Weekend Miscellany

Hope you’re gearing up to have a good weekend. I am slowly weaning myself off painkillers, and more or less back to normal. No marathons, but then… ‘normal’ never included marathons. It did, however, include a book, a blog post, and a link, so shall we get on with the show?

1.) The book – is a novel about the life of one of my favourite writers, Katherine Mansfield, by Joanna FitzPatrick. It’s called In Pursuit… the Katherine Mansfield Story Retold, and I have high hopes… Susan Seller’s Vanessa and Virginia (about Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf) was one of my favourite reads in 2008, so I’m hoping Joanna FitzPatrick can work similar wonders.

2.) The blog post – is Verity and one of those things which can’t help make you smile: a gingerbread house. For my own terrifying attempt from August 2009, scroll to the bottom of this post.

3.) The link – is about the new TV adaptation of Richmal Crompton’s William Brown books. I loved the series which was on 15 or so years ago, and I’m looking forward to this one, which stars Daniel Roche of Outnumbered fame. The article also features a great celebration of the William books from legend Martin Jarvis, who narrates the new series, and is the voice of Richmal Crompton for those of us who loved the cassettes.

December approaches, and perhaps you have snow in your part of the world… none here in Oxford, but maybe before next week… I’m heading off for a nice early night, but will type this out to appear early on Saturday morning.

1.) The link – is courtesy of The Dabbler, where you can win a copy of the Christmas edition of Slightly Foxed – click here to enter, if you know your Christmas literary trivia.

2.) The blog post – is Harriet Devine’s, because this amused me…

3.) The book – is the Persephone Ninety Diary, which Nicola Beauman very kindly gave me as a birthday present. It’s beautiful – like the Persephone books, but with a more flexible spine, and has pages with the endpapers from all the Persephone books, alongside the diary pages. The question is, of course… is it too beautiful to use? I haven’t made my mind up on that just yet…

My week has been slightly confused, since I’ve spent all day convinced that it was Saturday… which has essentially given me an extra day in the week. How could I have thought it was the weekend without my weekend miscellany? Book, blog post, and link coming up…

1.) The blog posts – are myriad. I mentioned earlier in the week a little blogger meet-up to welcome Thomas to our sceptr’d isle, and I thought I’d point you in the direction of the various reports of the day. Especially of interest if you like to see photos of the people behind the blogs… Here are links to the reports: Thomas, Polly, Miranda, Claire, Hayley.

2.) The link – a friend of mine mentioned that the Paris Review Interviews were now available online – here. I’ve bought the collected interviews they’ve published over the years, but now I can have a skim through for any author. Here’s some ideas for you: interviews with A.S. Byatt, E.M. Forster, Graham Greene, Milan Kundera, Iris Murdoch, P.L. Travers, Rebecca West, and P.G. Wodehouse.

3.) The book – isn’t really a book… but Mills and Boon (Heaven knows how they got my email address) sent me this image earlier in the week:

Thanks everyone for the welcome back – it’s nice to be blogging again, even if I seem to be lingering with a cough that won’t be away… and my eyes not quite up to reading much yet, so I’m quite behind in those stakes too. Oh well… let’s have a weekend miscellany to cheer ourselves up, eh?

Oh, and the above picture is the park at the end of my road, from the other day. I looked out the window and the mist was amazing. The jogger appeared after I clicked to take the picture, but I quite like his mysterious inclusion…

1.) The book – is Nella Last in the 1950s, which Profile Books kindly sent me, after seeing my rave review of Nella Last’s War. They also accepted my cheeky plea for Nella Last’s Peace, the book covering the period between these books. Although I finished Nella Last’s War back in February, it’s still my favourite book read this year – can’t wait to read the next two.

2.) The blog post – is Becky’s lovely review of Miss Hargreaves, which is just as enthusiastic as I could wish!

3.) The link – is to The Persephone Post which, with the entry for 12th November, has shown off Our Vicar’s Wife’s photography skills! And do keep visiting Mum’s blog for more news from the South West, not least the activities of lovely Sherpa.

