Reading the classics and the greats: Is it really worth it?

Is it worth ditching what you know you enjoy reading to picking up those daunting classics?

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and Aberlour 16

The recent Pulitzer prize winner meets a Highland legend in Aberlour 16

The Traitor’s Niche by Ismail Kadare and Laphroaig Quarter Cask

This week I've paired the Laphroaig Quarter Cask with The Traitor's Niche. Something for this with smoke and fire in their belly!

Age, Barrel or Region? What’s most important to the taste of whisky?

Age, barrel or region? What's most important for whisky?

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

The Book: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. (2017). Published by Hamish Hamilton (Great Britain). 229 Pages. ISBN: 9780241290088 Exit West has been on my radar since I first read a synopsis of it on Fantastic Fiction a fair while ago. I have never read any of Mohsin Hamid's work before but he has always been one of those authors …

Read more but don’t spend too much time doing it!

Reading more has huge benefits. Here are some ideas about how to best go about it. m

Skagboys by Irvine Welsh

Skagboys paired alongside Johnnie Walker Black Label makes a fine combination The Book:  Skagboys by Irvine Welsh. (2012). Published by Jonathan Cape (Great Britain). 548 pages. ISBN: 9780224087902 It's another return to the world of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting but this time showcasing some of our familiar cast of characters in somewhat different circumstances. Another example …

What do you drink your whisky from?

Whisky is a gloriously diverse and expansive drink. I have long claimed that there is not a single person in the world who can say they do not like whisky, just that they have never tried the right one. Of course, the right one may be a ludicrously expensive Yamazaki 35 Year Old Japanese Single …

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

The Book: Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (translated from the Swedish by Ebba Segerberg. (2007). Published by Quercus. 519 pages. ISBN: 9781847248489 I am really somewhat punctilious when it comes to the condition of books I read. Those who crack and bend back the spine of a book are on a par with …

Why and How to Encourage Variety in Reading

Something many of us are told when we are young, fussy eaters is that if you try that broccoli more than 3 times then you’ll end up liking the flavour. My response to this was a moody and cynical one from the word go; why would I want to keep trying something I didn’t like? …