. An unfortunate coincidence means...
September 2011
3 posts
A weekend at End Of The Road - Sunday
I get up early and have a wander on my own. I initially get confused about who’s on what stage and so end up on the garden stage watching a bit of Lightning Dust. This is another pleasant surprise of the festival. Apparently a side project of Black Mountain, this is more pared-down, with haunting melodies and Amber Webber’s beautiful voice - I suspect that if I only buy an album of one...
A weekend at End Of The Road - Saturday
We get up a little earlier today in order to shoot down to the Garden Stage to check out James Yorkston, who I’ve been introduced to this year by my boyfriend who is very enthusiastic about him. The set is wonderfully ramshackle and stripped-down, played acoustic with a clarinettist and a violinist along for the ride. Definitely one to catch if you get the opportunity.
Next up is Jolie...
A weekend at End Of The Road - Friday
The weather is beautiful at Larmer Tree Gardens for End Of The Road festival. It’s my first visit and I’m lapping up the sunshine, finding comfortable places to snooze and read, stuffing my face with yummy food and browsing the stalls. What, I should watch some bands, you say? OK then, I suppose so.
First up is Tune-Yards, who I’ve got to say I’m less than impressed with....
August 2011
2 posts
Véronique Tadjo - The Blind Kingdom
Véronique Tadjo wasn’t a name known to me until I was mooching around Glasgow’s Argyle Street Waterstones on its late opening Thursday, picking up books at random which looked interesting. Who says you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover right? One of the books I picked up was The Blind Kingdom, and as it’s a slim little thing, it sneaked its way into my reading list...
Arnold Jansen op de Haar - King Of Tuzla
I’d been eyeing up this book on the Holland Park Press website for a while, so when I got the opportunity to get a review copy I jumped at the chance. According to the press release it’s a “truly original coming-of-age story”, telling the tale of a UN soldier in the former Yugoslavia in 1993/4 - which is in fact where Arnold Jansen op de Haar himself was around that time,...
July 2011
3 posts
A weekend at Latitude Festival - Sunday
Sunday starts with The Naked And Famous, due to the aforementioned Jack Daniels causing a somewhat extended hangover, which coupled with the rain keeps me in bed until around 2:30. The tent is rammed, probably in equal parts due to the rain and the hype. The band have a good sound but are low on ideas - I start off by thinking that they’re actually pretty good for a band this hyped, but it...
A weekend at Latitude Festival - Saturday
At some point during the night the heavens opened. That wasn’t a great start today. Neither was discovering that my specially-purchased mac was in fact NOT WATERPROOF - so what’s the point in it then?! I’m therefore not in the best of moods when we arrive in a random tent, more for the purposes of keeping dry than actually seeing something. What we see is Slipshot presents: The...
A weekend at Latitude Festival - Friday
My Friday started with Avi Buffalo, a highly-excitable 4 piece from California playing enjoyable indie rock. Plenty of songs from the first album (which I know) and a fair chunk of the new album, which is new to me too, keep the crowd dancing which is fairly unusual for 12:30 at a festival.
Edwyn Collins is perfect music for relaxing in the sun. It’s a shame that very few members of the...
March 2011
2 posts
Primo Levi - If Not Now, When?
I read, a massive amount, usually in excess of 75 books per year. As such, I’ve become quite difficult to impress in some respects, particularly in that it is not very often that I find myself near-physically attached to a book, unable to put it down.
Cue my first foray into the works of Primo Levi, a name which has been familiar to me for a while. (Perhaps another writer I should have...
Reading Graham Greene
I have a mental list of writers (about as long as my arm, and then some) who I feel I should have read something by, but haven’t yet got around to it. Some notable examples include George Eliot, Henry James, Halldor Laxness, Knut Hamsun, Gunter Grass.. you probably get the idea.
Until a week or two ago, one of the list was Graham Greene. Then I went to see Brighton Rock at the cinema...
