Weekend Miscellany

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.)

I’m off for part of the weekend – to visit Jane Austen’s house, no less – and so still haven’t caught up with answering comments yet. I will soon! But I shan’t leave you empty-handed; here are a few bits and pieces to tide you over.

1.) I wrote about A.A. Milne for the OxfordWords blog, which I’ve been intending to do ever since I started working at OUP.

2.) Margaret Kennedy Reading Week was good fun, and I’ve bought a copy of her book The Outlaws on Parnassus: on the art of the novel as a result of it. Enjoy a full round-up over at Jane/Fleur’s.

3.) It’s actually been ages since I submitted my DPhil thesis (last October) was vivaed (in January) and had my corrections approved (May) – but I still haven’t had my graduation (November). I have, though, finally got my thesis bound. One copy has been submitted to the Bodleian; another is here:

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend! There’s still a bit of it left, so there is time for a book, a blog post, and a link… and, you never know, I might even manage to review some books this week. I’m back in the position of reading lots at once, including some chunksters (Sarah Waters, anyone?) so I’ll have to dive into the backlog of unreviewed books. And I will reply to comments soon too, promise…

1.) The link – if you live near Oxford and want to abseil down a church on October 4th in support of Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre, then this link will tell you how. If you either don’t live near Oxford or (like me) could never be brought to abseil for anything, the same link will give more info anyway, if you would like to support. Thanks to my friend Sophie for sharing the link.

2.) The blog post – I adored Dodie Smith’s Look Back With Love, the first volume of her four-part autobiography, and bought a couple of the others immediately. I still hadn’t read any more, but Barb at Leaves and Pages has written lovely and glowing reviews of them. All got 10/10. And now I’m knee-deep in Look Back With Mixed Feelings.

3.) The book – I have heard much of Una Silberrad at middlebrow conferences, but not read anything by her yet – so was delighted to receive a copy of The Good Comrade from Victorian Secrets, and will report back in due course. Find out more here…

Well, the rains, they cometh. Hopefully that means I can curl up indoors and fight off Reader’s Block (I know I keep mentioning it, but it’s a bit of a worry with the pile of Shiny New Books to read, although mine is nothing compared to Victoria’s). But I’ve still rustled up a book, a link, and a blog post…

1.) The link – I put together another quiz for OxfordWords – this time, can you spot titles borrowed from other books? I think this is the post I’ve had most fun creating so far. Let me know how you did!

2.) The book – Can I be mammothly indiscreet for a moment? Almost every publisher has been wonderful about providing books for Shiny New Books – either to us or to a band of willing reviewers. The exception is Fourth Estate, who have ignored all of our emails – but, damn their eyes &c., they also publish some very intriguing-sounding books (and I’m sure they have v good reasons for not being able to reply!) It’s played in their favour, as we’ve ended up buying the books ourselves and sending them off to reviewers – and today I ordered a beautiful reprint of Penelope Fitzgerald’s Charlotte Mew and Her Friends. They’ve also reprinted lots of her novels in equally striking covers.

3.) The blog post – my Shiny New Books co-editor has done her own Q&A – you’re too late to ask the Q, I’m afraid, but you can read the A – part one and part two.

Another busy weekend coming up for me – I really must arrange one where I just lie around reading books – so I’ll leave you with a quick trio!

1.) The blog post – it’s been ages since I read a Richmal Crompton book, and Leadon Hill isn’t one of the 26 I have read (not including the William series), but Claire’s review has whetted my appetite for more.

2.) The link – I watched Twenty-Twelve long after everyone else (the BBC sitcom about a committee preparing for the Olympics), but I’m on board with W1A.  It’s a sort-of sequel, with Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Stevenson reprising their roles, set at the BBC – Bonneville’s character has become ‘Head of Values’. It’s just as brilliantly believable as before, with lots of verbal ticks (tics?) offering the most comedy. Watch here on iPlayer, if you can.

3.) The poll results – a slight change from the usual miscellany! Thank you for so many results; I found it really interesting to see how the different Penelopes fared (and loved the comment from Jill, on the poll, that her favourite was Penelope!)  The results are above – so far, anyway; the poll is still open – and I will report back on The Pumpkin Eater when I’ve finished it.