Weekend Miscellany

I hope you’re enjoying some Christmas shopping, carols round the fire, egg nog and whatnot. We’ve put our Christmas tree up at Argyle Street, accompanied by carols played on the piano – albeit arrangements of carols, which made for rather confusing singing-along-to. I think I did the last of my Christmas shopping today (though have also come down with a cold, which made a wander into town rather exhausting). Still, should be germ-free by Christmas itself, right? And here are some links to enjoy if you’re also under the weather…

1.) Queen of Crime: this is quite an old New Yorker article, but I haven’t read it before, all about Agatha Christie.

2.) A really interesting article about reading Virago Modern Classics as a man.

3.) 100 Best Novels: another list! But this one has a different spin; 81 non-British literature experts were asked to choose the best British novels. It’s a very good list, with some surprises (both in terms of inclusion and exclusion) and not just the usual suspects.

4.) Struggling with Christmas gift ideas? Let Jenny and Jenny at Reading The End help you out! More details here.

I’ll be spending my weekend reading 1924 books in preparation for the 1924 Club kicking off on Monday – I unwisely decided to start quite a few books at once, but I’m hoping to finish at least one of them by Monday. Of course, the club readalong will be going on over a fortnight, so plenty of time!

1.) The blog post – speaking of readalongs, Ali has come up with a really brilliant Woolf readalong plan for 2016. It’s a very thoughtful look at Woolf’s life and career, with plenty of opportunities for the Woolf devotee or the Woolf newbie. I’m looking forward to lots of Woolf re-reading, and maybe even finally getting around to reading her letters and diaries.

2.) The link – Koko the gorilla had a birthday and picked some kittens to be her pets. Then she signed ‘put it on my head’. Koko is the gorilla we all deserve.

3.) The book – I’ve had my eye on this for a while, in my Amazon wishlist, but just spotted it in a shop the other day. I resisted (partly because my birthday isn’t too far away!) but this Princeton University Press reprinted edition of Alice with illustrations by Salvador Dali looks like a must for my small but beautiful Alice collection (featuring thus far Tenniel and Tove Jansson).

Here is a whole bunch of things to delight you this weekend. Truth be told, I noted most of these down last weekend – but hopefully they’re still relevant!

1.) I’ve only read one Josephine Tey novel (which I don’t think I’ve reviewed yet, have I?) but others of you with more Tey knowledge might well be excited by this article in Vanity Fair (and a forthcoming biography!)

2.) The Booker shortlist came out a while ago. And Lila wasn’t on it. Which is rather embarrassing for them. C’mon, Booker judges, history is gonna think you were rather silly about this one.

3.) Cartoons that imagine what would happen if your CEO were a cat.

4.) If you have access to Channel 4 online, then Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages is a must-see. The series has finished now but plenty of episodes are available online. It sounds like a spoof, but it’s not: Penelope Keith wanders from village to village, marvelling over their histories and meeting old folk who remember the good old days. Plus everywhere is beautiful.

5.) Do check out a fascinating essay Victoria/Litlove has written in Numero Cinq on four types of liars.

Oh, and I’m very excited at the response to The 1924 Club! I’m hoping for lots of unexpected books to be unearthed – so do keep hunting on your bookshelves.

Well, I’ll be spending my weekend writing a conference paper for the Elizabeth von Arnim conference which is (ahem) next weekend. Excellent planning, Si. I’m speaking about Father, which (since Virago didn’t reprint it during their flurry of E von A reprints) isn’t particularly well known – but it’s rather fab. More on that soon; for now, a book, a blog post, and a link.

1.) The book – I’ve been meaning to read it for ages, but since I haven’t managed it yet, I thought I’d just let you know it exists. It’s 43 writers writing about how much they love reading. Blissful, no? Thanks Bloomsbury for sending me a copy – I am really looking forward to finding time to read it.

2.) The blog post – exciting news from Ali about Bello and Mary Hocking.

3.) The link – anybody who loves the entirely lovable Humans of New York might also have fun over at Felines of New York…

Hope you’re enjoying the sunshine this weekend! I’m mourning the fact that my lovely boss has left OUP, and she’s pretty much the most fab boss ever, so we should probably just close OUP and start again. BUT a link, blog post, and book never hurt anybody.

Before I go further, though, the winner of the Cornelia Otis Skinner book Nuts in May is – Rosemary Hopkins! Well done, Rosemary! I’ll be in touch soon. For everybody else – do make sure you track down something by her.

1.) The book – I treated myself to the beautiful In Search of Rex Whistler by Hugh and Mirabel Cecil after reading Lyn’s very persuasive post about it, and (of course) Anna Thomasson’s A Curious Friendship. It’s definitely spoiling myself, but Anna’s book left me super keen to see more of Rex Whistler’s work, and this book has lots of images.

Oh, another book – I really enjoyed Maggie Gee’s Virginia Woolf in Manhattan (and reviewed it for Shiny New Books, where I also interviewed Maggie Gee): the paperback is now out!

2.) The blog post – you’ve got time to join in Mary Hocking Reading Week! Let Ali explain it all… (Oh, and Sylvia Townsend Reading Week has been extended to a month, so I should manage to at least finish the short story I started.)

