Weekend Miscellany

Morning everyone!  I usually try and write my Weekend Miscellanies in advance, so that they appear on the dot of midnight, but I was at a friend’s house yesterday evening and too zonked to write anything when I got back.  And, prepare yourself, today’s post is quite self-indulgent… I was going to be bashful and modest, but… no, I’ll try that next year instead.

1.) Spangle very kindly asked me to participate in a series on her blog called Chapters In My Life.  As with the My Life in Books series I ran in March/April, we were both inspired by the My Life in Books TV programme.  I chose five books which were important during my life, and which have led to my current reading tastes.  I also tried to steer clear of my normal answers to such things, so there is nary a mention of Miss Hargreaves!  You can read it here, and see the others in Spangle’s series here. As a sneak peak, my first choice is Enid Blyton’s Five Get Into Trouble, but I now have a suspicion that I chose the wrong book… Our Vicar? Our Vicar’s Wife?

2.) A teensy bit of trumpet-blowing, but trumpet-blowing occasioned by surprise and delight – according to Wikio, I am now top of their ranking of UK literary blogs!  I know these things are only a bit of fun, and I’ll probably have dropped to no.93 by next month, but I couldn’t help being rather pleased.

3.) A now a bit of fun – a great quiz I happened upon called Shakespeare or Batman?  Not as easy as it sounds… I got 20/30, which is the worst score of anybody I know.  Great.

4.) Slightly Foxed‘s beautiful little limited edition hardbacks have proved so popular that they’re going to reprint their bestselling titles in paperback form.  More info here; the first will be Mr. Tibbits’s Catholic School by Ysenda Maxtone Graham.  Anybody read it?

5.) To most of us, Elizabeth von Arnim is far from being a neglected author (she appears on my 50 Books list, for goodness’ sake – what greater acclaim IS there??) but a mention in Downton Abbey a few weeks ago has apparently created something of a resurgence of interest.  A lovely little article here.  And a confession from me that I’m three episodes behind with Downton…

Time for a weekend miscellany, I think you’ll agree, what with it being the weekend and all. I’ve been tidying my books lately (for which read: moving them around the room in the futile hope that this will create more space, and shoving all non-book items under my bed, in drawers, or at the bottom of my wardrobe). Anyway, it has revealed that I have thirteen books that I’ve read, waiting to be reviewed… all will hopefully be revealed soon, but for today I’m going to give you a few great reviews and some interesting bits and pieces.

1.) I always love it when new blogs start up, especially ones which show the promise that Open a Book does – Geetanjali writes some very persuasive reviews, such as this one on Watership Down, and she’s also keen to find a Reading Challenge to adopt – if you have any good ideas, go here and help her out.

2.) My friend Katie has set up a baking blog, so pop over and visit if you’re a fan of baking…

3.) There can be few more delightful blogging experiences than seeing a beloved book being appreciated by a much-admired blogger.  Recently I’ve had that pleasure two-fold, since both Eva and Rachel have recently reviewed one of my favourite novels, The Love-Child, on my ‘recommendation’.  (Those inverted commas are for the pressure I exerted upon Rachel, which was akin to harrassment.  Eva went and surprised me by reading it, unpressured!)  Click on their names to read their very wonderful reviews of this exceptional little book.

4.) I think I’m going to address the Literary Merit vs. Readability debate in another post, mostly because I haven’t decided what I think and will need to ramble on a bit to find out.  But go and prepare yourself by reading Simon S’s post here, and join in the flourishing debate in the comments box.

5.) And finally the annual 24 Hour Readathon is running in memory of Dewey [thanks for telling me about this, Jackie], and although it’s rather more hours than I could cope with , do pop over to Sasha‘s blog and see what she has planned.  It’s pretty ambitious!

I had intended to feature some recent books too, but this feels like enough to be getting on with.  Perhaps next weekend I’ll just do a round-up of books which have found their way to me in the past few weeks… for now, enjoy a bit of clicking around the blogosphere!

