Tom's treasures of fiction, poetry, literature and more...

To end the month of February I am giving you my monthly revealing of some stuff I have read in the month. 1: My French. As always reading French words is a part of my daily French lessons which has seen me learn that 'Couchon' is French for 'Pig'. I am still going strong with it at over seven hundred days now. I have no plans to stop it until I finish the course and am confident I can understand enough of it. 2: Rain  (2009) by Don Paterson. As Don Paterson has been author of the month for this month, I started off by reading his 2009 poetry collection Rain . Do have a look for the review of the collection from earlier on in the month. 3:  Transport information. When I need to use buses, I will. I often check bus timetables online just to see when buses are. Often if I go further afield I like to make sure I do not miss the latest buses I can get to ensure my connection for the next bus I am going to be getting on. 4:   Scottish Poetry 8 an anthology  edited by Mauri...

I recently took a trip to Faversham for the day because of the Faversham Literary Festival that was running across the week. When I went, a few of us had chosen to go. There was an event we had just missed because the traffic was worse than expected. We decided to look around a few shops which is when I took a look in the second-hand bookshop Past Sentence. That bookshop features as my bookshop visit for the month in my previous blog post so do take a look at that. After this went to a reading session where university students and graduates from Canterbury Christ University were reading some of their work. I thought it was rewarding because I remember going to university. For me, it was always nice to have similar such opportunities to showcase your creative craft off. Even now I love to share what I written to other people, especially those with an interest in the craft. I heard from a diverse range of work from various people who read their pieces so well. The different works were mo...

It is that time of the month again where I divulge into a bookshop that I have recently visited. February's visit has seen me take to Past Sentence in Faversham. Faversham recently had their Literary Festival so I took a trip to Faversham for the day as some events were happening across the week. I went on the Saturday and visited Past Sentence while I was there. This book shop was unlike most bookshops I have been to. It was smaller for one thing. However that does not diminish it necessarily. The thing that I found though was how the shelves had books on them and then extra books stacked in piles in front of them. It is good to have a lot of books but I struggled trying to go through them to find exactly what I wanted. If like me you are after specific authors or book titles then you might find it a little hard to check all the books. Nevertheless, if you are not after something specific but maybe wanted some crime fiction or children's books then you are for a treat. I would...

I am here with another book review... For this one I am reviewing Don Paterson's The Arctic  (2022). The title comes from the name of a bar in a post-apocalyptic world where survivors go. Yet again Paterson amazes me with his work. Let us get into another wonderfully written collection... This collection is different from the other two I have read - Rain  (2009) and 40 Sonnets  (2015). Each time I read one of his poetry collections, it stands out to me its own distinct way. The writing is evidently his with each collection but none are the same as one another. With this collection one thing that I noticed straight away was how cleverly depicted thought-out the poems were. He brings new light to things we are already familiar with. Take his poem 'I am Sleepy', who knew the denial of grief could become materialised as though a living thing? This is what he writes about denial -  ‘O here's Denial, shaking his wee head like he doesn't know the girl's as good as dead...

This blog post today takes a look at some of the Scottish books I have ever read. 1: Trumpet (1998) by Jackie Kay. I have mentioned this novel before, which I have read. This novel by Scottish author Jackie Kay examines the life of black Scottish jazz trumpet player who was secretly transgender. To everyone around him he was just a man and had always been a boy, then a man. Apart from his wife, no one knew, not even his son. This novel reveals the reactions from those who knew him and those who did not know him in the aftermath of his death. It is a beautiful novel which I have reviewed so you can find it on my blog. 2: The Hound of the Baskervilles  (1902) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I have a vague recollection of reading a shortened version of this book at primary school when I was either in year five or six. I have not yet read it since though. It is of course a mystery tale if that is your thing. 3: Shuggie Bain  (2020) by Douglas Stuart. After wanting to read this Booker-...

Today I am giving you, all my readers, a poem that is entitled 'Un-United Kingdom'. That is because this is how I see the U.K as the minute. I hope you enjoy the poem. Un-united Kingdom: The streets are divided                                             as some want a future that's safe. While the country is rife with super rich tax dodgers hoarding cash yet no one's bothered. The media are all concerned with immigrants and asylum seekers fleeing uncertainty and sufferance. Trans, non-binary and intersex folx are subject to intolerance from leading right-wing figures and even fellow LGBTQIA+ members. Those with disabilities face discrimination from society not allowing them to function on a day-to-day basis, causing them to go without, having no accessibility at times - access denied. This kingdom of ours, full of decries it's Christian, cannot as a nation, unite together and i...

