Just Finished Reading: The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh [50pp] 

So.... Poetry..... AGAIN! I think that both Penguin Classics boxsets are trolling me presently. Weirdly, and very unexpectedly, I didn’t mind these poems. I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I didn’t skim a single one.  

I’m not sure exactly why this was so. Generally, the poetry is about the natural world (in his Irish home) with multiple references to mountains, trees and such. By far the longest poem – hence the title of the booklet – was The Great Hunger itself. Going in I’d assumed that it was going to be about the Irish Potato Famine, but it was nothing of the sort. It was instead about the struggles of a farmer, tied to the land and to his overbearing mother leaving him alone in the world as both he and the land ages. It was, to coin a phrase, all very poetic. 

Whilst I’m not exactly going out and buying all of this poet’s works, I certainly wasn’t sorry that I read them and don’t consider my time wasted doing so. I don’t think that I’ve finally been ‘turned on’ to poetry, but that I’ve stumbled across a poet that doesn’t leave me cold, bored and confused with his use of language. We’ll see how the NEXT poet in either of these boxsets' fares! Reasonable.

...and I know *exactly* where this is!

Just Finished Reading: Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman (FP: 2018) [307pp] 

If you’re anything like me and live on the British mainland (mostly England to be honest), you’ll have probably wondered where exactly politicians come from, what exactly they do in Parliament and why (oh why?) it seems far easier to really screw something up than accomplish anything even vaguely useful. If so, this is definitely a good place to start. 

The author certainly is at the centre of things. As the Assistant Editor of The Spectator she has spent a considerable amount of time wandering the halls of Parliament and has interviewed numerous politicians of all stripes including local MPs (both long standing and of the newly minted variety), Ministers and even David Cameron himself prior to him leaving the House of Commons after the Brexit vote. She certainly had plenty of material to work with and used it wisely. It's not easy getting your bum on the green leather benches in the Commons. Not only do you need to get enough people to vote for you – possibly in a constituency you might be unfamiliar with – you need to be selected in the first place by the Party you’re part of (being an Independent makes the whole process and the likelihood of success MUCH more difficult). To do this you need to have put your time in (usually unpaid) for a number of years and be ‘inside’ enough and persuasive enough for the Party to support you through the process. This, naturally, eliminates many potential candidates and is one reason why it's rare indeed to see someone much outside the expected norms giving their traditional first speech on the floor of the Commons (there was one just recently that really stood out – a female ex-plumber for the Green Party. Knowing what I do now about the Parliamentary system I wish her well). 

It must be quite the shock – or maybe aftershock – to show up on your first day at the Commons. From what the author lays out it’s not exactly (or usually) the smooth transition many would hope. It seems that many MPs are given a brief talk and then essentially left to get on with things. The bigger more established parties have, apparently, tried to be a little more organised but I think they still have a fair bit to go. I’ve had a few creaky first weeks in various jobs, but nothing like the general experience of new MPs. Again, the experiences of INDEPENDENT MPs must be horrendous! Given a 4-5 year term (barring snap elections) it's a STEEP learning curve even for those who are already political animals – maybe previously a local councillor – but what they learn very quickly is that you vote with your Party and not with your conscience. Rebels certainly do not thrive and most certainly don’t get Ministerial positions where, naturally, most of the real power is. Those who are already (or become) Subject Matter Experts might expect to be placed on committees to scrutinise upcoming legislation (because that’s their job really) but they’d be both surprised and disappointed. The government of the day certainly doesn’t want a lowly (or NEW!) MP criticising their project with FACTS – and by extension giving aid to the Opposition(!) so no committees for them. That’s of course if they even have time to scrutinise the proposed Bill in the first place. 

This was quite THE eye-opener of a book. I certainly understand Parliament a great deal more (admittedly from quite a low bar) and am finding that I can already understand more of the language use in the Commons, both what they’re saying (or really saying) and what they’re not – both to make such unsaid comments public and to hide behind parliamentary language in order to confuse or deflect. This is definitely recommended for anyone who want to begin to understand how Parliament ‘works’ and, more importantly, why it doesn’t.  

