Tenar is a young girl taken while still a child to be the high priestess to the “Nameless Ones” at the Tombs of Atuan.
Her existence at the Tombs is a lonely one, deepened by the isolation of being the highest ranking priestess.
Her world is disrupted by the arrival of Ged, the protagonist of A Wizard of Earthsea, who seeks to steal the half of a talisman that is buried in the treasury of the Tombs.
Tenar traps him in the labyrinth under the Tombs, but she then rebels against her teaching and keeps him alive.
Through him she learns more about the outside world, and she begins to question her faith in the Nameless Ones and her place at the Tombs.
I did like that it questioned religion and posed ethical questions back in 1970.
I’ve already put in holds for future books in the series.
Plum Island (1997) is written in first person, following a linear plotline in which the reader moves along with the main character.
Unfortunately the main character is John Corey, a bored, unhappy former homicide detective, medically retired from the NYPD with 3 gunshot wounds.
Corey is an asshole. Cynical, irreverent, insensitive, horny. He views the world with heavy sarcasm, wit, and street-smart skepticism. Hates all authority figures.
This book is way too long. For the story it tells, it should be about half the length.
There’s no way we needed to diverge one night to a casino, for example, so Corey can lose $2000. It added nothing.
Somehow, John Corey kept me reading anyway.
The Inciting Incident: A local, attractive young couple—Tom and Judy Gordon—are found shot to death on their patio. Because Corey knew the couple, the local police chief drafts him to assist with the investigation.
The Core Mystery: The Gordons were biologists on Plum Island, a heavily guarded, real-world government animal disease research facility located just off the coast of Long Island.
The Stakes: The investigation quickly spirals into a massive conspiracy. As federal agencies like the FBI and CIA step in to control the narrative, Corey must figure out whether the couple was killed for smuggling a deadly biological pathogen, a new vaccine, or something entirely unexpected …
The Pearl is a 1947 novella by acclaimed American author John Steinbeck that explores human nature, greed, and the corrupting influence of wealth.
Formatted as a timeless, fable-like parable, the story is based on a Mexican folk tale from La Paz, Baja California Sur, which Steinbeck heard during a visit to the region in 1940.
The narrative focuses on Kino, a poor indigenous pearl diver, his wife Juana, and their infant son Coyotito.
Kino happens to find an extraordinarily massive gem that he names the “Pearl of the World“.
I had 3 nights in London between Scotland and Spain. ALWAYS enjoy my tourist time there.
The free museums are terrific.
I’ve long planned to book accommodation for a month (one day) and really explore this cosmopolitan capital properly.
Walking the river at night is my favourite activity.
Waymo vehicles (all-electric Jaguar I-PACE SUVs) have been actively mapping and testing on public roads with trained human safety specialists behind the wheel. Waiting on government approval to go driverless.
Lady Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves, have joined his formidable mother on an Egyptian holiday in 1904.
Their host, Lord Bertram Deeley, is a renowned amateur British collector of antiquities, who has invited his closest friends on a lavish cruise up the Nile to his home at Luxor.
But on the first night of their journey, he suddenly collapses after offering a welcome toast, a victim of the lethal poison cyanide. Who amongst this group of his nearest and dearest would want to kill their generous host?
Emily and Colin’s investigation soon reveals that even his closest friends had reasons to want him dead: was it the archeologist whose dig Deeley was poised to fund until he suddenly withdrew support? The powerful politician whose career Deeley had secretly destroyed? The dyspeptic aristocratic English spinster whose hired travelling companion seems determined to protect her employer? Or could it be Mrs. Hargreaves herself, who may have spurned the advances of Lord Deeley when they were both younger?
A key clue may lie with several ancient ushabtis, exquisite three-thousand-year-old sculptures that played a role in a hidden story from the time of Ancient Egypt, one of a sister’s unshakeable loyalty to her brother, a tale of betrayal and revenge. In an unforgettable finale, Emily and Colin gather their fellow travellers together to unmask a killer whose motive is as shocking as it is brilliant.
