I ended up reading two editions of Coleridge's poem, the one illustrated by Doré, with "Assorted Poems" including Kublai Khan, and the smaller edition illustrated by Mervyn Peake ❤️, with an interesting introduction by Marina Warner, drawing out some of Coleridge's anti-slave trade themes, and the culpability by association of a society that profits from suffering.
Coleridge's gothic atmosphere is paramount, though ?

Inspired by The World of the Romantics jigsaw I did last week, I'm rereading The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, illustrated by Dore ❤️
Inspired by some leftover "cocktail beetroot", I wondered if there was an actual cocktail using beetroot, and the one recipe I found for a "Borschtini" was too complicated, so this is a simplified version, which has an "interesting" flavour profile! ?

"The clock struck 1:00 A.M."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

From the blurb, this sounds like it has vibes of one of my favourite TV shows, Midnight Diner. It's set in a taxi rather than a café, but the episodic stories of Tokyo's late-night/early-morning denizens resonates. Fingers crossed 🤞

A new literary- and art-themed jigsaw from Laurence King to get to grips with 😊🧩
I'll try to read short works by and about the 49 listed people and points of interest as I go along, though that project (if I actually stick with it) will likely take longer than the jigsaw itself!

I love the Māori word for autism: Takiwātanga, which means "in their own time and space". So respectful and inclusive ?
Keri Opai, who coined the word in 2017, explains how he came to it in this short article:
https://www.altogetherautism.org.nz/a-time-and-space-for-takiwatanga/

[Yes, it appears that I will be spamming my own feed with this book! ?]

I'm not out of the introduction and already hugely impressed by Rippon's approach. As a neuroscientist with decades of autism research behind her, she starts with an apology for having missed (along with everybody else in the field) the prevalence of autistic women. While it can be slow to change, scientific understanding *does* change, even though cultural understanding often lags behind and acts as a brake on social change. ⬇️

3 #FirstLineFridays

Preface: I should start with a confession.

Introduction: If you google 'famous historical figures who might have been autistic' the list of results will be headed by figures such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Nikola Tesla, & Hans Christian Andersen.

Chap.1: When trying to answer what appears to be a straightforward question - what is autism? - we immediately encounter the amorphous nature of the definition of autism.

Next up: Gina Ripon is a neuroscience researcher who has previously written about the myths of binary sex-based differences between male and female brains, for which she was awarded the accolade of "Feminazi" by gender essentialists, so that's a recommendation.

In this book, she presents her research into the under- and misdiagnosis of autism in women. I took a peek at the pages on gender nonconformity, which are supportive of trans identities ⬇️

Imagine my delighted neurodivergent surprise to find that I'm officially being oppressed by Nigel Farage! The far-right, mini-Trumpian wank-cannon has now decided that as well as having "too many" immigrants, trans people and breast-feeding mothers, we also have too many autistic people and children with special educational needs and disabilities. As a white, cishet man, I've waited a long time for this kind of recognition! ?

The book's title is suggestive of the half life the narrator lives, bound by an obsessional love to an older man utterly unworthy of her devotion, & trapped by the hypocritical mores of patriarchal religious values.
80 years since publication, Nedreaas's exploration of "pro-life" misogynistic shaming of pregnancy & abortion that also punishes unmarried mothers and stigmatises and willfully neglects their children is, sadly, still relevant. ⬇️

“If you can smile today, maybe you can laugh tomorrow.”

This thought of the main character sounds hopeful - it is hopeful - I fear it is likely to be unfulfilled.

While reading I'm listening to Norwegian composer/pianist Ketil Bjørnstad's album "The Nest", which hits the right note of melancholy and light ??
#BooksAndMusic

? https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_noyS9yFqEsSrN8V5wQxVHcnlOIUZ9FDE8&si=i...

#TuesdayTunes @TieDyeDude

The episode in Nedreaas's "Nothing Grows by Moonlight" where the unnamed narrator recalls the day she left home to escape a stultifying life for the self-deluding fantasy of a happy life with a lover who insists on the secrecy of their assignations, while not entirely matching the lyrics of "She's Leaving Home", is close enough that the one reminded me of the other. And any excuse to listen to this song is a good one ?

