So for this weekend I’ve been taking in the wonderful world of the World Fantasy Convention 2013. It’s taking place in Brighton for the third time in its history. I’ve been schmoozing with all of the
Continue ReadingHelen Callaghan
Marcus Chown and the Return of the Q&A!
So I’m delighted to announce that Marcus Chown, science writer and all round good guy, is back on The Book of Lost Nights to answer my thorny and possibly inane science questions as part
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Review: The Historian
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova My rating: 4 of 5 stars (Gigantic spoilers included!) I felt ultimately torn about this book. It boasts a slow but atmospheric beginning. Yet I was awake late into the
Continue ReadingSome exciting news
I’m delighted to say that we’ve got Marcus Chown coming back to The Book of Lost Nights. The science writer and broadcaster will talk about his new book What a Wonderful World. I’ll be posting an extract and
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Review: Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this by the time I was done. After a rocky relationship with it at the beginning, it cut suddenly
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Review: The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is another of those classics I’ve been promising myself I’d get around to for years, and now I have, and yet
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Medieval Cookery III: Blaunchyd Porray (Creamed Leeks)
This one, blaunchyd porray or creamed leeks, is from a book called the Liber Cure Cocorum, which is completely wonderful for three reasons: It comes from Lancashire and is in the Northern dialect current around 1430. It
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What I want for Christmas… Part One, the Knitting Clock
Behold! It’s a knitting clock – not a clock made of knitting, but a clock that knits. Apparently it costs a cool 200,000 Norwegian kroner. I know nothing of Norwegian money, except that 200,000 sounds like
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Review: The Woman in Black
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill My rating: 5 of 5 stars A tiny, beautifully put together little ghost story. It lacks the bombast of the play or the movie, but is full of
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Review: Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’d never read any Ibsen before and was astonished by this – its psychological depth compared to its economy was amazing, even for drama.
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