The Last 10 Books (I added to my Wish List) - April 2026 

It’s been reasonably quiet on my Wish List – adding-wise anyway – during the last month. As usual, the additions have been prompted by YouTube prompts, paperback upgrades and the odd in-book reference or bibliographic entry from whatever I’ve been reading at the time. So, the latest are:  

A Kingdom and a Village: A One-Thousand-Year History of Moscow by Simon Morrison 

Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer 

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen 

The Word: On the Translation of the Bible by John Barton 

A History of the Bible: The Book and Its Faiths by John Barton 

What Is Free Speech?: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Fara Dabhoiwala 

Norway's War: A People’s Struggle Against Nazi Tyranny, 1940–45 by Robert Ferguson 

The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict and Warnings from History by Odd Arne Westad 

Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War by Jane Rogoyska 

Mary Wollstonecraft: A Very Short Introduction by E. J. Clery 

That’s a slightly unusual mix for me this time with the usual History heavy bias displaced by politics and religion. We’ll see just how long it takes to get around to any of them! I think the average is 2-5 years, so.... 

Happy Birthday: Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent.

He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe for the news division of CBS. During the war he recruited and worked closely with a team of war correspondents who came to be known as the Murrow Boys. A pioneer of radio and television news broadcasting, Murrow produced a series of reports on his television program See It Now which helped lead to the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, Bill Downs, and Alexander Kendrick considered, as does Dan Rather, Murrow one of journalism's greatest figures. Murrow's life has been dramatized in several films, including Good Night, and Good Luck, which takes its name from the signature sign-off phrase Murrow used to end many of his wartime broadcasts.

Murrow's reports, especially during the Blitz, began with what became his signature opening, "This is London," delivered with vocal emphasis on the word this, followed by the hint of a pause before the rest of the phrase. His former speech teacher, Ida Lou Anderson, suggested the opening as a more concise alternative to the one he had inherited from his predecessor at CBS Europe, César Saerchinger: "Hello, America. This is London calling." Murrow's phrase became synonymous with the newscaster and his network.

Murrow achieved celebrity status as a result of his war reports. They led to his second famous catchphrase, at the end of 1940, with every night's German bombing raid, Londoners who might not necessarily see each other the next morning often closed their conversations with "good night, and good luck." The future British monarch, Princess Elizabeth, said as much to the Western world in a live radio address at the end of the year, when she said "good night, and good luck to you all". So, at the end of one 1940 broadcast, Murrow ended his segment with "Good night, and good luck." Speech teacher Anderson insisted he stick with it, and another Murrow catchphrase was born.

For some strange reason.... that sounds awfully familiar..... [lol]

The Best...

One of the things I like doing at the start of each year is to post my Best of the previous years reading. As with everything on the Blog these are my personal opinions (how could they be otherwise?) regarding books - both fiction and non-fiction - that I've enjoyed. Until now there was no easy way to access previous Best of lists, so I've created a new label cunningly entitled: Only The Best. This now contains the Best of lists from the last 15 years. If you're so inclined I hope that you find something to enjoy in there! 

Just Finished Reading: Lemons Never Lie by Richard Stark (FP: 1971) [221pp] 

He knew it was a mistake as soon as he pulled the arm on the slot machine. Confirmation came swiftly when the three lemons came up and paid out in a clashing of nickels. It was bad luck. That afternoon, only part way through the ‘presentation’ he had decided to leave early. Alan Myers’ plan to knock over a brewery was too elaborate and far too violent for his tastes, plus Meyers was an idiot. But when he left his friend and sometimes partner Dan left with him and Meyers didn’t like that – not one bit. With no flights out of Las Vegas till the next day Dan decided to throw some dice in a craps time to pass a few hours. Unlike Alan Grofield, Dan was having all the luck and walked away with a few thousand. Unknown to either of them Myers was watching them and decided that the money was rightfully his... Weeks later Alan was getting ready for the summer crowd when Dan unexpectedly showed up. Even more surprising was what Dan had in the trunk of his car – Meyers, trussed up like a pig getting ready for a roasting. Unfortunately for both Dan and Alan they removed the gag and let Meyers talk. He told a tale of easy money waiting to be taken... and they believed him. The bad luck wasn’t over yet. 

