Radz Pandit
LightNews LightNews
banner
radzpandit.bsky.social
Radz Pandit
@radzpandit.bsky.social
1.3K followers 660 following 1.4K posts
Avid reader, book reviewer & amateur book photographer. I write about books on my blog Radhika’s Reading Retreat. Love art and travel too.

Website: https://readersretreat2017.wordpress.com

Also on: linktr.ee/radzpandit
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
radzpandit.bsky.social
Radz Pandit @radzpandit.bsky.social · Dec 17
These are MY BEST BOOKS OF 2024 featuring Lars Gustafsson, Barbara Comyns, Celia Fremlin, Mathias Enard, Barbara Pym and more. New blog post here:
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2024/12/17/m...
A stack of the best books I read in 2024.
Reposted by Radz Pandit
radzpandit.bsky.social
I read some excellent books in October. Sally Carson's CROOKED CROSS, Russell Hoban’s TURTLE DIARY, and Haldór Laxness's INDEPENDENT PEOPLE were the month's highlights. New post here:
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/a...
Stack of books I read in October: A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban Crooked Cross by Sally Carson Independent People by Haldór Laxness Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin
November 10, 2025 at 11:25 AM
radzpandit.bsky.social
Winner of the Booker Prize in 2021, Damon Galgut's THE PROMISE is a riveting, haunting tale that chronicles the disintegration of a white, morally bankrupt South African family seen through the prism of four funerals over several decades. A great book by one of my favourite authors.
The Promise – Damon Galgut
A decade ago, Damon Galgut captured my imagination when I devoured three of his novels in quick succession – The Good Doctor, The Impostor and In A Strange Room. All were excellent, but the latter …
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:23 PM
radzpandit.bsky.social
Today's exciting #bookmail. Pirkko Saisio is new to me, and I loved CF Ramuz's GREAT FEAR ON THE MOUNTAIN earlier this year, so wanted to read more of his work.
LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR by Pirkko Saisio and INTO THE SUN by Charles Ferdinand Ramuz.
November 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM
radzpandit.bsky.social
I read some excellent books in October. Sally Carson's CROOKED CROSS, Russell Hoban’s TURTLE DIARY, and Haldór Laxness's INDEPENDENT PEOPLE were the month's highlights. New post here:
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/a...
Stack of books I read in October: A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban Crooked Cross by Sally Carson Independent People by Haldór Laxness Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin
November 10, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
grantrintoul.bsky.social
My second review for #GermanLitMonth is from another of my favourite German-language writers, Peter Stamm - In a Deep Blue Hour translated by Michael Hofmann:
1streading.wordpress.com/2025/11/09/i...
In a Deep Blue Hour
In a Deep Blue Hour, published originally in 2023 and now translated into English by Michael Hofmann, is the latest novel from Swiss writer Peter Stamm. It begins with the narrator, Andrea’s, attem…
1streading.wordpress.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
radzpandit.bsky.social
"The country was like a person tossing in a frightened sleep, half conscious yet half unconscious of the nightmare into which, on awaking, it was to be so abruptly plunged."
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/10/23/c...
CROOKED CROSS by Sally Carson. Published by Persephone.
October 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
radzpandit.bsky.social
Just finished Alexander Baron's THE LOWLIFE, and it was superb. What a book!
THE LOWLIFE by Alexander Baron. Faber Editions.
November 9, 2025 at 6:23 PM
radzpandit.bsky.social
A new Hélène Bessette and Marlen Haushofer out next year from New Directions.
TWENTY MINUTES OF SILENCE by Hélène Bessette. THE FIFTH YEAR by Marlen Haushofer.
November 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
joannapocock.bsky.social
Just finished this mysterious and devastating novel. The character of Molly Fawcett in Jean Stafford’s ‘The Mountain Lion’ (1947) is one of those strange, almost otherworldly characters who live inside you. She will be joining Edna Pontellier, Emma Bovary, Isabel Archer, Effi Briest, (1)
November 9, 2025 at 2:49 PM
radzpandit.bsky.social
Starting this today. THERE'S NO TURNING BACK by Alba de Céspedes. Translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein. I loved both her earlier books and have high hopes for this one.
THERE'S NO TURNING BACK by Alba de Céspedes. Translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein.
November 9, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
roughghosts.bsky.social
“How many years fit into one day?” Heaven and Hell by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, tr. by Philip Roughton @biblioasis.bsky.social
roughghosts.com/2025/11/08/h...
“How many years fit into one day?” Heaven and Hell by Jón Kalman Stefánsson
The sea on one side, steep and lofty mountains on the other; that’s our whole story in fact. The authorities, merchants, might rule our destitute days, but the mountains and the sea rule life, they…
roughghosts.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
neglectedbooks.com
Just three weeks to the release of Sarah Campion's Makeshift, the next title in @bhousepress.bsky.social's Recovered Books series. Makeshift follows Charlotte Herz, a young Jewish woman from Berlin in 1919 to New Zealand in 1937, via England, South Africa, and Australia.