3.) The link – I couldn’t really think of a link this week, but the most recent xkcd cartoon is one that gets my full support…

Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend! I’ve had a super busy week, and am enjoying sitting down and doing nothing for a bit. If you’re doing the same, amuse myself yourself with a book, a link, and a blog post.

1.) The book – isn’t new at all, but I bought it in Oxfam yesterday, and it was a fun example of the sort of quirky book waiting out there if you hunt… The Adventures of Gabriel in his Search for Mr Shaw by W.R. Mathews. It’s about the Angel Gabriel trying to find George Bernard Shaw, and meeting several interloper-doppelgänger. Because… why not?

2.) The link – Our Vicar told me about a few A.A. Milne stories being done on Radio 4 – hurrah! I haven’t listened yet, but I’m sure they’ll be fun.

3.) The blog post – Lyn at I Prefer Reading is doing a great series of looking at individual shelves from her bookcases, and what do bibliophiles love more than having a shufti at other people’s books? The second post is here; yes, I chose it because Miss Hargreaves is there. And The L-Shaped Room, which I’m currently massively enthused about making EVERYBODY read.

Maybe I should drop those hyphens in this post title, now that I’ve lost them in my URL? Hmm.

Anyway – a few bits and pieces to beguile and delight!

1.) The blog post – Jenny has written a lovely review of Marilynne Robinson’s Lila over at Shelf Love.

2.) The link – vote for your favourite Agatha Christie! I love how she basically unites almost all readers, cos she’s just so fab, but we might be divided in the book we like best. If you don’t see yours pictured, there is a drop-down menu at the bottom. (I voted for And Then There Were None, btw.)

3.) The book – is an enormous new biography of David Garnett, Bloomsbury’s Outsider by Sarah Knights, with, er, quite the striking cover. Mine is on its way, so I’ll report back in due course…

I’m going to be spending my weekend doing some painting, I think (of the still life variety, rather than the walls-and-ceiling variety), but before I get out my brushes, here’s a weekend miscellany…

1.) The blog post – is a delight of a poem on Kate Macdonald’s blog. It’s ‘The Plaint of the Middlebrow Novelist’ by Phoebe Fenwick Gaye, and will ring true to any of us immersed in the middlebrow world.

2.) The link – is a YouTube video of a documentary from a few years back called Twincredibles. I believe the title here is in Hungarian, but that’s only because it’s the only version I could find… c’mon, BBC, update your archives. It was part of a ‘Mixed Race Season’ that they did, and looks at several sets of mixed race twins who have very different skin tones. The thing I find strangest about some of these pairs, though (particularly Daniel and James) is how little they seem to get on. I can’t imagine a twin not being the most important person in your life.

3.) The books – I went to the Oxfam bookshop near my work the other day, with my colleague and friend Kirsty, and picked up a couple of books I know nothing about. (I also revelled in the fact that she bought four; it’s rare that I’m out-booked by a fellow shopper.) Has anybody read I Thought of Daisy by Edmund Wilson or The Wrong Box by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne? I bought the former because I’ve vaguely meant to read him for ages, and the latter… for the amusing cover.

My day started with pancakes and went on to pie (a mushroom, spinach, hazelnut and white truffle oil pie, since you ask = bliss), so it’s all going pretty well. My intention to read all day isn’t going great, although I am loving David Sedaris in brief snatches. And not reading the two books I told myself I’d read today. Still, it’s only 5.30pm, so still plenty of reading time left today – and time to give you a few bits of miscellaneous linking.

1.) You may know that Oliver Sacks is one of my heroes, and I love his books (and his humanity). His heroism continues in this beautiful, sad, wise piece for the New York Times about learning that he has terminal cancer.

2.) In a totally different tone, you might enjoy this quiz I put together in honour of Go Set a Watchman being announced: it is titles of books which are taken from elsewhere. Half are from the Bible; half are not. Can you tell which is which? (And thanks Susan for pointing out to me that Go Set a Watchman borrows its title from the Bible! I’m ashamed that I didn’t realise that myself.)

3.) Helene Hanff’s Letter from New York is on my bedside table, so I was excited to see Ali’s review of it – especially since it’s rather glowing.

4.) Do you (like me) love bad films? Not just mediocrity, but the ones with a script, direction, acting, and sound quality so bad that you ask ‘How did this get made?‘ Well, that just so happens to be the title of a hilarious podcast I discovered recently. It’s been going for four or so years, so there should be something in the archives to whet the appetite.

I’ve been rather under the weather this week (those reviews were thankfully pre-scheduled!) so haven’t been around the blogs as much as I’d have liked… but I’m still going to rustle up a few links and whatnot for you.

1.) The Persephone Prize – have you entered? Are you going to? I suppose we should keep these things strictly confidential, so I shall just say that Mum and I have both entered (or are planning on entering) – the mother vs son competition starts right here!

2.) There are lots of Shiny New Books reviews of mine that I’ve not pointed to yet, but I’ll stick one in here that isn’t a date for A Century of Books (which I have officially given up finishing this year, but which will be finished eventually): Bed Manners, a spoof etiquette guide from the 1930s. It’s every bit as fun as that sounds.

3.) Early announcement that My Life in Books will be coming back soon(ish)! I’ve had most of the answers in, so I need to chase some people and match up some partners (which I usually do earlier, but… not this time.)