The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E.Bowman – #20BooksofSummer2025 no. 19

This novella was sheer joy to read! A rediscovered masterpiece, Rum Doodle is a comic novel satirising men, their work and obsessions on an expedition to the Himalaya, first published in 1956, written by an unassuming structural engineer from Guildford, so Bill Bryson tells us in his intro to this edition. It wasn’t a huge Read More

The Young Writer of the Year Ceremony

So it was back down to London yesterday evening for the ceremony of the Sunday Times PFD Young Writer of the Year Award. The ceremony was held in the wonderful ‘Red Room’ of the London Library at St James Square near Piccadilly and all those Christmassy lights. The room gradually filled with all those involved Read More