Happy weekend folks!  And happy October too.  I suspect a lot of us in Britain are enjoying the unseasonably hot weather – personally, I’m retreating to the shade with paracetamol, but I’ll try not to begrudge heat-seekers their (literal) day in the sun.  I shall even add to their bounty with a book, a blog post, and a link.

1.) The link – is a rather amusing video from an old TV programme What’s My Line?  For those not in the know, this ran in the 50s and 60s, where panellists had to deduce the occupations of guests, and then the identity of a mystery famous guest.  In this case the guest is Salvador Dali, and his self-belief makes the exchange especially funny.  The video is below and, if that doesn’t work, the link is here.

2.) The book – is slightly unusual territory for me.  I don’t think I’ve ever read a graphic novel, but I am very captivated by what I’ve seen of Brecht Evens’ The Wrong Place, kindly sent to me by Jonathan Cape.  Besides Evens’ astonishingly good name, I love the style of his artistry.  At the moment that is all I know about this book… perhaps the cover and an illustration from inside will be enough to captivate you too.  (The illustration is taken from Evens’ own flickr set for The Wrong Place here.)  It’s not published until Oct0ber 20th, and I will report back further in the future…

3.) The blog post – has to be Sakura’s review of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – how lovely that she is reading some of my favourite books this year, and even lovelier that she’s enjoying them so much!  But do also keep up with Darlene’s wonderful travel-log (travelogue?) of her time in London.  I think I’m going to be in the next instalment, so there’s an incentive ;) 

Happy weekend, everyone.  I’m tucked up in bed, feeling better than yesterday but not quite fighting fit just yet.  But fit enough to give you a link, a blog post, and a book.  In fact, as a special treat, let’s have two each of all of ’em… and a question for you too.  

Does anyone have any tips for finding out when people link to your blog?  I use Google Alerts, which used to be quite good, but now don’t seem to turn up many results – often I find blog posts have linked to me, and I’ve been unaware of it.  Occasionally I check Technorati, which catches some of them, but I’d like an alerts service that actually does the job….?

1.) The blogs – two whole new-to-me blogs this week, rather than just blog posts!   Firstly, Helen at A Gallimaufry – she’s been going for a while, but somehow I’ve only just spotted her blog.  It has a lovely scrap-booky feel, with beautiful archive photos surrounding her insightful reviews.  How could I not love a blog which has featured reviews of The Love Child and The Skin Chairs?  Go and have a gander.

And secondly, my friend Barbara – my e-friend, that is, whom I’ve known online for seven years – has finally succumbed and set up this rather beautiful photo-orientated blog, Mi Lady’s Boudoir.  Travels and photos and books and delectable things like that.

2.) The books – are both review copies, and rather from the sublime to the ridiculous.  The sublime, from Frances Lincoln publishers, is Enthusiasms by Mark Girouard.  It’s a collection of the unusual minutiae of literary exploration, from a neglected clue to Jane Austen’s first love affair to the location of Waugh’s Brideshead, stopping off at SiaB favourites like Oscar Wilde and Vita Sackville-West.  This one’s going to be fun.

But perhaps not as much fun, and certainly not as much guilty pleasure, as the book Michael O’Mara Books sent me – Brendan Sheerin: My Life.  For those not in the know, Brendan is the (international) tour guide on one of my favourite TV programmes – Coach Trip.  It’s the world’s most budget reality TV programme, utter rubbish but completely compelling.  Friends come around and we watch seven episodes at a time.  This book will doubtless prove as guiltily entertaining.

3.) The links – are both of a bookish nature, quelle surprise.  Lyndsay pointed me in the direction of this – Esquire have named 75 Books Every Man Should Read.  Oddly all but one of them are by men.  Methinks they got confused about Carson McCullers…  Naturally I think this is probably all quite silly, from the idea that men should read different books from women to the idea that men should only read books by men (and Carson McCullers).  But I loves me a list, and couldn’t resist it.

Speaking of lists… Laura of Guardian Books sent me a link to their Power 100.  Also clearer list etc. here.  It’s the hundred most powerful people in books, including booksellers, authors, publishers, agents… and nary a blogger in sight, which isn’t really entirely surprising.

So, twice as many goodies as usual there.  I’m off to bed with a book…
  

I’ve been off on trips this week – two to Swindon (yesterday I was there reading letters, rather than diaries – which meant reading lots of different people’s handwriting, rather than just Edith Olivier’s. Anne Sedgwick, whoever you may be, one day I will track you down and MAKE YOU WRITE YOUR Es PROPERLY. Ahem) And my housemate Debs and I also went to Compton Verney to see the Stanley Spencer exhibition, and enjoy the beautiful grounds. More on that next week, for today we need a book, a link, and a blog post.

1.) The blog post – I don’t think I’ve ever had an easier choice to make than this one: Sakura’s review of SiaB favourite Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns. I sent her a copy, because I can be a bit pushy when it comes to my favourite authors – and she has rewarded me with a positive and perceptive review that makes me want to read it all over again. (Take note, Rachel, take note.)

2.) The link – is of a similar ilk, but not from a blog. Here is an essay about Tove Jansson by Matthew Battles in the Barnes and Noble Review, which some kind soul emailed to me… but I can’t right now remember who. Susan? Ruth? Nancy? Thanks, whoever it was!

3.) The book – comes from lovely Folio Society. I am thrilled to be on their review list now, let me tell you, as my first encounter with Folio books was more or less the first time I realised that a book’s beauty could make me gasp. That book – or, indeed, those books – being the Mapp & Lucia series, which I eventually managed to secure for myself. But the one I’m mentioning today is Camus’ The Outsider (English translation, obv.) introduced by Damon Galgut and illustrated by Matthew Richardson. They gave me a choice of three, and this is one I’ve been intending to read for ages. I feel a bit as though everyone else has read it first, so I daresay you can tell me about it, no?

Happy weekend everyone – although, while I’ve been writing this, it has started raining here. I had intended to go to the park with a book… hmm.

Hey folks! Hope you’ve had a good week. Mine involved making the ridiculous cake below, with my lovely friend Lorna. I’m off on holiday tonight, cat-sitting at home for a week, then off to Shropshire and Wales with my bro for a bit. I was going to have proper posts ready to pop up, and who knows, maybe I still will – but… Well, something will appear, but it might be on a somewhat rationed basis. Still time for a Weekend Miscellany before I board the train, though…

1.) The blog post – is a lovely photo post by Diana, being Part 1 of a multipart series documenting her recent trip to the UK. I’ll come into it somewhere towards the end, but the first part is delightful – more general, about her 29 trips to these shores, with a great group of photos taken over the years. I swear, she knows Britain much better than I do.

2.) The link – so, the Man Booker longlist is out. I have read none; I own the Julian Barnes. This is the last time I shall mention anything to do with it…
3.) The book – had gone into a pile to go home: interesting enough to keep, but not to read for a while. It’s Let Not The Waves of the Sea by Simon Stephenson, and I kept my review copy from John Murray mostly because I love the cover. And then I read this article from the Guardian, wept over it, and want to read it. Let Not The Waves of the Sea is non-fiction, about Stephenson’s relationship with his brother Dominic, who died in the 2004 tsunami. My brother is the most important person in my life, and I love any book which cherishes the importance of siblings – even if this has a terribly tragic element, the blurb writes that it is ‘more than a book about what it means to lose a brother: it is a book about what it means to have one in the first place.’

Happy weekend, everyone. My week has included maximising the number of books I can fit in the shelf above my bed – which calls for horizontal shelving, rather than vertical (see below). My Saturday won’t be very weekendy, as I’ll be heading into the library to try and meet my chapter deadline next week – but Sunday has several fun events planned, one in particular I’m looking forward to – Diana Birchall will be visiting Oxford!

It seems to have been quite a while since I did a Weekend Miscellany – has it? – but I’m ready and waiting for a book, a blog post, and a link.

1.) The link – I found the idea behind this article fascinating, even if I haven’t read many of the books mentioned: it’s authors famous for the ‘wrong’ book. I.e. they’ve written better ones than the one which everyone knows about. I’m going to mull this over, and probably come up with a blog post myself about it… (Oh, and I can’t remember who pointed me in the direction of this article, but I suspect it was someone on Twitter in one of my brief sojourns there. Thanks!)