“The world has been built crookedly with some kind of arrangement that makes lots of people into hunted animals and a few people so swimmingly well off they can't understand why everybody else isn't happy for them and willing to be beaten to death for their purpose.”

I've never been one for physical activity, especially if it's to a practical end, so to relieve me from the tedium of mowing the lawn, we got a robomower!
In best Asimovian tradition, he's been anthropomorphised, and named Ian, after letters in his serial number. 🤖
I can take no credit for setting it up, which my practically-minded son kindly did when he visited yesterday.
Book and a glass of wine in the late evening sun? Don't mind if I do 😊

The rain has stopped for what looks like long enough for me to walk to the shops without getting wet.
Each spring is signalled & beautified by this clematis in our front garden that (miracle!) I've managed to not kill
This 1947 Swedish novel, however, has none of the joys of spring. A woman looks back on an affair she had with her former school teacher, and given her adverse coping mechanisms at the point of narration, it's not going to end well!

We went to Woodlands Animal Sanctuary's annual open day today, and imagine my joy when I saw this jigsaw 😍🧩🤩 Naturally, I rehomed it 😁💛🧡🧑🏼‍🎤🧡💛

"I am looking for someone."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

As an urban fantasy: 5⭐
As an exploration of how trans lives are traumatically impacted by systemic transphobia it's both 5⭐ and incredibly timely.
As a massive "fuck you" to a certain billionaire oppressor of marginalized people, it's off the scale!
I loved the characters I was supposed to love, and felt a mix of outrage and pity for the antagonist. Juno caught a good balance of humour, action and peril, and I gulped it down! Sequel ordered!

In response to the UK Supreme Court's ruling today against the rights of trans people to exist, I've written the following to my MP (see in comments). I'd ask British Littens of good conscience to write to their own MP in support of our trans fellow citizens.
#TransRights ✊🏳️‍⚧️✊ 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵 #TransRightsAreHumanRights

You can find details of your MP and email them directly from this website:
https://www.writetothem.com/
⬇️

My posts have been sadly deficient of David Bowie for too long! 😄

Driving to work on Tuesday, I was amused when David came on my playlist singing the line:
💬 Where the fuck did Monday go?
#TuesdayTunes @TieDyeDude #BooksAndBowie #BooksAndMusic
🎙️ David Bowie 🧑🏼‍🎤
🎵 Girl Loves Me
💿 Blackstar
📽️https://youtu.be/BFD4BMlka9Q?si=1lAX2Ne3LwH-4Tio

My sweet potato, coconut and chickpea curry turned out a lot muddier than I'd envisaged thanks to Trump's trade war with the world.
My decision to boycott US goods as an anti-Trump protest is a largely performative affair, as I don't generally buy anything imported from there, tariffs or not. However, today I got to flex my economic muscles when I realised that the sweet potatoes at my local shop were from USA! Next to them were Brazilian ⬇️

I've been meditating on what the right soundtrack for Her Majesty's Royal Coven would be, and then it just seemed obvious on several levels!

🎙️ Siouxsie and The Banshees
💿 Juju
🎶 Spellbound
📽️ https://youtu.be/TjvvK-Rj0WI?si=th8ueXO_kbWLacwW

#BooksAndMusic

Phew! That was another tough one ?

This 1000-piece jigsaw is titled "Baby Toss", but has the Doubtful Guest tossed it over the balcony rail, or is the housekeeper tossing it upstairs? And is this sort of behaviour why Edward Gorey's childcare business failed? ?

I'm liking the subtle references to other literary works in HMRC.

One character's offhand (and disrespectful!) reference to Frank Herbert's Dune brings suggestions of the Bene Gesserit, another sisterhood known as witches, and of Paul Atreides' role as the Kwizatz Haderach, a male super-being whose coming is foretold by the sisterhood in a way that is possibly (I'm not far into the story) echoed by Dawson's Sullied Child prophecy.

