Just Couldn’t Finish Reading: Cunning Women by Elizabeth Lee (FP: 2012) [365pp] 

Lancashire, 1620. Sarah Haworth lives with her family on the edge – the edge of the village, the edge of acceptability and on the edge of starvation. Forced to exist by any means necessary after the death of her father both Sarah and her mother use their knowledge to aid those who come in the night looking for relief from pain, from an unwanted pregnancy or an unwanted husband. But things are about to change. The local disgraced magistrate is leaving, and his replacement is on the constant lookout for troublemakers and problems. It’s only a matter of time before his baleful gaze turns in the direction of the remaining Haworth family. To add to their complicated lives, Sarah has formed a relationship with a local farmer’s son Daniel. Will this be the spark that ignites the villager's fury, or will Daniel be their saviour? Only time will tell. 

I had fairly high hopes for this going in. It was well written with a strong feeling for place and time, and the characterisation was pretty solid throughout... But, after around 140 pages I couldn’t bring myself to continue. Part of the problem I had was that the pacing was slightly better than glacial. There was a lot of character building (along with some world building) but little that I felt I could get my teeth into. There was a sense of menace, but it didn’t seem to go anywhere. But the biggest problem I had was the fact that this was essentially a teenage love story rather than the one I was expecting (and essentially what the blurb promised). There was SOME talk of magic, the Devil, spells and such but very much sprinkled in the gaps between the story of Sarah and Daniel. Personally (and it is just a quirky character trait on my part) I’m not a huge fan of the Romance genre – as you might have guessed by now. I don’t mind a romance element in a story. Afterall you can’t really expect realistic characters to be indifferent to each other especially where jeopardy is involved. Surviving a near-death experience might just result in feelings and even a slice of intimacy too... But what I don’t enjoy is when such things are the primary focus of the novel and the things I’m actually interested in are reduced (of necessity) to the background. So, whilst not a BAD book (as far as I could tell having abandoned it about one third through) this just wasn’t for me.  

Reading Plans for 2026 and Beyond- 6 Month Update 

Despite having plans and being reasonably well trained/experience in planning things (it was actually my JOB for the last 10+ years of my career) my READING plans each year are more... aspirations than actual PLANS. So, how am I doing in 2026? 

Following the Labels   

This is a bit more hit/miss and random so far this year. Although (obviously) some of the labels are getting ‘traffic’ others are still being politely ignored. I hope to address that a bit more consciously later in the year and AIM at getting as many as possible into double figures. 

The ‘Knowledge Streams’   

The streams are doing reasonably OK – again mostly with unplanned additions at this point – but, especially with the US 250th (TODAY!) I’ll see if I can focus a bit more on USA:WTF and looking at the PRESENT (or would that be PRESIDENT) insanity later in the year. I might even make a bit of a splurge of US history/Politics in the run-up to Christmas/New Year [muses] 

Rolling the Dice   

I’m still rolling them dice after every completed book. I think I’ve added 3 extra reads this year. It’s good to add just a bit of randomness to my reading. 

Finishing/Progressing Series    

ZIP on this so far this year. With luck and a fair wind, I *might* manage to move forward with either the Dune or Foundation series. 

Classics and Re-Reads   

I’m still (slowly) working my way through the twin Classics boxsets and have even managed to sprinkle a few larger classics in there too. As predicted, I’ve also managed some Cyberpunk re-reads. More revisiting of ‘classic’ SF to come. 

Deep Dives   

Zero deep dives so far this year but I do have a few in the pipeline. It’s just finding a chunky enough slot to cram them into. They are, as always, from a wide variety of topics. I’ll see if I can fit in at least ONE by the end of the year. 

Ukraine and the Middle East   

I’ve managed ONE book on each this year but really want to do more. I have a deep dive (4 books) on the US & Iran that I’d like to get to and a stack of about 15 books on Ukraine. Maybe THIS year! 

BIG Project    

I’ve been planning a BIG (if somewhat silly) Project for this year – actually intended for LAST year – and the good news is that I’ve actually started it. First results will be in about 2 weeks. Just don’t get your hopes up TOO high...  

Coupling and more   

I’m definitely ‘coupling’ more and enjoying it. Much more of that to come plus a scattering of sandwiches. It’s fun going through my stacks and putting them together in odd little bunches... and then going back and putting some into slightly different bunches... 

Philosophy & Sci-Fi   

STILL haven’t managed any Philosophy reading but at least ONE will drop (probably) before New Year – maybe. I’m AIMING to read some modern (post-2000) Sci-Fi too but I don’t actually have that much to pick through. I’m rather out of touch with the genre these days. I’ll see what I can dig up. I’m also going to try to read at least one belief-based book before the end of the year (over and above one I’ve just finished). It’ll probably be something around Christianity, but I haven’t decided yet...  

As usual, if I actually get HALF of that done, I’ll be both pleased and more than a little amazed....  

Happy Birthday: Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three Tony Awards and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for four Academy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. He was awarded a Special Tony Award in 1975, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1991, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1995 and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2006.

