I’m still cat-sitting, and enjoying having a house and a cat to myself. It’s a good way to get some reading done (finished a very good Sylvia Townsend Warner novel, which I’ll review next week) and indulge in catching up with some TV. It also means being introduced to the life of a commuter – which has given me joy (more reading time!) and angst (where IS THE BUS). Let’s go all joy and no angst for the link, the blog post, and… the TV show (gasp).
1.) The blog post – isn’t really a blog post, but I’m counting it. Trevor, the lovely fellow behind The Mookse and the Gripes, runs a ‘Mookse Madness’ series of polls in the blog’s Goodreads group. I believe ‘March Madness’ is something to do with baseball or basketball or American football or somesuch, but this series of rounds is all about BOOKS. Which are much better than all sports, I think we can agree.
You can see the polls here, I believe. Some are open and some will open later. There is currently no pairing at all where I’ve read (/finished) both books, but that hasn’t stopped me voting for such favourites as Gilead, To The Lighthouse, and So Long, See You Tomorrow. Head on over and join in the fun!
2.) The link – everyone now and then I remember the Agatha Christie quiz on Sporcle. Can you name all 66 of her novels in 12 minutes? Spoilers: you can’t. But see how well you do. I’ve played dozens of times and my personal best is 61, I think.
3.) The TV show – yes, there is no book in this week’s miscellany, shockingly. I wanted to recommend the Netflix series Abstract instead. I don’t know which countries it’s available in, but it’s certainly viewable in the UK – it’s a documentary series Netflix have made, each one about a different sort of designer. I’ve watched one on an illustrator and artist who designs covers for the New Yorker and one for a stage and set designer – both fascinating, especially the latter. There’s also designers of shoes, architecture, interior decor, and more. Don’t let anybody tell you that we don’t live in a spectacular era of television!
I tried the Sporcle quiz and failed miserably — I could only remember a dozen but I think I’ve read nearly all of them! It’s been awhile since I read any Agatha Christie. I used to use Sporcle all the time but now I’m mostly addicted to JetPunk — I can do the countries of the world in about 8 minutes.
I like the sound of that TV programme a lot.
I’m not even going to attempt the Christie quiz as my memory is shocking at the best of times. Hope the new job is going well!
Sixty-ONE? Simon, how is that even possible? I doubt I could get above *twenty*. I am so impressed right now.
I’ll see if I can check out Abstract — I have just done an inspection of US Netflix and discovered that it is available on US Netflix, so when I take a break from Gilmore Girls, I’ll check it out.
You do NOT want to know how many times I’ve taken that quiz over the years… #wastedyouth