Hello there, hope all’s well with you and yours. This weekend we’ll be having murder-afoot at our house, as it’s my birthday murder party. My actual birthday isn’t til the 7th November, but the Saturday nearest to that is always Bonfire Night at South Parks in Oxford. Lots of fun stuff in the weekend miscellany…

1.) Starting with the winner of The Love Child by Edith Olivier. Thanks for all your fantastic suggestions of ‘E’ titles and authors – I especially loved how often Enid Blyton, Emma, and E.M. Delafield came up – all ones I’d have chosen. But, without further ado, the copy of this brilliant novella is going to… (one random number generator later) SPOTS OF TIME. I don’t remember seeing your name before (have I?), so welcome, welcome, and well done! Send me your address to simondavidthomas[at]yahoo.co.uk, and I’ll get the book off to you…

2.) Speaking of books (aren’t we always?) the wonderful Persephone Secret Santa is happening again this year. Head over to Paperback Reader/Claire’s post for more details… it’s good fun, very festive, and guilt-free book buying. She’s said we can use her fab image, so thanks Claire!

3.) Here in Britain we have some wonderful publishers – Persephone being just one of the companies which make me pleased to live in this scepter’d isle. The one time I get jealous is when the New York Review of Books Classics are mentioned. I own a few, but they’re difficult and pricey to get here – they are such beautiful books, in terms of design, touch, the way they open… and, of course, they have printed some brilliant titles, including Tove Jansson’s novels, one by Barbara Comyns, Sylvia Townsend Warner, etc. etc.

Anyway, Mrs. B and Coffeespoons are organising a NYRB Reading Week – see here. Also see Thomas’ post on this – he gave me permission to reproduce his stunning and jealousy-inducing photo of his NYRB Classics collection (below). I think it’s my favourite photograph I’ve ever seen on a blog – I could stare at it for hours, hoping somehow to master self-teleportation. I thought I’d read all my NYRB books, but I’ve just remembered I have Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner waiting in the wings, so perhaps I will join in…

I’m writing from deepest, darkest Somerset – having spent the evening playing with adorable Sherpa – and have that old weekend miscellany to give. A bit different from usual, as today all the things I’m pointing out are blogs or blog posts….

1.) I’ve been meaning to read more E.H. Young ever since reading Miss Mole, more here, and although several months have passed and I still haven’t done, my determination has been renewed by this enthusiastic review of Young’s William from Harriet Devine.

2.) For those of you with a fondness for Our Vicar’s Wife (and she did make me a lovely dinner tonight, so I am even more fond of her than usual) – do go along and have a gander at her recently-overhauled blog. She’s now joined the WordPress masses…

3.) I thought I’d mention that family friend and poet Mary Robinson has started up a blog called Wild About Poetry… job done!

4.) Simon S. often has interesting blog-posts-about-blogging, and the most recent is a discussion about whether we prefer blogs with lots of reviews or lots of non-review bookish posts (lists, questions, books we’ve bought, etc.) I suspect the answer – both from the perspective of blogging and that of blog-reading – will be ‘a mixture’, but it’s interesting to discuss why. Have a gander, and throw your tuppennyworth in, here.

Oh, and happy birthday to regular SiaB reader, and real-life friend, Lucy! She opened the present I gave her yesterday – she asked for books I thought she’d like but probably wouldn’t come across otherwise, and I picked Christopher Morley’s Parnassus on Wheels and Saki’s Beasts and Super-Beasts.

Happy Weekend, one and all – I am rising after almost twelve hours asleep, which will hopefully throw off the remainder of the cold I’ve had for a bit now. It does mean that I haven’t been reading much of late – even though I’m in the middle of one or two really good books – but there should be enough going on in the back of my head to cobble together a book, a blog post, and a link!

1.) The blog post – is the new(ish) site called Austen Authors, and more particularly the post by/about SiaB-favourite Diana Birchall. The site collects together lots of people who have written about Austen, or in the style of Austen. It would be too catty for my taste to call Diana’s sequel Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma a rose among thorns, but… let’s just say her novel is inspired by Austen’s prose, and not Colin Firth’s wet shirt…

2.) The link – is to the South Asian Literature Festival, which is taking place between 15th-31st October, in London to start off, and then the rest of the UK. I know less about South Asian literature than most of you, I suspect, but I might well try and make it along to a session or two, time permitting.

