Alex

@GerwatVirginia @rose1_scarlett I wouldn't say it has a stronger flavour, but (and this might sound daft) I don't think it's so sweet. I suppose it reflects what the bees have fed on - herbs rather than flowers. Rowse Greek honey available from Sainsbury's and other supermarkets.

@AlexBibliophile @rose1_scarlett Is it a stronger flavour ? I can't recall from my visit to Greece.

Greek yoghurt, honey, and strawberries in the garden. What a perfect summer day!

@GerwatVirginia @rose1_scarlett Greek honey is much nicer than English honey but that's just my opinion

@rose1_scarlett Yummy. I love Greek yoghurt.

This book is stunning in several ways. A portrait of Belle Époque France & the contribution of Jewish families (including the Cahen d'Anvers, the family of the two girls painted by Renoir), but also an indictment of anti-semitism. #CatherineOstler #AntiSemitism #Renoir #France

#RelativeFailures is a fascinating book about the lesser known siblings of the famous. They might have been failures compared with their famous siblings, but their failure was only relative. 'Belchamber' by Howard Sturgis is still in print. #Sturgis #Wilde #Beardsley

@GerwatVirginia @MattSunRoyal Rachel Reeves obviously doesn't agree with you but I think she proves your point.

@MattSunRoyal Is it me or do trouser suits generally look awful. It doesn't matter who the wearer is.

Princess of Wales has arrived here in Reggio Emilia. It’s her first solo foreign work trip for four years

'Now & Then' by #WilliamCorlett is a superb read about a man in his 50s whose life has been deeply affected by his boyhood affair with another boy at school. He sets out to find the boy after 30 years. Is it a wise move? Would equally work if the characters were heterosexual.

To me there is nothing better than a damp, grey day, and a damp, grey mist, and greyness all about me, and freedom to become a part of it.

Looking forward to reading "Murder in Paris '68" by #EdwardChisholm. I was lucky enough to meet Edward when he was shortlisted for the award of the #AckerleyPrize in 2023 for his first book "A Waiter in Paris". Unfortunately he didn't win but it was a superb book nevertheless.

@Impitoyable @ChrisO_wiki That's so true. There also appears to be a willingness to eat food that the many English now turn up their noses at, e.g. offal.

@AlexBibliophile @ChrisO_wiki There's an entire different approach to the provenance and method of preparation of food in France. I always find it encouraging to hear conversations between young people that go into deep detail about how to prepare a given dish (not necessarily a French one).

I will never again trust someone who claims that French food is better than British

@Impitoyable @ChrisO_wiki It is better, probably because the French treat their food with respect. Happy memories of dining in Beaune and being presented with five cheeses and a recommendation as to the order in which to eat them. In my opinion the English prefer quantity over taste and quality.

@ChrisO_wiki Having spent 40 years in Britain and 13 in France, I am able to confirm in no uncertain terms that French food is better than British. Trust me.

@Impitoyable @TerribleMaps Too simplistic. There are vineyards in England and they were also there in mediaeval times. The Plantagenets brought in wine from their French domains.

@TerribleMaps Denmark is overwhelmingly part of beer Europe. Where do you think Carlsberg comes from?

I don't think anyone can argue with this

I recall that, in his biography of Bogarde, John Coldstream said that there was some doubt as to whether Bogarde was actually at Bergen-Belsen.

@Impitoyable There are probably more in common if I'd included the other bookcase and captured all the shelves!

@AlexBibliophile Excellent stuff! I can see at least two books in common between our pictures.

So do mine.

@IanCallaway352 I hope you enjoy 'Lifeboat at the End of the World'. I heard Dominic Gregory at Faversham Literary Festival talking about the book. It's thought-provoking (especially when he writes about rescuing migrants) and made me admire the RNLI even more than I already did.

Latest book acquisitions. #Books #reading.

Gives a new meaning to pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

'At early morn the daylight springeth, The angels in heaven merry singeth, The world is blithe and glad. The fiends of hell are sorrowful and mad, Now the king, God's son, The strength of death hath overcome.' A 14th-century poem for Easter dawn: aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2013/04/at-ear…

If anyone’s even on here any more, I’m popping back to say that my book, Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark, is The Times’ Book of the Week! Book’s out on 9th April. Go on, treat yourself 🐈‍⬛

G. K. Chesterton on why you should read books: “A man who has read a thousand books is armed for life; a man who has read none is easy prey. The man who has read a thousand books has lived a thousand lives. He has seen cities he has never visited, spoken to men who died centuries ago, and walked in worlds that no longer exist. Reading does not merely inform him; it enlarges him. It stretches the boundaries of his own experience until he becomes something more than himself.”

“Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.” #GrahamGreene died today in 1991.