I think Ursula Le Guin was the first author who I noticed wrote both for children and adults. Long before JK Rowling was writing children’s fantasy, and schools of magic, there was the wonderful and prolific Diana Wynne Jones. Her first book, “Wilkins’ Tooth”, was published...
A belated Happy St Andrew’s Day to you all! St Andrew is of course the patron saint (whatever that means) of Scotland, and also of a few other places, including Russia. For most Scots, this today means a day to celebrate Scottishness, and a rather arresting...
I’ve fairly recently finished reading William Hague’s lengthy biography (500+ pages) of William Wilberforce, the independent MP and evangelical Christian who spent twenty years campaigning in Parliament for the abolition of the slave trade. His efforts eventually led to the Slave Trade Act of 1807. This...
Weekends have their rituals, and along with church, laundry and the daytime company of my son and husband, my ritual is the Saturday Guardian. The Guardian is a daily paper, available in print and online, but the Saturday version is the fat one. The one with...
I thought I’d be a bit booksy today. I’ve recently been reading two novels, one 19th and one 21st century. The first was “The Eustace Diamonds” by Anthony Trollope, first published in monthly instalments in 1873. I had read it before in my teenage Trollope Period. The...
For family reasons, this week's post is a day early. What turns you off a book? I’m in a small book club (two members) which is very enjoyable. However, I’ve noticed that when I know I’m going to be asked for intelligent comment, my beady eye searches...
After last week’s diatribe, I thought I’d go for something lighter and fluffier this week. It hasn’t turned out to be quite as fluffy as hoped, but at least it’s got nothing to do with Donald Trump. It’s generally agreed that on the whole Peter Jackson...
Richard Adams, who died in December aged 96, wrote a surprisingly large number of books. I have only read one of them, Watership Down, which was published in 1972. As everyone knows, it’s a book about rabbits. There are books about animals, and most of them...
As we wander round the shopping centres or do the washing-up, favourite Christmas songs and carols come at our ears from all directions. And every family has its Christmas film and TV traditions. What about books? I am not here talking about Advent reflections, which I...
San Diego is a magnificent city in California. I would like to tell you what I most wanted to see when we went there for a conference of Mark’s earlier this year, and why. You can award yourself points when you see where this is going. Thousands...