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Sea-Witch (Never Angeline Nørth, 2020) The second book i've read from this author and she's just one of those writers who's work immediately clicks for me. Her prose is simultaneously abstract and blunt, magic and melancholy, even when there are jokes, and there's just always so much feeling in it and it always gets my brain chemicals sloshing around. To steal a pre-existing description of this work, its a "semi-autobiographical, dream-logic radical trans fantasy novel told in scribbles & nudes, bits & parts" and she's not joking about the nudes (no for real there's straight up a picture of the author's butthole like 20 pages in) as there's lots of photos and art in it, mostly not nudes to be clear, and the mixed-media angle was a bit of a tough sell for me early on as a lot of it was not great photos with ms paint scribbles but as it went on these elements got stronger and by the last couple volumes she either got an art tablet or started commissioning stuff for it because there's some really striking pieces in there. So the story itself is fairly vague as its more told through feelings and anecdotes but there's also this whole fantasy world lore with creation myth and religious text and a lot of allegory that is, like everything in here, both simple yet hard to exactly pin down which really adds to the magical feeling this whole book radiates. Like this book is about monsters and monsters = queer people, the 78 Men Who Cause Pain = the government, easy, but I couldn't tell you what the character Sea-Witch even is let alone what she represents. There's always kind of this shifting veil over everything and the way it plays with the degrees of abstraction is really powerful at points, like she'll just pull the magic away and hit you with a gut-punch of reality at times. For a book with so much wonder and bittersweet feeling there sure is a lot of mention of both pee and cum. It is a constant duality. 8/10

Flying without Wings - Westlife

just started Mina's Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa for an upcoming book club. seems cute so far.

Angels Flying too Close to the Ground - Willie Nelson

They are forecasting another storm for us this weekend, this time snow.

That's good news, hope all those extra workers didn't miss out on any payment for what they were meant to do. We're getting doom laden forecasts here too about another Beast from the East ie heavy snow in early Feb, but we'll see. Fingers crossed, it's fairly mild here at the moment with a couple of quite nice days, but more rain is due and the south west has suffered really badly from heavy rain and floods.

It's worth a visit Madeleine Oaklore by Jules Ackton As the title suggests this is all things oak: the history, lifecycle, science, folklore, mythology, the wildlife that depends on it and lives in it from large to microscopic. Acton also provides suggestions as to how to visit and find ancient oaks, how to see the wildlife it harbours, how to get involved with conservation and preservation. She works for The Woodland Trust and knows a good deal about that which she writes. Acton also goes into the science of what is going on, especially in relation to fungi and lichen. The book is replete with facts and detail. Acton also has a great deal of enthusiasm about her subject and this certainly comes through. The focus is mainly on the UK and in the UK there are approximately 2300 species that rely on the oak. There are lots of cultural references. Bagpuss may be a bit baffling for those not in the UK. Acton also has an interesting turn of phrase. Pied Flycatchers are described as “giving off a two-tone vibe like a member of a 1980s ska band” There is a fair lengthy description of the mating habits of slugs which Acton imagines having a Barry White sound track. I found that just a little disturbing. Hawk moths are described as “the Ladt Gaga and Jimi Hendrix of the moth world.” This is a rather engaging natural history book which is full of information delivered in a quirky way. 7 out of 10 Starting Dead Lions by Mick Herron

niftily contained in a

Better to be prepared and nothing happens, than totally unprepared when a disaster hits. Really glad it mostly passed you by 🥰

Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread) ~ Rick Nelson

What Kind of Fool - Barbara Streisand and Barry Gibb

We got about 2 - 3 inches of sleet but basically the ice storm missed us to the embarrassment of all the weather forecasters, local as well as National. there were 18000 utility workers that had to go back to the States they came from. We were really, really lucky. Plus, no power outage.

I have not read this author before, but it had good reviews, so I gave it a go. It's about this old woman on an airliner who goes into a funny trance and starts wandering up the aisles, predicting each passenger's year and cause of death. The author keeps you wondering whether the old lady really is clairvoyant. The thing is some of the passengers she predicts an early death for are sympathetic characters who you don't want to die. I wondered whether the author was going to paint herself into a corner, but I think she just about got away with it.

I can’t settle. Balzac is abandoned for The Posthumous Memoirs of Bràs Cubas, Machado de Assis

Fool's Gold - The Stone Roses

whisky on his back

Have abandoned Tehanu, Ursula le Guin as I am not enjoying it. Next is Honoré de Balzac and The Two Brothers, part three of The Celibates Trilogy

You Were Only Fooling (While I Was Falling in Love) - Connie Francis

1.The Black Wolf - Louise Penny - ****1/2 (Her books are always good) 2. Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie - James Lee Burke - ****1/2 ( Burke considers this latest book the best he has written - I may agree)

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I Was Such A Fool (To Fall in Love With You) ~ Connie Francis (another one of hers for you, Muggle 🥰)

Kissing a Fool - George Michael

i'm not so worried about her appearance but i don't think i've seen her play a bitch before so i have no idea if she has that kind of energy in her lol. honestly the charli xcx score is probably gonna be enough for me to like it regardless.

Everybody's Somebody's Fool - Connie Francis (it was the first #1 hit by Connie Francis AND it was the first #1 hit in the U.S. by a female singer AND I love this song AND I love Connie Francis) 😇

cheese toastie in left