The Hard Case Crime series has been VERY hit and miss so far. Whilst the majority have been generally OK there have been a few stinkers that still resonate in my memory. One or two have been very good, but they’re very much the exception. This one was at the higher end of the reasonable pile, so I was more than happy with that. The writing is solid and I was pleased the way the story unfolded. I wasn’t ever sure which way things were going to go, but I was more than willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt seeing how he handled things. Whilst none of the characters were particularly outstanding, they were all well drawn, down to earth and believable. Their actions matched their motivations, and nothing felt ‘off’. Being the nature of such books there was a smattering of violence (not too explicit) and ‘mild threat’ (as they say just before a movie) but nothing that would disturb too much. The plot moves along at a fair clip and is well constructed. Alan Grofield is a smart cookie and professional part-time criminal (with the emphasis on professional) and it shows in the way he operates. It's all very believable. Entertaining if not exactly great literature. Reasonable. 

Yes..... THAT'S the reason I buy SO many books.... Yes.... [lol]

Just Finished Reading: Twilight Cities – Lost Capitals of the Mediterranean by Katherine Pangonis (FP: 2023) [254pp] 

Whenever we think of ancient Mediterranean cities our minds quickly go to the Big 3 – Rome, Athens and Alexandria. But what of the others? Those cities that rivalled the Big 3 or simply pre-dated them. What of them? What are THEIR histories and where are they now – apart from largely forgotten. This is their tale. 

Starting in Tyre (Lebanon), home port of the Phoenician traders of early antiquity the author moves to their most famous settlement – Carthage (Tunisia), now a rather underappreciated part of the capital Tunis. From there we move to the much fought over strategic port of Syracuse (Sicily), site of encounters between the Carthaginians and Romans during the three Punic Wars that made Rome the Mediterranean super-power of the period. On then to Ravenna (Italy) which had a very varied history including, for a short period, being the capital of the western Roman Empire itself. Finally, we visit Antioch (Turkey) so recently [at time of the book’s publication] virtually destroyed in a massive earthquake. 

Whilst certainly being aware of the history of Carthage and most especially the series of wars between it and Rome I was initially unaware of the other places beyond their names and rough locations. Needless to say, I learnt a LOT here. Although the history of the region is dominated by Rome, Greece and Egypt – often for very good reasons – there was much more going on here. The other cities and other empires were not just bit-players in the well-known stories of the Big 3, but players in and of themselves. Missing them out not only leaves the other, more well-known, players without either foundation or motivation for their actions but diminishes the rich cultural environment of the ancient world of which they were part. This informative book revives that importance and left me with a greater appreciation of the interplay of these cities in the history of the region itself. One thing I particularly liked was how the author put each city into its historical context, often bringing things up to the present as she visited each site and talked to the locals about their own histories. This certainly whet my interest to dig deeper into the non-Big 3 cities/states/empires. So, more to come. Recommended to anyone interested in the ancient world and looking beyond the Roman Empire.

Oh, and a shout-out to a quite lovely cover - which is why I spotted it to begin with! 

It was one of the few things I didn't like about my last job - the *constant* interruptions @ lunch as I munched on my sandwich or tucked into a DIY salad (from our excellent on-site salad bar) with book in hand at my desk. I purposedly put my book in plain sight to indicate that I wasn't @ work. No noticeable effect. I did think seriously, more than once, of taking my lunch break elsewhere - but it was just too convenient staying at my desk....  

Happy Birthday: Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto.

Her family arranged several marriages for her that advanced their own political position, including to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro and Gradara, Count of Cotignola; Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Bisceglie and Prince of Salerno; and Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Alfonso of Aragon was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples, and tradition has it that Lucrezia's brother Cesare may have had him murdered after his political value waned.

Notorious tales about her family have cast Lucrezia as a femme fatale, a controversial role in which she has been portrayed in many artworks, novels, and films.

Lucrezia was described as having heavy blonde hair that fell past her knees, a beautiful complexion, hazel eyes that changed colour, a full, high bosom, and a natural grace that made her appear to "walk on air". In another description, the author wrote that "her mouth is rather large, the teeth brilliantly white, her neck is slender and fair, and the bust is admirably proportioned." These physical attributes were highly appreciated in Italy due to the similarity of her description with that of the Roman goddess of arts and war, Minerva.

