Stanfords is an iconic specialist bookshop of maps and travel books in London and was established in 1853 …
Its collection of maps, globes, and maritime charts is considered the world’s largest. …
After visiting, my thinking was to stop in London en route to my next travel adventure to pick up the books and maps I will need.
They’ve been in the same location since 1901.
Of dozens of possible stage plays to see in London, I chose 5+ hours of Harry Potter. I was keen to see magic stagecraft. And it was pretty cool.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a two-part stage play written by Jack Thorne based on an original story by Thorne, J. K. Rowling and John Tiffany.
It premiered on 30 July 2016.
The story begins nineteen years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and follows Harry Potter, now a Ministry of Magic employee, and his younger son Albus Severus Potter, who is about to attend Hogwarts …
One of the hashtags is #KeepTheSecrets … so I don’t want to reveal any spoilers.
I can say that my favourite character is Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Harry’s former nemesis Draco Malfoy.
Ron Weasley is entertaining, too.
The Palace Theatre, London is an appropriate venue. Very evocative of the Potter look and feel. Chairs are tiny, however.
The plot is dumb. I overheard people saying the action was rushed. Personally I was happy they kept things moving quickly. I did fall asleep at one point.
Bottom line — Harry Potter fanatics will enjoy the stage play.
Regular fans like myself will enjoy a few scenes. Be impressed by the magic. But ultimately find the story too saccharine and predictable.
related review – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, review: A magical experience tailor made for the stage
Victoria Park London.
A Guy Fawkes celebration set to music inspired by the science-fiction novel Frankenstein, which was first published two centuries ago.
I only found out about it because thousands of people were trooping past my hostel. The street was closed.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
That was only one of many Bonfire Night celebrations in London.
Isaacson is a bit of a genius himself.
Recently he’s written biographies. I enjoyed his biography of Leonardo da Vinci (2017). And loved his biography of Steve Jobs (2011).
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life is good too. But not as good.
Ben’s life story was simply not as controversial as either Jobs or Leonardo da Vinci. As a result I found Isaacson repetitive regarding his few faults.
Ben Franklin regarded himself as a working class man. A printer. Yet became one of the most glamorous and famous people of his time. (1706-1790)
I admire him as an American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.
He founded many civic organizations, including the Library Company, Philadelphia‘s first fire department and the University of Pennsylvania.
Like Gandhi, his real goal was to make life better for as many as possible.
Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism …
He’d be horrified by the GOP and their toddler President in 2018.
Nesbø is a very popular author these days. The Bat (1997) his first in the Harry Hole series.
The story revolves around the Norwegian police officer Harry Hole, who is sent to Sydney, Australia to serve as an attachéfor the Australian police’s investigation into the murder of a young female Norwegian celebrity, Inger Holter. …
Harry Hole would seem to be perfect for me. But I found both Nesbø books I’ve tried well written, but too confusing. I haven’t really been invested in the plot nor do I care about Harry Hole, a jerk who should be avoided.
The Bat was written eight years before The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. So comparisons between Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson and Norweigan Jo Nesbø have been drawn. Often erroneously.
I’ll try at least one more. Then most likely quit for good.
I love Hank. He’s so dumb. The books so smart.
The audio book narrator Liam Owen is perfect.
Book 5 mocks professional sport. In Hank’s universe by far the most popular spectator spectacle is Super Class Glocken. The rules are hilariously bizarre. Players of different weight classes must carry or throw heavy weights across the goal line … trying not to get killed by defenders.
It’s brilliant.
Like many fans I was sad when the book ended. So read it twice!
The author, Steven Campbell, has published book 6. And is working on book 7.
Sadly being one of my favourite authors doesn’t pay enough to make a living. He’s trying to fund Hard Luck Hank via Patreon.
I haven’t read all that many of the 50+ King books, but Outsider is my favourite.
He’s a great story teller. Fantastic at dialogue.
The novel begins with the tone of a police procedural in its early parts, but shifts to a horror novel toward the end, employing two common genres of Stephen King. …
My complaint in the past is that his books are too long. (Fans love long books.) This one is too long, as well – 576 pages hardcover. But it still kept me going.
About every second book I read lately is by Michael Connelly.
I’m hooked on this author.
His main two characters are Harry Bosch and his half brother Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer.
The Scarecrow (2009) features Connelly’s third major protagonist, L.A. journalist Jack McEvoy. And his love interest FBI agent Rachel Walling.
An excellent plot.
The story begins with Jack McEvoy’s termination by the Los Angeles Times due to the newspaper’s financial crisis. He is given two weeks to train his replacement, Angela Cook, on the “cop beat” and decides that he wants to write one more major story before his last day. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Did you see the 2007 film Golden Compass with Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman?
The movie tanked considering the US$180 million cost.
But the books are great. It was based on Pullman’s His Dark Materials series:
La Belle Sauvage is a fantasy novel by Philip Pullman published 2017, the first volume in a planned trilogy named The Book of Dust. Set around 12 years before the start of His Dark Materials …
Reviews have been great for the start of the prequel.
I’d agree. It’s well worth reading.
My only criticism is the same one I have with all fantasy: deus ex machina. The plot twists are unexpected appearances of magical things unrestrained by any logic or rules.
It always seems a bit cheap, to me.
4 Calgarians got together in Switzerland.
Meet-ups like this on the road are always fun.
Tam had come to Europe with her daughter who’s doing a semester in Spain.
Cal and Maria are starting their 3rd year living in small villages near Bern.
The first two years they lived in Solothurn, a lovely place popular with Swiss but almost unknown by foreign tourists. Population is about 17,000 with 20% of those being resident foreign nationals.
We enjoyed a terrific meal in Solothurn. It was Tam’s farewell. She flew home to Seattle same day.
I stayed the night with Cal and Maria, learning much about Switzerland. It’s a unique place which many other nations should study.
Cal showed me a fantastic book called Living and Working in Switzerland: A Survival Handbook by David Hampshire. It’s hilarious, must reading for anyone moving there to work.
Rick McCharles 