I am, as Mrs Bookwomble put it, identifying the fuck out of these bees! 🐝🔍🤓
This is a Garden Bumblebee. Other visitors to the flowering shrub in our back garden have been the Honeybee, of course, a Common Carder Bee and a Red-tailed Bumblebee. The tagged guide has 28 of the most common of the ~250 British bee species, and it's enriching my lazy day in the sun 🌞
Also had a few Common Blue butterflies for variety 🦋

Sitting in the sun, Pot Noodle, Cheddars and pop for dinner, listening to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan albums, just started Juno Dawson's HMRC 🧙‍♀️ #TransRightsReadathon 🏳️‍⚧️
Perfect day off 💖😌💖

Lisa Schneidau is an ecologist, conservationist and storyteller, knowledge and passion that she combines in these faithful retellings of British and Irish folktales.
Each story has a short introduction in which Lisa gives some ecological, historical and/or folkloric details, and she chooses a reasonable geographic spread of stories from across the Isles. I liked her inclusion of a couple of Romany stories, Appy and the Eel being one of the ⬇️

I donated 4 books to the Rufford Old Hall charity bookshop, so it only seemed fair to buy 4 replacements: a nice set of recent edition Penguins of Roald Dahl short stories.
Then, we went to Martin Mere, where, in addition to the usual suspects, I spotted an oystercatcher and a black-tailed godwit, of which there are only 50 breeding pairs in the UK.
I'm not an avid birdwatcher, but I do like to be out in nature, and MM is a peaceful place 😌⬇️

"One morning, not so very long ago, I visited a stretch of the upper River Torridge in North Devon." - Introduction ?

"Have you ever wondered where all that river water comes from, flowing through seasons and years and ages, and how many people have stopped and wondered at the same thing? - Chapter 1: Sacred Beginnings ?

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) Vs. A.I.

In his "On Epic Poetry", Pope satirises the proliferation of bad epic poetry, written not by poets with "genius", but by hacks according to a "recipe" in which they take themes and episodes from the great works of literature, "stack them up" and pour out verbiage void of any true human meaning, moral or value. ???

My reading of this essay was enhanced by it sounding in my mind as narrated by Simon Callow ?

I'm about ¼ through this essay collection, having just finished the selections by Joseph Addison (1672-1719), which I've really enjoyed.
He was co-founder of The Spectator magazine, the title of which was borrowed by a still-extant conservative periodical, which is ironic given that Addison's satirical essay, "The Tory Fox-Hunter" lampoons the Little Englander mentality that still prevails amongst current Spectator & Daily Mail reading folk. ⬇️

#SocialistStandard April 2025 had a cover story about Little Trump (a name that fits Nige on several levels 🍑💨), which looks at his pernicious political presence, offering a hopeful analysis that his dream (threat?) of becoming the next UK PM is unlikely to happen🤞
Other articles include a stirring call for solidarity with trans people, a slightly snotty reply to a critical letter, a continuation of the series on socialist fundamentals, & a ⬇️

#TransRightsReadathon
“Digital Book Burnings in Trump's America:
Attacks on marginalised groups are likely an early indication of rising authoritarianism. A century ago, the Nazi party of Germany targeted transgender people & the scientists who were pioneers of sexual research, raiding Magnus Hirschfeld‘s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, one of the world‘s first centres dedicated to the study and care of queer and trans people. The Nazi Party ⬇️

Weird Walk #3 features an interview with author Andrew Michael Hurley and the use of walking through the British landscape in his novels, a dolmen "review" and the Uffington White Horse, and a really interesting piece on the history and folklore of beer and ale. ⬇️

On the recommendations of @Cathythoughts & @LeahBergen , I bumped this one up my reading list, & I'm pleased to report that I really liked these dark short stories.
I'd expected ghostly horror stories based on the cover indications, though there was only one definitely featuring an apparition, and another in which it was a little ambiguous. The other stories were horrible rather than horror, in the way of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected ⬇️

Was this 1954 collection of short stories by ideologically faithful cadres of the Chinese Communist Party full-on Maoist propaganda? Yes. Was it an interesting insight into the historical processes and concerns of the early Chinese Revolution? Also yes.
It doesn't seem any more jingoistic to me than many western movies of the post WWII period, and probably less so than, say, the Top Gun films.
The stories focus on the shift from traditional 👇

