Category Archives: Books

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This is not my hat – Jon Klassen

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Today I visited a bookstore. My task was to find books on crime and punishment in the adult, non-fiction section. Help was sought and books found, and I was about to leave with my treasure when I remembered another book I wanted to find.

“Oh,” said the weary assistant.

“A children’s book – This Is Not My Hat.”

“Ah,” said the assistant, suddenly eager, eyes brightening.

And this is it. You may have heard of it, but I had not until recently. As it turns out it’s another book on crime and punishment, and it may just be the best of the ones I came out with.

The story involves a hat, a big fish, a little fish, and the question of whether or not the little fish will be a lucky fish. The illustrations are restrained and the story telling minimalist. Together they pulled me right into the dark water with the fish wondering what would happen next, all the drama caught in the side-view eyes.

I think it’s a brilliant book, one you could talk about forever to a child, imagining what might happen and why, and whether or not it should – a classic tale about fishy goings on.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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At last – some time to read this

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Dervla Murphy wrote over twenty books. I have read just two so far – Wheels within Wheels, and Full Tilt. I enjoyed both – really enjoyed both. For me there is something so inspiring about being in the company of a real travel writer, someone seemingly unimpeded by the need for any kind of comfort zone.

Ethel Crowley, who selected the pieces in this edition, was a great friend of Dervla Murphy’s and has chosen extracts from each of her 24 books. The forward tells me that they started work on the project together but that Dervla Murphy passed away shortly after they began, leaving her family to continue giving this new book the same trusting support that she had.

Now these extracts, drawn together with real knowledge and affection, are sitting next to me. Together they contain miles and miles of life observed. All I have to do is pick up Life at Full Tilt and start to read.

My thanks to Eland Publishing for sending me this copy.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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I remember Charlottesville

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It’s not every day that I receive a book like this in the post. This was sent to me by a friend. The author, Nora Neus, is her daughter.

I’m looking forward to reading this, and hope it’ll help me to understand what happened that August in 2017 when the Unite the Right rally came to Charlottesville. The voices apparently are those of witnesses and antiracist activists from across the communities who stood up for the world they believed in as the rally arrived.

The book is not long – a little over 200 pages, mainly composed of interviews, the majority of which Nora Neus carried out herself on the day after the riots. At the time she’d recently started a job in New York with CNN, but happened to be in the city of Charlottesville in Virginia, clearing out her apartment as the drama evolved. Charlottesville had been her home for years, and suddenly it was struggling to absorb the impact of the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who’d brought their Unite the Right rally into the very core of the city. She was right there, understood the city’s rhythm, and tried to capture what happened.

It must have been a deeply unnerving time.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023