2.) The blog posts – are a wonderful series, recommended to me by a fellow blogger at the TV Book Club outing, of Weird Things That Customers Say in Bookshops. That link should take you to all the posts the blogger, Jen Campbell, has labelled in this series, although you may need to scroll down a bit to get to one of the listy-posts. They’re HILARIOUS.

3.) The book – and if you can’t wait til Jen’s book of these gets published, there’s always this one to hunt out: Bookworm Droppings (awful title, but fun contents) by Shaun Tyas. (Sample: “Do you have Anne of Clark Gables?”) Basically it’s the same idea as Jen’s proposed book… still, a good idea is a good idea. You can get it for 1p plus p&p on Amazon.co.uk at the mo!

Happy weekend everyone, hope you’ve got something fun planned – and that you’re reading something good. It’s been a while since I did a Weekend Miscellany, and there’s no time like the present.

1.) The book – is A William Maxwell Portrait – a collection of personal essays written about William Maxwell and his writings. It was published in 2004, but arrived at my house this week. Does anybody know anything else about this?

2.) The link – is an amusing video called ‘book librarian’ sent to me by a colleague – enjoy!

3.) The blog posts – are a few book reviews you’ll probably want to see, if you haven’t already: Lyn on Fanny Burney’s Evelina, Nicola on Rebecca West’s The Fountain Overflows, and Tanya on Nicola Humble’s Culinary Pleasures.

It seems an age since I did a Weekend Miscellany, doesn’t it? But it’s back – and I’ll be spending my Saturday in London playing bookish board games with blogging folk! I’m not exactly sure who’ll be there, I think it might be a select few of us, but of course I’ll report back in due course – and if it’s a success, perhaps we’ll get some more people involved next time. My gift to you is, instead, a book, a link, and a blog post…

1.) The blog post – over the past three or four weeks I’ve seen so many blog posts that I wanted to draw your attention to, and vowed that they would be the one I’d choose. I thought I’d dedicate a whole post to saying how wonderful these posts are. And naturally I’ve forgotten nearly all of them – but I *do* remember one. Over a month ago, Hayley wrote a fab post entitled ‘A sweeping family saga set against the background of a dystopian future…‘ Basically, it’s about blurbs and recommendations which put you off books… I adore this sort of discussion; go over and add your own thoughts. I’ll kick off: ‘It’s Ireland in 1880…’

Oh, and I must say thanks to everyone who participated in my One Book, Two Book meme – I loved seeing them pop up everywhere, and got quite peculiarly excited about seeing something I started spread across blogs – as well as fill my head with recommendations.

2.) The link – is to this idea about posting photos of your bookshelves to Flickr, and telling the world a bit about them – as well as gazing at other people’s bookshelves, of course. The article emailed to me by my friends Lucy and Debs – thanks guy!

3.) The book – of all the review books which have arrived at my door in the last month, requested or unsolicited, the one I’m most excited about is Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi, which came courtesy of Picador. I loved The Icarus Girl; I was baffled by White is for Witching; I still haven’t read The Opposite House. But I think Oyeyemi is a rare talent nonetheless, and now she’s turned her attention to a 1938 novelist whose imaginary muse turns up… well, I’m sold. It also reminds me that I have Barbara Comyns’ novel, also called Mr. Fox, waiting to be read.

Just two things today –

1.) Thank you SO much for all your wonderful and impassioned comments on my Agatha Christie vs. Dorothy L. Sayers post here. If you haven’t done so, do go and read the comments – they’re brilliant, and often hilarious. And the poll at the moment? I’m delighted to say that Agatha is three votes ahead of Dorothy!

2.) It’s time for the prize draw for Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt. Patch hasn’t been in action recently, but since this novel is about a dog, it seems right and proper that he lends a hand. And the winner is…

Congratulations, Harriet! And thanks Patch for choosing someone who lives in Oxford… promise it wasn’t rigged. Have a good weekend, everyone.