BOOKS for October

Especially when the October wind (Some let me make you of autumnal spells, The spider-tongued, and the loud hill of Wales) With fists of turnips punishes the land, Some let me make you of the heartless words. The heart is drained that, spelling in the scurry Of chemic blood, warned of the coming fury. By…

REVIEW: MR MAC AND ME by Esther Freud

Freud has imagined the summer of 1914 for Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife through the eyes of Thomas Maggs, a thirteen-year old boy who lives on the Suffolk Coast. The artist couple takes a cottage in the small town, far from their busy, stressful lives in Glasgow. The novel is told a first person…

A Good Word: Balaclava

A balaclava is a piece of headgear that basically just leaves your eyes and nose open, but protects the rest of your head from the elements.  It makes one look like a combination of a knight and bank robber.   This isn’t a word you hear much anymore, even among skiers and sporting good stores.…