Growing up in the 60s and early 70s, on a working class estate on the south edge of Edinburgh that was gradually being abandoned, where all the traditional industries that sustained the community had disappeared, it was difficult to see myself in the children’s fiction of the era. I eventually found Kes but that was …
Manorism
Yomi Ṣode. Penguin. (128p) ISBN 9780141998572 I was sent this out of the blue by some lovely marketer at Penguin Books and thank you whoever that marketer was as I loved this collection of poetry/works by Yomi Ṣodi. As always I’m always in awe of poets and writers who bare all to the public in …
Prey (2022)
I’ve been counting down the weeks until this arrived, and watching all the other Predator films (yes, even AvP: Requiem) whilst waiting, and had such high hopes for this new addition to the franchise. It’s always so good when a film really delivers on all the hype and promise that the build up brings, this …
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
We were both feeling a little bit tired and in need of a comfort watch this evening, and after reading The Guardian article about the RSC putting on a live version of ‘My Neighbor Totoro’ we knew it would be the perfect watch. Based in 1958 Japan, a family move to the countryside to be …
Amy McCaw – Q&A
Amy McCaw is the author of Mina and the Undead, a YA murder mystery set in 1995 New Orleans, and the upcoming sequel Mina and the Slayers. Her interests are books, movies and the macabre, and her writing has elements of all of these. If Amy’s not at a book event or reading, she …
Spanish(ish) Fish Soup
You know those recipes that have been in your repertoire for so long that you forget the source* and you can make it without thinking? This is one of those, it is a hearty staple that goes so well with fresh home-made bread with butter, very tasty and very filling, but also light enough to …
Around the World in 80 Birds
Mike Unwin, Ryuto Miyake. Orion Publishing. (224p) ISBN 9780857828958 I’d already loved ‘Around the World in 80 Trees’ in this loose series from Laurence King Publishing and was really looking forward to this one, so much I popped into work on my holiday to pick it up as soon as I found out it was …
Essence of the North
What is the “Essence of the North?” That is what is being asked by The Northerner Blog in the Guardian today. They are asking for contributors to post an image that captures the essence of the North. Whose North? There is always the chocolate box image of Dales and Moors, unbroken wilderness, apart from James …