Since her death, several rumours surrounding Lucrezia have persisted, primarily concerning the nature of the extravagant parties thrown by the Borgia family. One example is the legendary Banquet of Chestnuts. Many of these allegations concern accusations of Lucrezia's involvement in incest, poisoning, and murder. For example, it was rumoured that Lucrezia was in possession of a hollow ring that she used to poison drinks. However, no historical basis for these accusations exists, beyond the attacks of her enemies.

[I've been interested in Lucrezia since watching the 1981 BBC series The Borgias where she was played by Anne-Louise Lambert. With some luck I'll be reading about her and her notorious family later in the year.]

Happy International Bat Appreciation Day!

I think that The Matrix is trying to tell me *something*.... What...? ALL of them....?!?

Just Finished re-Reading: Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson (FP: 1988) [316pp] 

A Corporate War was coming. To protect her as much as possible, Kumiko Yanaka has been sent to freezing London in the care of her father’s ‘business associate’ and a state-of-the-art mobile AI called Colin. Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic a group of misfits hiding out in an industrial contamination zone have been tasked to hide a comatose hacker connected to a medical gurney and enough computing power to hold an entire world and more. Enter Sally, AKA Molly, a soldier, street samurai, agent for hire. She’s being blackmailed to kidnap the biggest star in the Matrix for purposes unknown. The blackmailer is the ‘ghost’ of a deceased billionaire who refuses to accept the reality of her own demise. Within the Matrix itself things move in the data streams. Things that have only just emerged, things with their own powers and own agenda, Things that have done something that will change EVERYTHING. 

This is the 3rd volume in the Sprawl trilogy. I first read it around the time of publication when Gibson was blowing my mind with possibilities. Strangely I found the first 100 pages a bit slow – but that might just be me these days – character building with a bit of world building thrown in. Most of the world building had been supplied in the first 2 novels so it wasn’t really required to do much more. A few of the characters from the previous book appeared (including the great character of Molly with her implanted mirror-specs) although they mostly played subsidiary roles here. The story REALLY picked up after page 100 when several revelations dropped which not only changed the speed of the narrative but its overall tone too. Although the closing revelation didn’t have quite the same impact on a 2nd reading, I do remember being totally FLOORED by it the 1st time around. It was a heck of a cliffhanger that has, as yet, not been resolved in any of the authors other novels – I'll leave you to think on how good or bad that idea is! 

Set in the ‘near’ future – it's hard to say exactly when – it's always amusing to see what predictions came true and what was missed. Here we have self-drive cars, instant access to information, laptops (called decks), smart clothes, orbital factories, the casual (if expensive) use of intercontinental supersonic flight, but NO mobile phones. There was one mention of Wi-Fi (as well as how expensive it was) but not a single cell phone. WEIRD! Although this is probably my least favourite of the trilogy – the 2nd book is my favourite – this is still a very good cyberpunk novel and has rightly part of a well-earned classic trilogy. You don’t have to read them in chronological order as they are only loosely connected but I’d recommend that you do so. Recommended to all SF lovers and especially those interested in the Cyberpunk sub-genre.    

Technically speaking (the BEST type) the term Science-Fiction (or 'scientifiction' as termed initially) was created by Hugo Gernsback in 1926. BUT (and an important BUT) the *genre* itself is generally credited to have originated with the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written in 1818.

Just Finished Reading: A World in Disarray – American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order by Richard Haass (FP: 2017) [328pp] 

Typically, I’m VERY late to the party. Maybe if I had read this book soon after I picked it up, rather than almost 10 years later, I might have been ahead of the news cycle! However, we’re here eventually. 