Literature more than just another best seller psychological drama. Some magic realism.
Set primarily in 1865 Ireland, a decade after the absolute devastation of the Great Hunger (Irish Potato Famine), the narrative follows an Irish cartographer named Tomás and his reluctant ten-year-old son, Liam. They are commissioned by the British Ordnance Survey to map a windswept peninsula jutting into the Atlantic.
While mapping, Tomás has a profound, mystical encounter at a pre-Christian holy spring. This experience causes him to abandon his official colonial duties to secretly draw a “dissident map”—one that preserves the true, untampered memory and history of the Irish landscape.
When Tomás is mentally destabilized by this event, young Liam is left terrified and forced to figure out how to complete the mapping and find a way back home.
That’s just the start.
The timeline spans generations and branches out from rural Ireland to Dublin, Rome, Quebec, and Kolkata, capturing the sweeping scale of the Irish emigration experience.
Critics praised Land for its sheer ambition, lyrical depth, and masterful prose, while also noting its complex, fractured structure and heavy thematic focus on colonial hardship.
I thought it was a snake. They explained it’s a non-venomous legless lizard. Also called a deaf adder, blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple, steelworm, and hazelworm. I’d never heard of the creature.
Get a haircut, hippie. 😀
Hairy Coo. Ready for the Scottish winter.
As I often do, booked an inexpensive early morning flight. Headed up to the small airport — BUT it’s locked during the night. Airport Information desk recommended I tent at the end of the last parking lot. Under the Scottish Outdoor Access Code you can tent almost anywhere for free.
Generally ignoring superhero movies, I do have soft spots for Ironman, Batman, and Spiderman.
An unprecedented, record-breaking, summer blockbuster HIT — it’s actually worth seeing.
Ignoring the superhero fight scenes, I appreciated the cast. Tom Holland good. But my EX, Zendaya, a little underused.
Sadie Sink is the real female start of the film, playing the mutant Jean Grey.
Jon Bernthal is excellent as the gritty vigilante Frank Castle, also known as The Punisher,
Critics appreciated Marvel moving away from the “multiverse slop” and massive space battles.
You can relate to these characters. Peter Parker starts as a lonely, independent “friendly neighbourhood” hero dealing with young adulthood and grief. And getting along with the cops.
The story follows Bennie Rosato, a fierce Philadelphia criminal defense attorney who specializes in police misconduct cases.
Her life is upended when she goes to a maximum-security prison to meet a new client, Alice Connolly. Alice is accused of the brutal, cold-blooded murder of her lover, who was a highly decorated police detective.
When Bennie arrives, she is stunned to see a woman who looks exactly like her. Alice claims she was framed by the police and introduces herself as Bennie’s long-lost identical twin sister. Because Bennie grew up believing she was an only child, she is deeply skeptical. However, Alice knows intimate details about Bennie’s family that are impossible to ignore.
With the trial starting in only one week, Bennie reluctantly takes the case. She plunges into a high-stakes legal battle, unearthing police corruption, dark family secrets, and a dangerous cover-up.
Interesting, too, is a subplot in the world of boxing. Drugs. Fixing fights. Laundering money.
And Matt Haig is one of the most original and interesting authors working today.
The Midnight Train is a 2026 fantasy novel published on May 26, 2026, as a companion sequel to his 10-million-copy bestseller, The Midnight Library.
Like Library, Midnight Train is life philosophy in the guise of an entertaining story.
The Protagonist: Wilbur Budd, an 81-year-old bookshop owner on the brink of death.
The Setting: A magical, time-traveling steam engine that functions as a purgatory between life and death.
The Journey: The train stops at pivotal moments from Wilbur’s past, allowing him to relive his choices, regrets, and his honeymoon in Venice with his great love, Maggie.
The Catch: Wilbur is strictly forbidden from changing anything, forcing him to confront how his life unfolded and what truly mattered.
If you like books with upbeat endings, this is the novel for YOU.
