Radz Pandit
@radzpandit.bsky.social
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
Website: https://readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
Also on: linktr.ee/radzpandit
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.
November 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM
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.
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...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/a...
November 10, 2025 at 11:25 AM
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...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/a...
Just finished Alexander Baron's THE LOWLIFE, and it was superb. What a book!
November 9, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Just finished Alexander Baron's THE LOWLIFE, and it was superb. What a book!
A new Hélène Bessette and Marlen Haushofer out next year from New Directions.
November 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
A new Hélène Bessette and Marlen Haushofer out next year from New Directions.
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.
November 9, 2025 at 2:22 PM
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.
"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...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/i...
November 8, 2025 at 2:09 AM
"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...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/i...
"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
#CurrentlyReading
November 7, 2025 at 5:25 PM
"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
#CurrentlyReading
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...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/i...
November 7, 2025 at 9:47 AM
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...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/i...
Slowly building my Haldór Laxness collection.
November 6, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Slowly building my Haldór Laxness collection.
"I said, 'All right, boy, all right. Keep it down.' It is not nice for a beginner to do his nut when he is standing on a terrace full of gamblers, the real sweat-blood brigade, who are losing their week's wages in an atmosphere of grim, respectable quietness."
November 5, 2025 at 5:00 PM
"I said, 'All right, boy, all right. Keep it down.' It is not nice for a beginner to do his nut when he is standing on a terrace full of gamblers, the real sweat-blood brigade, who are losing their week's wages in an atmosphere of grim, respectable quietness."
#CurrentlyReading Both very good so far.
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 AM
#CurrentlyReading Both very good so far.
"Leaning out over the water and the mirrors...The face is deformed now, distorted and unlike itself, the result of misfortunes that have come like avalanches - there behind him, where he has left his half-lived life. What has really happened? He meets his own shocked eyes down below."
November 4, 2025 at 3:44 PM
"Leaning out over the water and the mirrors...The face is deformed now, distorted and unlike itself, the result of misfortunes that have come like avalanches - there behind him, where he has left his half-lived life. What has really happened? He meets his own shocked eyes down below."
"A man feels good with money in his wallet...The waiter stands against the wall, a glance from me & he swoops, to bow at my table & ask respectfully what I will have next. This is the ointment that soothes away all the bruises on my pride, closes the wounds of humiliation, heals my self-respect."
November 4, 2025 at 9:19 AM
"A man feels good with money in his wallet...The waiter stands against the wall, a glance from me & he swoops, to bow at my table & ask respectfully what I will have next. This is the ointment that soothes away all the bruises on my pride, closes the wounds of humiliation, heals my self-respect."
"Of course the snow is settling on me, she thought when she noticed this. Why shouldn’t it? I mustn’t move, she thought. I want it like this. Not to be snowed under, but I’ll look different, and that’s what I want. Everything’s different this evening."
Quite taken with this strange, hypnotic novel!
Quite taken with this strange, hypnotic novel!
November 3, 2025 at 6:16 PM
"Of course the snow is settling on me, she thought when she noticed this. Why shouldn’t it? I mustn’t move, she thought. I want it like this. Not to be snowed under, but I’ll look different, and that’s what I want. Everything’s different this evening."
Quite taken with this strange, hypnotic novel!
Quite taken with this strange, hypnotic novel!
"None of them knows what a gambler is. The gambler is the one who goes on with no peace, no release, till he has annihilated himself. I am a gambler."
November 2, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"None of them knows what a gambler is. The gambler is the one who goes on with no peace, no release, till he has annihilated himself. I am a gambler."
Starting this today.
November 2, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Starting this today.
What I read in October (Babitz is ongoing).
Turtle Diary, Crooked Cross, and Independent People are strong contenders for year-end list.
Turtle Diary, Crooked Cross, and Independent People are strong contenders for year-end list.
November 1, 2025 at 7:42 PM
What I read in October (Babitz is ongoing).
Turtle Diary, Crooked Cross, and Independent People are strong contenders for year-end list.
Turtle Diary, Crooked Cross, and Independent People are strong contenders for year-end list.
I've now read two books by Haldór Laxness (SALKA VALKA and INDEPENDENT PEOPLE) and both were brilliant, immersive reading experiences. What do you recommend I read next by him?
November 1, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I've now read two books by Haldór Laxness (SALKA VALKA and INDEPENDENT PEOPLE) and both were brilliant, immersive reading experiences. What do you recommend I read next by him?
"It was an incredible blizzard. It was one of those peculiar gales when the mountain sang above the croft as if the trolls that inhabited it had gone demented and taken out their drums..."
October 31, 2025 at 8:08 AM
"It was an incredible blizzard. It was one of those peculiar gales when the mountain sang above the croft as if the trolls that inhabited it had gone demented and taken out their drums..."
"There is nothing so merciless as mankind. How can we justify ourselves, especially to the dumb animals around us? But the first days are always the worst, and there is much comfort in the thought that time effaces everything, crime and sorrow no less than love."
October 30, 2025 at 11:37 AM
"There is nothing so merciless as mankind. How can we justify ourselves, especially to the dumb animals around us? But the first days are always the worst, and there is much comfort in the thought that time effaces everything, crime and sorrow no less than love."
"When life is a weariness and escape impossible it is wonderful to have a friend who can bring us peace with the touch of a hand. After this Finna decided to tend the cow herself."
October 29, 2025 at 8:13 AM
"When life is a weariness and escape impossible it is wonderful to have a friend who can bring us peace with the touch of a hand. After this Finna decided to tend the cow herself."
"I had heard that yoga was supposed to be relaxing, but Ivan had been a devout student of B. K. S. Iyengar, who didn't think yoga should be relaxing at all. He thought it should be perfect. Iyengar's idea was that unless I held poses until my nose fell off, I was a straggler."
#NYRBWomen25
#NYRBWomen25
October 28, 2025 at 2:41 PM
"I had heard that yoga was supposed to be relaxing, but Ivan had been a devout student of B. K. S. Iyengar, who didn't think yoga should be relaxing at all. He thought it should be perfect. Iyengar's idea was that unless I held poses until my nose fell off, I was a straggler."
#NYRBWomen25
#NYRBWomen25
I have been unwell but these books are giving me good company.
October 27, 2025 at 2:44 PM
I have been unwell but these books are giving me good company.