OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

Last day of quarantine. My love is out and about, fully recovered. I am symptom-free and COVID-19-negative. And I intend to stay that way at least until Christmas, because I really, really want to have the Christmas we’d planned. So, sorry, dear everyone, no close contact with anyone who might pose a risk to these plans. Also, the book bug has bitten me again and I have come down with the reading fever. All I want to do is read for pleasure. And for now, what gives me pleasure is crime/thriller writing that includes armchair travel. After Ballard’s and Bosch’s LA and Rea Valentine’s Cape Town, I am now well into Brunetti’s Venice and loving it, although I am discovering – unusually – that I prefer to read Donna Leon in German translation. I am not sure that she has the same translator for all books, but whoever it is, they do something to the prose that I find more appealing than the original. I have only visited Venice once – it was unforgettable! – and following in Brunetti’s footsteps has awakened a not so transient desire to go there again. One day.

Joanne Hichens interviewed a few authors about crime/thriller writing in Africa for CrimeReads: “The New Generation of African Crime Writers”. Their comments about setting are fascinating in this context.

So, on my last day of quarantine, I read about Venice, and forced myself to work, and did some housework, too. But the highlight of the day was the birthday Skype celebration with my brother, who has turned forty-one. My younger brother …

Level One remains. Infections rising rapidly – I know so many people who are ill, but no one in hospital, thank all the vaccine goddesses! The fourth wave does not seem to be as lethal as the previous ones, at least not for those who are vaccinated.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD