Author Archives: John Sloan

December 2024 This French-style chain restaurant is near the National Theatre where we saw a wonderful play, and was recommended by friends who have helped us find things here in London. I think we may have caught the staff on … Continue reading →

December 2024. We chose this Italian spot in the city for lunch on an anniversary week here by a strategy of identifying Michelin Bib Gourmand places that were within walking distance and not overly ethnic. This eatery seemed pleased with … Continue reading →

Osman, Richard. We Solve Murders. Viking Random House, London, 2024. F; 9/24. I got interested in the philosophy and background of Hannah Arendt and downloaded her The Origins of Totalitarianism, but I was out of my depth. So I pulled … Continue reading →

Evans, Richard. Hitler’s People. Penguin, New York, 2024. NF;  9/24. I had recently read some World War II history (Paris‘44, a 2015 book by a William Mortimer-Moore. There was, strangely, another book with the same title published in 2024 by … Continue reading →

September 2024. Last year two of us had a quick lunch in the small outside patio of this restaurant which was fair to good. This time six of us sat inside for dinner, surprised at the extent of the indoor … Continue reading →

September 2024. We were warned by our B&B hosts that this restaurant is considered expensive. In a way it was but sharing plates somewhat diminished that. Overall the impression was good. It’s located peripherally in accessible downtown Stratford, a bistro-style … Continue reading →

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Vintage Canada, Toronto 1988. F;8/24. After reading Ishiguro’s more recent Never Let Me Go I wanted more so started this1988 shorter novel. I had the same impression of subtle-yet-overstated characters, which might seem … Continue reading →

Ishiguro, Kasuo. Never Let Me Go. Vintage Canada, Toronto, 2005. F; 7/24. This is a haunting tale which although it is technically science-fiction not only has characters that seemed real in my imagination but also carries – maybe because of … Continue reading →

Bosker, Bianca. Get The Picture. Viking, New York, 2024. NF; 7/24. Bosker is a now best-selling journalist whose recent success Cork Dorks described her exploration of wine (which I’m a bit familiar with). Here she does another exploration, this time … Continue reading →