RandyDandy, an American Expat in London

I finished reading Richard Russo’s well-structured and brilliantly funny novel “Straight Man” a few days ago. My friend Mitzi Scott gifted the book to me a little over a year ago as we were browsing through a mammoth “Half Price Books” store in north Dallas, and it took me far too long to crack it [...]

Amazon clearly needs to find more books to sell. Still, I give them points for sheer balls. This from a screen shot of Amazon’s recommendations for me, based on my account activity. Read the line at the bottom for clarification of my puzzlement.

Recently finished reading Bill Bryson’s travel memoir of Britain, “Notes From a Small Island.” A fantastic read, capturing glimpses of the country as it existed in the mid-90s and sketches of a range of British people, eccentric and otherwise.
While traveling through Malhamdale in North Yorkshire, he tells of the “Malhamdale Wave,” a highway tradition which [...]

I finished reading a marvelous novel, a fable incorporating adaptations of several fairy tales - “The Book of Lost Things” by John Connolly. Set in World War II London, the book follows the adventures of its main character, a twelve-year old boy named David, as he seeks to make sense of loss, jealousy, and hatred. [...]

It’s harder here than it seems, especially when the weather isn’t friendly. Yesterday was pretty ugly, so I stayed in. The train station is a 10 minute walk away, and daily ticket prices from here into central London are steep enough to make me reconsider frequent jaunts into the city to explore, photography, etc. Croydon [...]