Tag Archives: Edinburgh International Book Festival

Long Island by Colm Tóibín

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , , , , ,

Sequels are a tough gig. Colm Tóibín’s Long Island – the sequel to Brooklyn – is exquisite. And, I’ll go as far as saying that I enjoyed it more than Brooklyn.

There are already dozens of reviews of this novel; it’s front-and-centre at every bookshop you walk into; and the reservations at my library number 120+ (of which I was one). Fortunately, I popped by the library last week and spied it on the ‘Most Wanted’ shelf (one week loans, no renewals, and bad karma for borrowers who don’t observe the rules!). Needless to say, I snapped it up and started reading immediately. Continue reading →

Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

01. Edinburgh Book Festival (beamed all the way to me in Melbourne) – Colm Tóibín, interviewed by Caoilinn Hughes. I love how much Colm laughed at Caoilinn’s questions. He was a great sport, especially when she opened with describing him as “…Costco’s hottest product – from the aisle between the shovels and the underwear… it’s either a very, very good book or a very, very bad book.” She then continued with a five-minute rundown of his stellar career, and when she got to the end, Colm dead-panned, “Thanks for that lovely introduction Caoilinn, although you left out quite a lot…”
Continue reading →

Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

01. Started the week with a visit to Aurora Bathhouse in Sorrento – it was so good. Hard to say which bits I liked best but the salt scrub; cold plunge pool; mineral pool with tonnes of room to float; and the glacial mist room were all outstanding. Continue reading →