Waymarks on the French GRs and GRPs If you have ever used the French footpath network you will almost certainly have come across the red and white flashes of paint (balises) that mark the long-distance footpaths, the Sentiers de Grande … Continue reading →
Fifteen years after it won the Booker prize I finally got round to reading this book. It is an impressive achievement: amusing, exciting, and entertaining; complex and mysterious. Intertwined stories are reflected and echoed in each other. It’s a post-modern … Continue reading →
September 2004 Notes Hovering over bits underlined like this will show more information, if your browser supports it. Munros in bold, tops in italic. Distances measured from 1:50,000 OS map, so likely to be underestimated. Total ascent from cumulating altimeter: … Continue reading →
The high standard continues in the third book. If anything the "detection" takes second place to the stories of the characters: one leading player is effectively sidelined for the whole of the book while others take a more prominent role. … Continue reading →
Néouvielle Nature Reserve, Hautes Pyrenées, France 9 September 2004 During my time as a leader for HF Holidays I led two holidays in the French Pyrenées. On this particular day I took the group to the top of this 2657m … Continue reading →
The second book in the series continues Mma Ramotswe’s story and is as delightful as the first. Maintaining the format there is one investigation which is pursued through the book, interspersed with shorter "cases" and development of the principal characters.
Continue reading →A self-confessed grumpy old git walks and cycles from Land’s End to John O’Groats with a mixture of good humour and bad temper. Interesting enough for a quick read, but the book needs something more to stand out from the … Continue reading →
Let’s be honest: despite the “bestseller” label and the eulogies on the back cover, this is far from being a great book. Here are echoes of many powerful classics – “The Magus“, “Crime and Punishment“, “Catcher in the Rye“, “Lord … Continue reading →
Not having done any Chaucer at school, reading The Canterbury Tales is one of those things I promised myself I would find time for and am pleased to have done at last! Although some parts are rather tedious six centuries … Continue reading →
This is the first of Alexander McCall Smith’s books in this series, set in Botswana, in which he introduces his principal character Mma Precious Ramotswe. The book combines a fictional biography of Mma Ramotswe with a series of short-story style … Continue reading →