🧵
November 9, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
jenniferashby.bsky.social
Autumn sunset in Florence
Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore, Firenze, Italia (Cathedral of Florence, Italy) at sunset. Renaissance architecture.
November 8, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
radzpandit.bsky.social
"In every croft, somehow, there lives & persists the dream of something better; for a thousand years they have imagined that they will rise above penury in some mysterious manner and acquire an estate & the title of landed farmers, the eternal dream."
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/i...
INDEPENDENT PEOPLE by Haldór Laxness. Translated from the Icelandic by J.A.Thompson. The backdrop is a collage of photos depicting Iceland's scenery from my trip in September.
November 8, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
hildur.bsky.social
I tried to do a screen record, hope it does it justice!
November 8, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
elusiveword.bsky.social
Lovely to be plunged back into the atmosphere of this extraordinary book with your review, Radz - my top read of last year.
November 8, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
afteroctavian.bsky.social
Loved your detailed review of this extraordinary book and I am so glad that you liked it! It's not an easy read but it is so rewarding, the characters are so memorable and so real, that I really think it should be better known.
November 8, 2025 at 4:34 AM
radzpandit.bsky.social
"In every croft, somehow, there lives & persists the dream of something better; for a thousand years they have imagined that they will rise above penury in some mysterious manner and acquire an estate & the title of landed farmers, the eternal dream."
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/i...
INDEPENDENT PEOPLE by Haldór Laxness. Translated from the Icelandic by J.A.Thompson. The backdrop is a collage of photos depicting Iceland's scenery from my trip in September.
November 8, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
radzpandit.bsky.social
"The fiend Kolumkilli, they say, is immortal and the witch Gunnvor lived on this croft and made a pact with him and murdered folk, there are many stories about it, endless stories..."
Independent People – Haldór Laxness (tr. J. A. Thompson)
Two years ago, I read and loved Salka Valka, the novel that introduced me to the magic of Haldór Laxness and found a place on My Best Books of 2023 list. Regarded as one of the greatest writers of …
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:38 AM
radzpandit.bsky.social
"A solitary, thick grove of leafy trees. And the loveliest weather. Warm rain that has a quality of great gentleness, a quality of deep peace."
#CurrentlyReading
THE BOAT IN THE EVENING by Tarjei Vesaas. Translated from the Norwegian by Elizabeth Rokkan. Peter Owen Classics.
November 7, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
radzpandit.bsky.social
My new post on Haldór Laxness's remarkable INDEPENDENT PEOPLE, about a poor farmer's obsession with independence at the cost of his family. By turns comic & tragic, and filled with sheep, ghosts & blizzards, this is an atmospheric & riveting novel.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/i...
INDEPENDENT PEOPLE by Haldór Laxness. Translated from the Icelandic by J.A.Thompson.
November 7, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
radzpandit.bsky.social
My new blog post on one of the best books I've read this year - INDEPENDENT PEOPLE by Haldór Laxness. Translated from the Icelandic by J.A. Thompson. 🐑❄️👻
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/i...
Independent People – Haldór Laxness (tr. J. A. Thompson)
Two years ago, I read and loved Salka Valka, the novel that introduced me to the magic of Haldór Laxness and found a place on My Best Books of 2023 list. Regarded as one of the greatest writers of …
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Reposted by Radz Pandit
alifeinbooks.bsky.social
New on my blog - The Wax Child by Olga Ravn (transl. Martin Aitken): ‘I am not a child, only something that looks like one’ alifeinbooks.co.uk/2025/11/the-... #BookSky
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn (transl. Martin Aitken): ‘I am not a child, only something that looks like one’ - A Life in Books
Book reviews, snippets of book news, and alerts about books outside the glare of the publicity spotlight.
alifeinbooks.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 8:27 AM
radzpandit.bsky.social
"The fiend Kolumkilli, they say, is immortal and the witch Gunnvor lived on this croft and made a pact with him and murdered folk, there are many stories about it, endless stories..."
Independent People – Haldór Laxness (tr. J. A. Thompson)
Two years ago, I read and loved Salka Valka, the novel that introduced me to the magic of Haldór Laxness and found a place on My Best Books of 2023 list. Regarded as one of the greatest writers of …
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:38 AM
radzpandit.bsky.social
My new post on Haldór Laxness's remarkable INDEPENDENT PEOPLE, about a poor farmer's obsession with independence at the cost of his family. By turns comic & tragic, and filled with sheep, ghosts & blizzards, this is an atmospheric & riveting novel.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/i...
INDEPENDENT PEOPLE by Haldór Laxness. Translated from the Icelandic by J.A.Thompson.
November 7, 2025 at 9:47 AM