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More of our whirlwind 19-day European bus tour
A little bit of background📝 This is part 2 of my posts on our mad dash around Europe on a Trafalgar bus tour with 47 other people. Our three-week bus tour of Europe was a big chunk of our six-week first big adventure in 1996. Our adventure started with an LA stopover, a whistlestop London experience, and a long weekend in Berlin. Then after the bus tour we hired a car and did a two-week road trip around England, Scotland and Wales. Once again, I have to place a caveat on the
Sep 1638 min read
Borderlines: A jaunty trip through European borderlands
A little bit of background📃 I spotted Borderlines in an eclectic, indie bookshop in Melbourne that I discovered on a work trip. The Book Grocer has a store presence but seems to do most of its trade online. I bought Borderlines at the same time as the brilliant, A bookshop of one's own. Borderlines is part travelogue, part history, and part exploration of the oddities of border towns in Europe. I was on board from the get go! Borderlines: A history of Europe in 29 borders |
Sep 105 min read
Free: A deeply personal story of Albania in transition
A little bit of background📃 I had seen all the buzz for Lea Ypi's memoir of her life in Albania as the country transitioned from communism to democracy. My fascination with Eastern Europe and life behind the Iron Curtain continues, so I eagerly jumped into Free. Free: Coming of age at the end of history | Published October 2021 | Read June 2026 The author✏️ Lea Ypi (born 1979) is an Albanian academic and author. She grew up in both communist and post-communist Albania, her
Sep 105 min read
Wifedom: What (who) George Orwell left out of his life and work
A little bit of background📃 A friend recommended Wifedom to me. I have since read another of Anna Funder's books, Stasiland: Stories from behind the Berlin Wall. I had no idea about the story of George Orwell's first wife, Eileen O'Shaughnessy, which I guess is the whole point of Funder's book, that Eileen is completely invisible from Orwell's life and work. I will say right up front that if you love George Orwell's writing and want to preserve a certain image of him, then d
Sep 86 min read
Surveillance in Stasiland: When everyone is watching
A little bit of background📃 A friend recommended another of Anna Funder's books to me and that led me to Stasiland. It didn't take much convincing for me to add the book to my library, though. I have always had a fascination with all things Eastern Europe, life behind the Iron Curtain, and particularly the short history of East Germany. I was in Berlin in 1996, only a few years after the Wall came down. That experience left a huge impact on me. I'd recently read Katja Hoyer'
Sep 85 min read
Another short history that fails to deliver
A little bit of background📃 I am a Europhile at heart and at this point in my life, I appreciate that I have the time to read voraciously and return to my love of history. I am interested in the people who came before me, how our world has evolved, and how languages, religions, nationalities and cultures came to be. I am still looking for that elusive book that provides me with a proper understanding of Europe's history. Is there such a thing? A short history of Europe: From
Sep 83 min read
A bookshop of one's own
A little bit of background📃 I found A bookshop of one's own in an eclectic, indie bookshop in Melbourne that I discovered on a work trip. The Book Grocer has a store presence but seems to do most of its trade online. The cover of A bookshop of one's own drew me as soon as I saw the book on the shelf on a cold Melbourne winter's day. A memoir of a bunch of bad ass lesbians opening an independent bookstore in London? I'm in! A bookshop of one's own | Published February 2024 |
Sep 73 min read
A short history of my homeland, Aotearoa
A little bit of background📃 I returned to Wellington, the place of my birth, in November 2025. This was a homecoming of sorts, as I hadn't been back to my homeland for ten years and not to Wellington since I was a teenager. I wanted to come back to Australia with a book for my personal library on the history of my homeland. Browsing in a reputable and comprehensive bookshop in Wellington, Gordon McLauchlan's book was the only one of the sort I could find. A short history of
Sep 63 min read
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