St Valentine's Day is one the way. Some of you might have someone special and I hope you are spoilt rotten. Personally I think a loving relationship is something for all year round. But this might be because the only loving relationship I have is the one with books. I love reading and books have been a part of my life for years. This Valentine's Day, all I am interested in is the love relationships that happen in the books I read. Do that gardener love their flowers more than their neighbouring gardener does? Will the guy who always gets his coffee from the local bakery realise the bakery guy is falling for him? I mean... These are not actual plots I have read lately but they could exist. The point I am trying to make, is that to some of us, Valentine's Day just needs to be about selves. This year can be all about self-love with reading books, sipping hot chocolates and meditating to music. These are just some things that I have known people to do to take care of themselves...

It is time for another book review... For this review, I am looking at Don Paterson's poetry collection 40 Sonnets  (2015). This is a fun collection that shifts tone from the somewhat serious mellow tone of his last collection I reviewed - Rain  (2009). This collection offers something different. Obviously it offers 40 different sonnets but they are not just 'sonnets'. The sonnets here are also unique and varied from one another. First of all, they are structurally different from one another. A lot of you probably have a certain view of how a sonnet should look and be structured, which could well be based from having some of Shakespeare's sonnets. But sonnets can be so much more and unexpected at times. Paterson's collection also allows his thoughts and his queries to be highlighted. I like how his poem 'An Incarnation' is his side of a phone call conversation in which he seems to be asked he is who he is meant to be. I found the whole poem rather comical. I...

Here is a collection of poetry by Scottish authors from the 1970s. It is a interesting mix of poets with poetry in English and in Scottish. Now I do love that there was poetry in Scottish because it is full of Scottish authors however I found reading some bits a little challenging. Some poems had English as well as Scottish but I was reading one poem towards the end which I struggled to read. Nevertheless I was not deterred from reading this book which I liked. It had a great diversity of different Scottish poets from that time period including Robin Fulton, Liz Lochhead, Alexander Scott and Anne Stevenson. For me this is a celebration of Scottish poets and I love that. From a 'Fisherman's Pub' (Norman MacCraig) to 'Durham Market' (Derek Bowman), this collection offers a lot. Because the poems and their poets were so different, it kept the book enganging which meant I wanted to finish it. Sometimes I have read collections or even just books that you just want to put...

Every year brings new things. One of those things are books and this year will of course be no exception. Today I will highlight some of the books that are due to come out this year which I am looking forwards to. 1: Miriam's Full English  by Miriam Margoyles. Comedian Miriam, who has described herself as a woke dyke is very, very funny. I have seen her on television and I have some books by her that she has written. I think Miriam is a great celebrity because she talks sense. Miriam is just an entertaining person so I will hoping to get this for my birthday or Christmas this year or next. The book is expected on the 3rd of September this year; she is also going on tour to support this. 2: John of John  by Douglas Stuart. Scottish author Douglas Stuart is back with his third novel. This is after he won the Booker prize in 2020 with his debut novel Shuggie Bain , followed by Young Mungo  (2022); he also has short fiction published too. I am looking forwards to picking up h...

Today I am reviewing the poetry collection Rain  (2009) by author of the month, Don Paterson. Rain  is a beautiful collection that I found a joy to read. I love how different genres of poetry sit within this collection and how they all fit perfectly with what Paterson is trying to tell. We have ' Renku : My Last Thirty-Five Deaths' which as it states, is a Renku. For anyone wandering a Renku is often a thirty-six stanza Japanese collective poem made up of linked stanzas that are usually fourteen or seventeen syllables within the stanza. Each stanza alternates the number of lines, often being two or three lines. Don Paterson's Renku works in this genre whereas other poems would not necessarily work in that genre.  Take another poem such as 'Phantom' on the other hand. This is an elegy in memory to Michael Donaghy, a poet and Don Paterson's friend. The whole collection was in fact a dedication in memory to him. The tone and style of the poem 'Phantom' allo...

As a new month dawns upon us that means that there will be a new author of the month. The theme will still be Scottish authors but the author of the month is changing to the poet Don Paterson. I wanted to read to Don Paterson because when I was at university I came across one of his books. I think I did have a look at his book though I do not really remember anything I would have read then. So when I came across a Don Paterson in a local library I decided to pick him as the author of the month. With this new month brings Pancake Day, Saint Valentine's Day amongst other things. Do you eat pancakes? Will you be celebrating with that someone special? Whether you have plans for either of those events or not, I hope this a great month for you all. Here is to February! Until next time, Thomas.