A collection by Lakes poet, Polly Atkin (pic), which draws on the landscape of fells & water, on the diaries of Dorothy Wordsworth, on the author's chronic illnesses & (as background, not foreground), the COVID pandemic, during which the poems were written. I really enjoyed them, and she's won awards and was a writer in residence at Gladstone's Library, if other recommendation is needed 🙂
The cover is by painter and wild swimmer Nancy Farmer 👇

"Everyone everywhere is talking about the moon."
- Full Wolf Moon (Grasmere, January 2020)

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Sitting in the spring sunshine, listening to the Bill Evans Evans Trio play the relaxing 🌷Spring is Here🌷, drinking coffee, cat minding (which is easier now we've had a broken fence panel replaced) and reading Weird Walk No. 2, which includes articles on the Third Doctor's folk horror storyline, The Dæmons, progressive Morris dancing, Stonehenge-inspired rock & foraging.
#TuesdayTunes @TieDyeDude
https://youtu.be/zhvA0P_qQms?si=RfvjbevsTaPFhP4z

"The evening sun was being swallowed up by the far horizon. A northwest wind was stealthily ruffling the grass till the plain looked like a racing sea, while the dark clouds gathering overhead resembled the calfskin roof of a tent. Everybody knew the autumn rain was at hand."
- On the Kholchin Grasslands, by Malchinku

I loved this family drama, focusing on the fortunes and missions of an affluent Indian Muslim family in the years before and after Partition, mainly through the lens of the unconventional girl/young woman, Gaythi, though we get insights into the POVs of other characters, too. Fatima has compassion and empathy for her characters, even when they act badly, and I cared for and worried about them.
👇

I'm making good progress with The One Who Did Not Ask, enjoying it and it's possible I'll finish it today, despite needing a little break from it.

Rather than picking up one of the other books I'm currently reading, I've picked up a "new" one. It's a short story collection published in 1954 by the People's Republic of China's state publisher, the Foreign Languages Press, so all the stories will be "ideologically sound", but I'm hoping that ?

Now that Skye has had her vaccinations, we're letting her go outside for a little bit. This is the third day, and first time during the afternoon. She's skittish, I assume from the sensory load of novel sights, sounds and smells, but did meow to be allowed out today, so she's obviously enjoying it.
I'll be moving that bird feeder!

It's OK to be angry about capitalism? Phew! Thank fuck for that! 😅

I got this from the library as much to validate the decision of whichever librarian it was who decided to order this in as I did to actually read it. I wasn't sure that I would read it as, a) it's about five years old and things have moved on (in a hell-in-a-handcart way) and, b) Bernie's preaching to the converted with me. But, I read the first few pages and think I'll continue.

Shusterman & Martínez present a series of stories set in WWII in which figures from Jewish folklore empower resistance to the nazi Holocaust. Shusterman notes in comments that there is a high degree of wish fulfillment in the stories, and I think he is successful in balancing the fantasy elements with the awful truth of history. It's a YA GN, so the horrors are not explicitly shown, while honouring the impact and consequences.
The final story 👇

"Doors had closed all over Europe to Jews and other groups that the nazis deemed "undesirable."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Next sentence: "But it is said that when God closes a door... He opens a window."

Ironic that one of the main countries of refuge for Jews and others persecuted by the nazis is now governed by a man whose policies and pronouncements indicate that he is broadly in sympathy with the nazis.

A low pick for this library book, a graphic bio focusing specifically on the author's experience of breaking into animation work in LA.
This could have been too niche, but, while there is zero chance of this being my new life direction (🤣), the specificity about a career, city & lifestyle utterly different to my own was of interest.
Text heavy, with lots of career tips, but mercifully short enough that I only skipped a few pages at the end! 🤫

#WeirdWords Squir or Squirr: "To throw with a jerking motion; to skim".

A spendthrift heir being disinherited & bequeathed only a silver shilling, "put him into such a passion, that having taken me in his hand, and cursed me, he squirred me away from him as far as he could fling me."
From Addison's, "The Adventures of a Shilling", in which an Elizabeth I coin recounts its travels from Peru as part of Drake's plunder, to its minting & circulation.

😀🐇✊🏻🚩