Weekend Miscellany

Happy Weekend, one and all.  And happy December, no less.  I’m feeling pretty proud of myself at the mo, because I’ve basically finished my Christmas shopping.  True, I wasn’t buying for many, but it’s nice to get it done and dusted, rather than trailing around Yeovil in the week before Christmas.  Yeovil is many things, but a horn o’ plenty it is not.  I tell you what does keep giving and giving – and that’s the Weekend Miscellany.  Enjoy!

1.) The book – I’ve tended to turn down review copies during 2012, as A Century of Books has restricted the (already limited) number of new books I wanted to read – but I was very tempted by A is for Angelica by Iain Broome, published by Legend Press.  Here’s the info I was sent:

Set in a northern mining town, the novel deftly draws us into the secretive life of troubled Gordon Kingdom. Gordon struggles with the fate of his seriously ill wife and patiently observes the unusual goings-on of his neighbours in Cressingham Vale. The arrival of the enigmatic Angelica prompts Gordon to make difficult decisions, as well as to embark on a flurry of cake baking. The book elegantly weaves prosaic tragedy, dark comedy and Hitchcockian menace.

It all sounds like it might fit with my love of Edward Carey, Barbara Comyns etc.  I’ll let you know when I get around to reading it!

2.) The blog post – I know I’ve been championing Claire’s reading of A.A. Milne all year, but if you read only one review of an A.A. Milne book this year, make it her brilliant review of Peace With Honour.  It’s definitely made me want to re-read it.

3.) The link – I’ve been getting into the sketch comedy of BriTANick on Youtube.  It’s sometimes ‘a little near the knuckle’, as Our Vicar’s Wife would say, but a lot of it is also very funny.  Here’s their brilliant Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever Trailer (er, the screencap isn’t very representative of the content):

Another Saturday at work for me, but nothing planned for the evening – X Factor or Iris Murdoch?  Hmm.  It should be an easy choice, but I have to admit that I’m finding The Sea, The Sea rather ponderous.  It’s a book group choice, and I do think it’s very good, but it’s not light reading.  And it is long.  You know how I feel about long books.  Over 500 pages of tiny font.  Huh.  I might be shouting at Louis Walsh instead…

Well, now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’ll throw a book, a blog post, and a link your way.

1.) The book – came from Tara Books, an Indian company which produces really beautiful books.  I wrote  a bit about them here, two years ago, and now they’ve sent me another gem.  To celebrate Dickens’ centenary (which has rather got lost in the whole Olympics fever, but let’s remember it now!) they’ve produced a gorgeous copy of Dickens’ Pictures from Italy, illustrated by Livia Signorini.  I think it would make a brilliant Christmas gift (oh, so early, sorry!) for any fan of Dickens in your life.  If that person happens to be you, then… so be it! ;)

2.) The link – was sent to me by my friend Rachel, and is about the language of P.G.Wodehouse.  Fun!

3.) The blog post – is by Karen/Kaggsy – the first person to review Guard Your Daughters after the mad rush for copies which happened when I waxed enthusiastic about it!  Read Kaggsy’s review here, and revisit mine here, if you so wish.  She lucked out with a lovely (if oddly irrelevant to the book) cover for her copy – go have a gander.  (If you have reviewed Guard Your Daughters, on a blog or LibraryThing or whatever, then let me know!  I’m hoping to gather together reviews…)

Another rainy weekend here, I think – but I’ll be at work on Saturday anyway, so I feel a bit better about it… hope you have something planned!

1.) The link – is shameless.  I discovered @EmergencyPuppy – basically lots of very cute photos of animals (not just puppies).  If you want a taster, here is the one captioned ‘Here is my ball, perhaps you would like it?’

2.) The blog post – I’ve never entirely worked out how Slaves of Golconda works, or where they got their curious name from, but lovely blogger Danielle has chosen lovely book Crewe Train by lovely author Rose Macaulay for their next group read – ergo, a whole heap of lovely.  Some info here. Discussion starts November 17th, and if you need further persuasion, my review of the novel is here.

3.) The book – came the other day, was left in the living room, picked up by my housemate – and then I heard lots of helpless laughter the other side of the wall!  Just My Typo, kindly sent my Hodder and Stoughton, is a collection of amusing typos from literature, signs, text messages, newspapers, etc… on the first page is a taster of what’s to come: “Barney” by Rudge – $1.50.  It’s an 19th century American advert… think about it…

I’m at work this Saturday (boo!) but a friend is coming over to watch I Capture the Castle in the evening (hurray!) so it’s not all bad.  Plus word got round at church that I like baking, so I got an 11pm text asking me if I’d make something for the Sunday service – will do, check.  Better than being asked to lift things or (the horrors) kids’ work (kids work?), which I have managed always to avoid.  Anyway… here’s your weekly miscellany, tuck in!