The world was born refreshed (although birthed in both fire and blood) with the end of World War Two and the beginnings of the Cold War. For a significant part of the world and for a significant period of time things were, generally, stable. This meant than long-term planning and long-term profits were possible and the world entered, somewhat briefly, an era of rapid and persistent growth. As we know now this came to a grinding halt with the 1970’s oil crisis (which feels very familiar right now) and we entered a period of growing instability. When the Berlin Wall fell and, shortly after, the Soviet Union followed some expected things to calm down permanently. They did in fact (quoting Teal’c from Stargate) calm up. The orderly world many of us had been born into or grown up in started to break down. Part of this was to do with the instability in the ex-Soviet states and Russia itself. Part was caused by the rise of China and the slow (relative) decline of the US accelerated by foreign wars and other adventures. Part was caused by economic shocks and the revolutions across the Middle East and South America. Part was caused by the inability of the existing nuclear powers to prevent their proliferation to others like India, Pakistan, North Korea or Israel. Seemingly, without the military and ideological binding of the Cold War things began to spiral out of control. 

The author argues, and I somewhat agree, that at least some of the blame for this state of affairs can be laid at the feet of the United States. Without the Cold War to focus minds the US has struggled to define or decide on its place in the world. Is it enough to be a ‘shinning beacon’ to the rest? Do they need to ‘bang heads’ when other countries step out of line (as in the First Gulf War) or is it OK to support tyrants for the ‘greater’ good (which all too often aligned with American good). More to the point, with shifting political ideals and changes of party at the top could America keep a consistent policy over decades? His central argument (which I disputed) was that the world cannot achieve stability or prosperity WITHOUT US involvement. The question, as always, is what that involvement would look like.  

This was by no means a perfect book. As we know, a GREAT deal has changed in the last 10 years. As I was reading through this, I was more than a little surprised that Trump was not mentioned at all. He did eventually show up in the afterword and the author explained that the original hardback version went to his publishers as the election that Trump (unexpectedly) won was underway. What he did say was that the disarray he saw coming was accelerated in the first year or so of the first Trump administration. I do wonder what he would think now! I did find the text a little boring to be honest. Part of that was the fact that most of what he talked about I was mostly familiar with and that I (mostly) agreed with his analysis – so it contained little new information or ideas. I also thought that, despite his insider knowledge and wide experience, he was rather naive and had the all too usual American blind spots where the world is concerned (in that the rest of the world isn’t America nor does most of it want to be). Overall, though this is a pretty good, high-level, general introduction to global politics post-WW2 and especially post-Cold War as well as a sobering assessment of the future we’re pushing in to. It’s a little out of date at this point but by reading it you’ll have a fair idea of how we got ourselves into this mess. Reasonable and more on this subject to come.

Happy Birthday: Cerys Elizabeth Matthews MBE (born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.

Matthews now hosts a weekly music show on BBC Radio 6 Music, a weekly blues show on BBC Radio 2, and from 2021-2024 co-hosted a weekly show on BBC Radio 4, Add To Playlist, which won the Prix Italia and Prix Europa 2022. She also makes documentaries for television and radio and was a roving reporter for The One Show. She founded "The Good Life Experience", a festival of culture and the great outdoors in Flintshire in 2014, and is author of Hook, Line and Singer, published by Penguin Books, and children's stories Tales from the Deep and Gelert, A Man's Best Friend, published by Gomer. Matthews' illustrated version of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood was published, in November 2022, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Catatonia were formed in 1992, after Matthews met Mark Roberts. She subsequently sang lead vocals on, and co-wrote the music and lyrics for, the band's hits. Songs she co-wrote included "You've Got a Lot to Answer For", "Mulder and Scully", "Dead from the Waist Down", and "Road Rage". Matthews also played guitar on the earlier material before second guitarist Owen Powell joined the band. She also performed a single with the band Space named "The Ballad of Tom Jones", which tells the story of two lovers who want to kill each other, but then hear a Tom Jones song that defuses their homicidal feelings. Matthews later collaborated with Jones to record a version of Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" on Jones's 1999 album Reload. Matthews was voted the "Sexiest Female in Rock" in a 1999 readers' poll in the now-defunct magazine Melody Maker.

After Catatonia's rise to fame with their second album International Velvet, and subsequent success with Equally Cursed and Blessed, the band returned in 2001 with their fourth studio album, Paper Scissors Stone. In September 2001, the band officially split.

[I saw Cerys sing at Glastonbury in 2000 when she supported The Pet Shop Boys. My friend at the time (who is Welsh) was a HUGE fan of hers and he passed some of that on to me. They were a fun band while they lasted.]