Read: Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín ★★★★★ 📚
A re-read in prep for Long Island. This is a beautiful quiet read that lingers a long time. Really enjoyed reading it again.
Format: Status
Gathering on a wooded hilltop overlooking terraces of olive trees and vineyards, a group of ninth-grade girls from the Aida refugee camp watch as Michael Farhoud, a researcher at the Environmental Education Centre (EEC) in Beit Jala, attaches a ring to the leg of a chiffchaff. The tiny olive-brown warbler was caught in nets that morning. Farhoud explains to the schoolgirls how ringing tracks birds' movements.
I saw a chiffchaff or willow warbler with a ring the other day. I wonder if it had passed through Palestine.
Read: The Slain Birds by Michael Longley ★★★★ 📚
The ravens in conversation overhead might be
Discussing us or that sheep dead in a hollow
With its yellow ear-tag and delicate black feet.
Read: To the Dogs by Louise Welsh ★★★★☆ 📚
Glasgow crime, university prof, nearly brought low by his criminal son & family history. Twists, turns & some familiar locations.
Read: Clear by Carys Davies ★★★★★ 📚
I loved this short tale, 1840, 3 characters, the split in the Kirk & the clearances.
There was a word in Ivar’s language for the moment before something happens; for the state of being on the brink of something.
Read: Bad Actors by Mick Herron ★★★★☆ 📚
Plenty of fun poked at our political leaders. Usual spy fun & shenanigans.
Small Heath Butterfly on Thyme, seen on the walk up to Greenside Reservoir today. Lots of Ringlets and Goldfinches.
Ardmore, a blustery day. The north bay calm out of the wind. For a few minutes I watched an osprey, circling round, at one point diving into the water, then up, empty clawed. Eventually it disappeared into the drizzle & haze. I got a few blurry photos, this is a crop.
Read: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray ★★★★★ 📚
A great read, multiple pov, full of surprises. Inside each character’s head indecision jerks chains. The stories shift between characters, each enough for a novel of its own. At first I felt some were left hanging, but it all weaves together.