Recent arrivals: a Faroese novel for #WITMonth, the latest from multi-gendered Danish writer and performer Madame Nielsen, and an Albanian novel due in October. @transitbooks.bsky.social @prototypepubs.bsky.social #IstrosBooks

July reading. Two reviews to come, but in the meantime, on to Women in Translation month.

My sweet Georgia for #caturday. Seventeen and still the most beautiful girl in the world.

In the post, a fine collection of essays by @cclarklewes.bsky.social. And I am unlikely to ever write a book, but I am still thrilled to have my name on the (back) cover. @blackheraldpress.bsky.social

Eleven years ago I had a cardiac arrest due to a pulmonary embolism. No angels,no tunnel of light, no rising above my body to watch my son and then the EMT perform CPR. It was a long time before I learned just how low survival rate is from such an event. Still feel a little numb.

It's Twisted Spoon Day again in my house. These two are already out in the UK and will come out in North America later this year. @twistedspoon.bsky.social

Now out, Rachel Careau's wonderful new translation of Colette's The Pure and The Impure. I will have a review out very soon. @wwnorton.com

My mother died on this day ten years ago. My father followed her 11 days later and although I could write and talk about his passing, it was almost a year before I even sensed her in a dream. That story follows in the next post.

It's always nice when a book I almost forgot that I ordered arrives on a Sunday. Looking forward to this hybrid essay by Ellen Dillon.

Books finished in June, not counting a couple of PDFs for books to blurb. Reviewing is slow due to continuing problems with my eyes and inability to get proper glasses, so I've included a bonus June wildflower shot.

Latest review copy, coming October 13. @archipelagobooks.bsky.social

It has been a rather cool, wet start to summer here (sorry to my friends melting/roasting elsewhere) and it looks like some blooms and berries will be a no-show, but we have a wealth of wild roses in the fields and on the trails.

Recent arrivals: Czech writer Jan Němec's stories written in the first years of the Ukraine war, Drndić's account of her first year in Toronto, and Khoury's first novel, due in December. #seagullbooks, #istrosbooks, @archipelagobooks.bsky.social

A flock of Seagull Books landed today, topped with Naveen Kishore's latest poetry collection. With many thanks! @ottiliemulzet.bsky.social @tesslewis.bsky.social @wordkunst.bsky.social

New arrivals: @archipelagobooks.bsky.social (Nov 26), @erratumpress.bsky.social, Seagull Books, @ndbooks.bsky.social

So, if everyone is talking about literary prizes at the moment, perhaps it is time for this little gem in which Bernhard reflects on the farces that developed around the prizes he received in his lifetime.

It wouldn't be the Victoria Day long weekend, the unofficial kick off of summer, without a little snow and temperatures around 0C, at least for a day or two. #YYC

New review copies: Jérôme Lindon by Jean Echenoz due in September from @archipelagobooks.bsky.social and Is Beauty Good by Rosalind Belben with an intro by Esther Kinsky(!!!) coming from @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social this summer ( @andotherstories.bsky.social in UK).

Went into the forest this past week for the first time in a month or so and there were more trees down than usual, likely due to the intense winds we had.

I haven't posted a "books finished this month" post for a while because my reading has been slow. But this month was better. Review of "In a Cabin, in the Woods" still to come.

Today's book mail. The final part of Jón Kalman Stefánsson's Trilogy of the Boy will be out in North America in June. Excited! @biblioasis.bsky.social

More new books: I've never read Hector Abad but this sounds great (thanks @archipelagobooks.bsky.social), The Book of Homes features a quote from my review of Bajani's If You Kept a Record of Sins (@deepvellum.bsky.social), and a long awaited collection by Buddhadeva Bose (tr @arunava.bsky.social)

Recent arrivals: Seagull Books, isolarii, @univnebpress.bsky.social @andotherstories.bsky.social

A monochrome Easter, perhaps, but this little character whose white winter coat is fading makes one believe spring is not too far away now.

So, I had my second cataract surgery yesterday. On a walk today I was struck by this view which I see almost every day. With two new, crystal clear acrylic lenses everything (mid-distance and beyond) looks so crisp and clear . Of course, many surfaces at home now look very grubby. . .

Excellent book mail to end the week. Dual language edition of Juan Ramón Jiménez's Eternities from Bitter Oleander Press and 14 Ways of Looking by @erinvincent.bsky.social ordered from the UK not only because @cbeditions.bsky.social rocks but the Canadian release is hardcover at $35 CDN (from M&S).

A new translation by Rachel Careau of Colette's The Pure and the Impure coming this July.

Incoming: The latest from Istros Books. #RomanianLit

Expecting some more white tonight, but for now some black and white from yesterday. #YCC

Fresh snow and sunshine brightens a bleak world.