January 2022 Reading Roundup
I had a good reading month, including a few books from my trip to a Barbadian bookshop, plus a couple for the Japanese Literary…
Borges Marathon, Part 6: The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette, Kôtsukéno Suké
The theme of honour runs through many of the fictions of Jorge Luis Borges. But why bother retelling such a well-known story…
Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami
Ms Ice Sandwich is a beautiful and endearing novella about a young boy's innocent crush on a grocery-store clerk.
The Joy of Bookshops
I recently visited a bookshop for the first time in ages. Browsing the shelves, picking up books at random, reading back covers…
Best Books I Read in 2021
In another difficult year, books once again brought me solace. Here's a roundup of my best books of 2021 (these are the…
Borges Marathon, Part 5: The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan
As with many Borges stories, the line between fact and fiction in this story is unclear. So why does Borges make these alterations?
Symbols Matter
As Barbados becomes a republic, there's a bizarre disconnect between the way foreign media and local people are framing what's happening.
Digging Myself Out
This is not an apology post. More of a commitment to myself to give more time to things I value, like blogging…
An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire
An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire is an Australian crime novel that throws the crime-writing conventions out of the window. It's more…