1.) The link – Adam and Chloe got in touch, and told me about The Willoughby Book Club.  It looks like a great idea – here’s what they had to say:

A little about us… we offer our customers a personalised book club gift service for a range of ages and interests. In short, they choose from our range of book club packages (Babies, kids, adult fiction, non-fiction, cookery etc), tell us a little about the person they’re buying for, and we’ll then send out a brand new book once a month with a personalised message with their first delivery.
Maybe drop hints with your nearest and dearest…

2.) The blog post – is Lisa May / TBR 313’s take on Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men on the Bummel – partly because it’s a book I’ve been intending to read for ages, and partly because I’ve neglected her wonderful blog up til now, and I’m discovering all the delights that are there!

3.) The books – came from lovely Slightly Foxed, as a delightful surprise in the post.  Their beautiful Slightly Foxed Editions are gorgeous hardback reprints of memoirs.  Some of the most popular ones, now sold out (as they only print 2000 of each title) are available now as paperbacks – and they have sent me Blue Remembered Hills by Rosemary Sutcliff and Adrian Bell’s Corduroy, which Karyn was recommending only the other day.  Can’t wait to get onto these, as the other SF editions I’ve read have all been utterly wonderful!  (And now the collector in me wants them aaallllll…)

My ex-housemate Mel is visiting Oxford this weekend, which will make me very happy.  It’s not the same city without her, and we’ll paint the town red this weekend (or, more likely, play Scrabble.)   This might mean no post on Monday – forewarned is forearmed, and I’m sure you’ll get through the day!  But for now, a link, a blog post, and a whole mound of books.

1.) The link – is a free library!  “The only rule is that there are no rules” – books can be borrowed for any length of time, or even kept.  The man running this, from his home, wisely says “As a book caretaker, you become a full man.”  Take note, OV and OVW.   Oh, and it’s in one my very favourite cities, Manila in the Philippines.  (WHY didn’t I visit when I was there?)  Read more here.  I know a few of you live in Manila – have you ever been?

2.) The book – comes from beautiful Folio Books (thank you!) – a rather lovely edition of The Wind in the Willows, which I haven’t read since I was about 12.  I’ll probably have a re-read soon, and will post more then, but I promised Ozal a link to Folio’s page on the book asap. 

3.) The blog post – is Victoria/Litlove’s fascinating discussion-opener on writing blog reviews.  She also includes links to other posts, which will send you off into one of those link-blog-link-blog spirals that could be gloriously unending.  Well, that’s what it did for me.  Victoria’s post also acts as LitCrit 101 for those who sometimes feel out of their depth in that area – and there’s also a really interesting set of comments which are worth reading.

4.) The ebooks – *washes mouth out with soap*  Yes, I’m going to talk about ebooks.  The lovely people at Bloomsbury Reader got in touch to ask whether I’d like one of their Ivy Compton-Burnett ebook reprints (can one reprint an ebook?)  Obviously I couldn’t accept, but I did offer to do a ‘shout-out’.  So, for those of you who are yet to try Dame Ivy, Bloomsbury Reader have quite a few available as ebooks: A Heritage and Its History, Elders and Betters, Two Worlds and Their Ways, The Present and The Past, The Last and the First, A Family and a Fortune, Men and Wives, Parents and Children and even her first, disowned, novel Dolores.  The only one of those I’ve read is Parents and Children, which is great – and I imagine all the others are great too!  (Some are available as print-on-demand paperbacks, but at twice the price of the ebooks, and rather more than you can find the books for secondhand.)  Let me know if you try any!

After a lovely time away – cue obligatory photo of Sherpa:

– where was I?  After a lovely time away, I am back in Oxford, and will be spending my weekend baking and reading.  Perfection!  But I shall leave you with some top-notch miscellaneous things today.

1.) The link – is a hilariously brilliant video from The Flight of the Conchords.  They’ve written a charity song, with the help of some children in choosing the lyrics… don’t forget to click through to Youtube and donate to the cause.  Or you can donate here. (The beginning might not make sense if you’ve not familiar with the excellent TV series, but give it a minute and you’ll be fine.)

