Three French Hens...
Well, Christmas is over, or at least, we're into the slow afterglow of long lies and cold collations.
***
Dear Santa Claus,Thank you for...
One new Duvet
The whisky - 1981 North Port, from a distillery that is sadly no more. Lovely stuff
A pile of books, comprising, amongst others:Murder on the Leviathan, by Boris Akunin - the second in the superb Erast Fandorin series by Russia's leading novellist: imagine Dostoyevsky writing Sherlock Holmes mysteries in the style of James Bond; brilliantly translated as well.
The Dancers Inherit the Party by Ian Hamilton Finlay - a collection of early poetry and short stories by Scotland's greatest writer/artist
The Wolf, The Sheep, and the Lettuce by Alan Ahlberg - I originally bought this for small relatives and godparents' children, but decided I'd like my own children to have a copy one day, too. When every 'major' new book seems to be a derivative rehash of half-digested ideas from Lewis, Borges, Eco and/or Banks, a storybook for the under-tens that tells them on page two to tell their parents they're reading Bertrand Russell is worth its weight in gold.
You Are Here: A Dossier, by Rory Bremner, John Bird, John Fortune, and their producer - Britain's best political satirists stick the knife into the Anglo-American Axis.
Twelve bottles of very good beer.
I hope everyone has had (or, if you're an Old Calendarist, will have) a splendid, happy Christmas - and a joyful, prosperous New Year to you all as well!
'ewok
***
Dear Santa Claus,Thank you for...
One new Duvet
The whisky - 1981 North Port, from a distillery that is sadly no more. Lovely stuff
A pile of books, comprising, amongst others:Murder on the Leviathan, by Boris Akunin - the second in the superb Erast Fandorin series by Russia's leading novellist: imagine Dostoyevsky writing Sherlock Holmes mysteries in the style of James Bond; brilliantly translated as well.
The Dancers Inherit the Party by Ian Hamilton Finlay - a collection of early poetry and short stories by Scotland's greatest writer/artist
The Wolf, The Sheep, and the Lettuce by Alan Ahlberg - I originally bought this for small relatives and godparents' children, but decided I'd like my own children to have a copy one day, too. When every 'major' new book seems to be a derivative rehash of half-digested ideas from Lewis, Borges, Eco and/or Banks, a storybook for the under-tens that tells them on page two to tell their parents they're reading Bertrand Russell is worth its weight in gold.
You Are Here: A Dossier, by Rory Bremner, John Bird, John Fortune, and their producer - Britain's best political satirists stick the knife into the Anglo-American Axis.
Twelve bottles of very good beer.
I hope everyone has had (or, if you're an Old Calendarist, will have) a splendid, happy Christmas - and a joyful, prosperous New Year to you all as well!
'ewok