Simon grew up in New York City during the Great Depression. His parents' financial difficulties affected their marriage, giving him a mostly unhappy and unstable childhood. He often took refuge in movie theaters, where he enjoyed watching early comedians like Charlie Chaplin. After graduating from high school and serving a few years in the Army Air Force Reserve, he began writing comedy scripts for radio programs and popular early television shows. Among the latter were Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows (where in 1950 he worked alongside other young writers including Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart and Selma Diamond), and The Phil Silvers Show, which ran from 1955 to 1959.

His first produced play was Come Blow Your Horn (1961). It took him three years to complete and ran for 678 performances on Broadway. It was followed by two more successes, Barefoot in the Park (1963) and The Odd Couple (1965). He won a Tony Award for the latter. It made him a national celebrity and "the hottest new playwright on Broadway". From the 1960s to the 1980s, he wrote for stage and screen; some of his screenplays were based on his own works for the stage. His style ranged from farce to romantic comedy to more serious dramatic comedy.

Overall, he garnered 17 Tony nominations and won three awards. In 1966, he had four successful productions running on Broadway at the same time, and in 1983, he became the first living playwright to have a New York theatre, the Neil Simon Theatre, named in his honor.

Erm.... It's SATURDAY. *Very* few people are @ work today. But enjoy your Independence... WE certainly are! 

Just Finished Reading: Riots and Rebels – Popular Protest in Britain from The Peasants’ Revolt to Extinction Rebellion by Nick Rennison (FP: 2025) [197pp] 

I’m still not 100% sure why exactly but I have long been interested in rebels and revolutionaries. It might well stem from growing up in the 1970’s when some (at least) of my History teachers were young radicals themselves. It's certainly where I first learned of Hereward the Wake, (possibly) Boudica and other famous English rebels and, of course, we had our fictional heroes such as Robin Hood. So, when I saw this slim volume laid out on a table in my Indie bookshop (next visit in August!) I snapped it up. I was not disappointed. 

Clearly, we Brits are a feisty and rebellious lot! Putting aside the usual regular dynastic conflicts that punctuate Britain’s bloody history the author concentrates on rebellions and uprisings from the ‘lower orders’ of society kicking off with the Peasants Revolt (1381) led by Wat Tyler [another rebel learnt about in school] and Jack Cade’s rebellion (1450) [ditto] before moving onto the rather tumultuous Tudor period. 

Even a cursory knowledge of the Tudors will point you towards THE cause of the numerous rebellions/uprisings of that fascinating period of British history – religion. As the country moved from Catholicism to Protestantism, back again and then back AGAIN its hardly surprising the number of people who suffered from ecclesiastical whiplash (to say nothing about stake burning!). Some of the uprisings I was familiar with [school AGAIN] such as the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536) and Kett’s Rebellion (1549) but a few of them, covered by the author, had obviously passed me by (there only SO much rebellion you can cover in a few school years of history). 

Naturally, one of my favourite periods for such activities is the Civil Wars of the 17th century. I’m a BIG fan of both the Levellers and the Diggers and will be reading more about both later. I’m somewhat familiar with the political debates within the New Model Army (some of which were very modern and very radical for the time) but I was unaware of groups such as the Fifth Monarchy Men nor of the Bowdy House Riots of 1668 which sound interesting to say the least! 

Upheaval in the 18th and 19th centuries revolved around increasing mechanisation (Go Luddites!) and the results of rapid social and economic change. The focus though of the 19th century was on the struggle for increased Rights and especially the Right to Vote. The Chartists definitely need some of my attention going forward. Generally, my knowledge gets increasingly sketchy before the mid-19th century which is something I need to address! 

Of course, the 20th century was hardly a time of calm – even putting to one side both World Wars! We had the Suffragettes (definitely a terrorist organisation), the unrest following demobilisation after the Great War, the General Strike of 1926, the Battle of George Square in Glasgow (tanks on the streets!), the Invergordon Mutiny (1931), the infamous Battle of Cable Street (1936), the Jarrow hunger march (also 1936), various race riots in the 1950’s, anti-Vietnam protests in the 60’s, anti-Nazi protests/riots in the 70’s, Greenham Common and anti-nuclear protests in the 1980’s (I was there for some of those demonstrations) and, of course, the Poll Tax riots during the Thatcher premiership (I saw the aftermath of some of that when I worked in central London in the late 1980’s. 

Phew...! Yup, LOTS of upheaval over MANY years. Never a dull moment as they say! I was impressed by how much the author covered and by how many new incidents I discovered to find out more about – I forgot to mention the Peterloo Massacre and the Tolpuddle martyrs!! (more of which later). This was a fun and fast read and was especially interesting considering the present protests and rioting both here are elsewhere. It's always good to put things into historical perspective. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in our turbulent past – and probable future! 

Welcome to July - We Made It! I hope that you're enjoying the weather where you are (as much as you *can*) and are also enjoying this Summer of Pop Culture here @ SaLT. MUCH more to come......