2.) The blog post – was an easy choice this week.  Darlene and I had a ‘reading smack down’ (her words) – a race for Darlene to read something by my beloved Ivy Compton-Burnett, and me to read my second Elizabeth Bowen novel (having not loved my first) since Darlene adores Bowen.  Well, before I’d even pulled The House in Paris off the shelf, Darlene had read Manservant and Maidservant – and liked it!  Read her great review here, and congratulate her on her smack down victory.  It smarts.

3.) The book – I spotted that Erica Brown’s book on Elizabeth von Arnim and Elizabeth Taylor, Comedy and the Feminine Middlebrow Novel, is out in December.  At £60 it’s probably not on for many private libraries, but if you hold any sway at your local academic library, then get a word in now!  More here.

Happy Weekend!  I’m off home for a week and a bit – next Saturday is a party for Mum and Dad’s anniversary, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to enjoy a week at home with Sherpa.  Mum promises me that Sherpa is looking forward to me coming… I’m going to fool myself into believing it.

I’ll try to keep posting while I’m at home, but it might be a bit more sporadic.

1.) The blog post – is Alice’s lovely post about the prospect of reading Ivy Compton-Burnett – including a quotation from Virginia Woolf on ICB which somehow I had never read before.

2.) The link – I know some people don’t have the high tolerance for cute pictures of cats that I have (it’s why the internet was invented!) but I doubt even the hardest heart could resist ALL of the 50 cute pictures found here.  My favourite is actually the one above, entirely cat-less.  (You might have to click to enlarge it.)

3.) The book – John Murray/Hodder & Stoughton recently sent me George Bernard Shaw’s Love Among the Artists.  You know how I love a reprint series, especially if the reprints in question are slightly unusual choices.  I hadn’t heard of this, but I’m definitely keen to read more GBS, particularly one which will cross 1900 of my Century of Books list (although written in 1881).  It’s about ‘three wayward geniuses’, according to the blurb – two pianists and an actress, contrasted with socialites at whom Shaw pokes fun.  Sounds great!  More info on Love Among the Artists here, although I’ve had a hunt without being able to find the other reprints that they’re doing in this series (and have lost the sheet they sent me.)

My weekend is looking pretty busy – a wedding later today, and then packing, packing, packing.  For I am moving house – to Headington, just east of Oxford.  If anyone would like to update their address books, email me and I’ll let you know my new address…  My actual move date is next Wednesday, so I may go a bit quiet, depending on how internet goes in the new place, and whether or not I manage to prepare some blog posts in advance.

1.) The book – nearly two years ago, I was surprised by how much I liked Ned Beauman’s Boxer, Beetle, and now his next novel has been published by Sceptre.  It’s called The Teleportation Accident (great title; great cover) and you can read more about it here.

2.) The link – is hilarious.  Fancy eavesdropping on a sleep talking man?  His wife records his alter ego (he does know about this!) and then transcribes.  It’s so funny!  Have a listen here.

3.) The blog post – it’s that time already!  Rosamund Lehmann Reading Week starts on Monday.  When I first heard about it, I didn’t know I’d be moving house… I’m still very, very keen to join in, but… well, I’ll try really hard.  If you’re not in the process of packing up all your belongings, you should definitely join in. Let Florence tell you more here.

Have a great weekend!

Well, it’s wet and miserable here – but it has been beautiful, as exemplified in this picture from the road trip I took on Thursday to Toot Baldon (because of its brilliant name).  Not a bad view for our picnic, eh?

1.) The blog post – go and read Hayley’s lovely, thought-provoking post about why so many of us love books as well as reading…

2.) The link – is this Youtube clip: a man being ‘interviewed’ by himself, from a video he made 20 years ago.  It’s very clever.

3.) The book – came from Bloomsbury the other day.  I should have read this back during the Jubilee weekend, but it’s still Jubilee Year, isn’t it?  I’m very excited about Coronation by Paul Gallico… I’ll let you know more soon!

 Have a great weekend!

It’s been a long day, so I’m going to leave you with a very minimalist miscellany.  Follow the links to find out more…

1.) 60 Years in 60 Poems – can you help?

2.) Remember how much I loved Life in a Day?  Now there is Britain in a Day.  Not as good, but still definitely worth watching.

3.) Have you seen Karyn’s new bookshelves yet?

4.) Tove Jansson AND Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?  Yes please!  (click the picture for more info.)

5.) Claire shares How To Write A Novel by Georgette Heyer – very funny!  And…

6.) Michelle shares On Reviewing Fiction by Rose Macaulay – also very funny!

Have a lovely weekend :)