I had fairly high expectations for this concert, Franz Schubert: Master Storyteller by Benjamin Appl and Sholto Kynoch, which was also the opening concert of this year’s Oxford International Song Festival, for three reasons. Firstly, I had heard their wonderful performance back in May in Heidelberg, Germany. Secondly, I have been a lover of Lieder …
A very sweet bedtime story to curl up with children before falling asleep. The story begins with a gentle conversation between Little Rabbit and Mother Rabbit, starting with their admiration for the beautiful moon. Bathed in moonlight, Little Rabbit watched many night wanderers enjoying their fun and adventures, which made life as a rabbit seem …
Let’s do it the Cuban way: grab a cup of café con leche and sink into this beautiful, heartfelt, and reflective memoir—a journey through Havana, memory, and identity. The book is a loose travelogue, organized more by themes than by timeline. We move in and out of Havana alongside Barbara’s journey in January 2017, walking …
“Me and the horn are history.” After one disastrous concert, Cate made that decision. She walked away from the horn and reinvented herself as an English teacher. For ten years, her life was ruled by trauma. Instead of facing it, she spent those years in denial, chasing pleasure, traveling the world, partying in Italy, skiing, …
“Now she’s here, on this balcony: ‘It was the flowering season of the year.’ Buenos Aires in September. Everything is repeated and out of place at the same time.” – Clara Obligado The book begins with a spiral conch shell, the middle of the ring expanding outward through the stories. As Rainer Maria Rilke wrote: …
“How easily we forget – we in the business of storytelling – that life was the point all along.” – Amor Towles, The Lincoln Highway With The Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles did what he preached in the art of storytelling. As though this book could read my mind, put my feelings into words, and understand …
“… most of my life I have found myself standing alone, fighting for my corner. Thankfully I have had the resilience and determination to stand by my beliefs, and now I also have Lance as my wingman, supporting me, as he promised when we got married.”– Ruth Shaw, Three Wee Bookshops at the End of …
“Out there on the empty sea,Where only the moon appears,No sail has been seen to passIn four long and dreary years.” Imagine lighting the lamp for ships that never go past.Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson What is the point to light the lamp at the lighthouse faithfully every evening when no ship needed it? …
Who were the guests staying in Hotel du Lac?“It seems to be permanently reserved for women. And for a certain kind of woman. Cast-off or abandoned, paid to stay away, or to do harmless womanly things, like spending money on clothes.” These were the hotel guests that the novelist Edith Hope spent time with in …
Dad says October, October, …He never says my name once when he can say it twice, like it’s the words to a song and the sound rises like music. October, OctoberKatya Balen A girl called October is raised in the woods by her father. Her mother is a city girl lives in London. They both …