Goodreads Challenge: Another great year of books

Taking this opportunity to wish those of you who celebrate Christmas a Very Merry Christmas! I always love to have books under the Christmas tree, and in these lazy days around the holiday, I often find myself content and curled up with a good book… with my family members curled up nearby with their own.…

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Coca Cola, chocolate bar … and a short story?

Viva la France! If we hadn’t reach that conclusion alone in these weeks after the events of Paris last month, we would have arrived there by the admirable appreciation of culture and literature in that country. France – and specifically the pretty, southeastern mountain city of Grenoble – is the first city ever to offer…

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400 posts … and still going strong

Excuse me a moment of crowing. But after almost four years of blogging, I’ve reached my 400th post, and sometimes it’s worth it to simply stand back and pat ourselves on the back for managing to do what we set out to do… and to reflect on how we got here. Back in  2012, I…

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Boys don’t read?

I’ve already written about my fantastic annual pilgrimage to the Women’s Fiction Festival in Matera last month. One of many interesting discussions for writers was the (terrifying?) assertion that boys don’t read. Media consultant Porter Andersen discussed this interesting topic. When boys and girls are young, they are read to by their parents, caretakers, teachers,…

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A city for readers – Salzburg

Heaven, I’m in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak… That’s how I felt one early morning in August as I stumbled upon Salzburg’s Mozartplatz, just as they were setting up the square for avid readers. The beautiful square, with its stunning views up to the castle and watched over by…

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Happy as a clam reading on the white sand

Okay, this is completely unfair, but I write this post pre-holiday knowing it will be posted as I return home, happy, relaxed and well-read on gorgeous white sands looking like this. I love the beach, but I generally don’t do the lazy, beach resort kind of holiday. But this year, I really felt I needed…

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Are you on Goodreads?

Are you on Goodreads? I discovered the site a couple of years ago, and it helps me with my reading ‘addiction’ – providing me with lots of suggestions and recommendations for books that should be on my to-read list. I’ve discovered lots of fantastic suggestions thanks to Goodreads, and the fellow readers I follow there. I’m always…

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Celebrate women writers on International Women’s Day

Okay, okay, so officially International Women’s Day falls on 8 March, which is a Sunday this year. At my workplace, where we celebrate women’s achievements in projects in developing countries, we’ll be marking the day today. Since many observances will take place on Friday, it occurred to me – why not celebrate the entire weekend…

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Favorite reads of 2015 (at least so far…)

I’ve had a good reading start to 2015, and I’d like to share some of my favorites. I’m a  big supporter of #Readwomen, and so far this year I’ve read five novels by women and two by men. It just so happens that my favorites so far have all been by female writers, giving me…

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Unfinished work for #Readwomen2014. Join #Readwomen2015!

Those of you who may have followed my blog this year know what a big fan I am of #Readwomen2014. Although there are more talented women authors out there than ever, writing from every corner of the globe, it’s clear women writers aren’t getting the amount of attention they deserve. Traditional media tends to favor…

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