3.) The book – is the forthcoming (on October 14th) autobiography by the very-much-loved Judi Dench, And Furthermore. I’m sometimes a little exasperated by celebrities who think that being famous = having writing ability, and who knows whether or not Dame J can hold her own as a prose stylist, but I think I would love this book whatever she wrote. With some people, I am besotted to the point of blindness…

Happy Weekend, one and all! Colin is coming to visit this weekend, and will be roped into all manner of baking tomorrow, as we prepare for our housewarming on Sunday. Should be fun – but will not conducive to me finishing Villette by next Wednesday. Oh well, fingers are crossed…

The Weekend Miscellany is a bit more disorganised this week, as there were so many things I wanted to mention, and I thought I’d forget about them if I decided to wait til next week. They’ll all be a bit of a jumble…

1.) Elizabeth Jenkins died this week, aged 104 – she wrote novels and biographies including Cornflower Book Group choice The Tortoise and the Hare. Nicola Beauman (of Persephone Books) wrote her obituary, a link brought to my attention by Lyn.

2.) Hannah Stoneham alerted me to Dorothy, a publishing project. They have a website and a Facebook page, and describe themselves as publishing ‘works of fiction or near fiction or about fiction, mostly by women.’ The reason I’m excited is that one of their first books (in November) will be a reprint of Barbara Comyns’ incredibly good Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead with fantastic cover art by Yelena Bryksenkova. Bad news for me – and good for a lot of you – is that they’re based in the US.

3.) Several people alerted me to an interview with Debo Devonshire on Radio 4 this morning – if you happened to miss it, you can listen to the interview here. It’s rather wonderful, and has me chomping at the bit to read Wait for Me.

4.) A book that sounds fun is Matthew J. Dick’s Pistols for Two – Breakfast for One. Hugo Hammersley is formerly of the HM diplomatic service, and is investgating the murder of a notable British citizen in Italy, and the disappearance of the priceless gold coin he had carried. That’s before the Mafia get involved…

5.) Other people who know me well have alerted me to these videos – the first is the latest Ikea advert; the second is the ‘Making of’ that advert. Ikea and cats are two of my favourite things (along with, of course, brown paper packages tied up with string) so I am naturally besotted.

Hello there, hope you’re all set to enjoy a Bank Holiday Weekend if you’re in Britain – and hasn’t the weather really made an effort? Ahem. Great answers on yesterday’s post, keep ’em coming. And so many reviews and things to come next week – so many great books waiting for me to squeak about them! And Tara Books – I absolutely must talk about them this week. Watch this space…

1.) The blog post – is my very favouritest brother’s. He’s been reading Orlando by Virginia Woolf (as part of a deal – I have to read one of the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan. Each one in the series is the size of a hill.) We both set off enthusiastically in March. I read 550 pages (HOW can that not be the whole of a book?) but have 200+ left – Col is staggering towards the end of Orlando, and I thought I’d share his review of it – which is here (entry for August 25th). I wholeheartedly disagree with it – but it serves as nice proof that twins do not have the same tastes. Oh, and I should say that Colin’s blog is nearly seven years old, so twice as old as mine…

2.) The book – I like Gallic Books – because they’re so friendly, because they link to Big Green Bookshop on their website, and (of course) because of their range of books. So I was pleased to see further innovation on their part – their book The Baker Street Phantom by Fabrice Bourland (translated by Morag Young) is being offered as a complimentary copy to anyone who books into the Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes Hotel, on Baker Street in London, during September. The novel is set in 1930s London, and I love the ingenuity of the whole thing.

3.) The link – is staying with Gallic Press, and throwing another Stuck-in-a-Book favourite into the mix – Peirene Press. I do so love it when publishers cooperate with each other, and realise that the world should be a friendly, book-fuelled place… and Gallic Press have got on board with that idea, as exemplified by their series of posts called ‘Publisher Spotlight’. This one interviews Meike, the doyenne of Peirene Press.

Why, hello there. I’m all geared up for my weekend of novellas – in fact, I’ve snuck another one in by Violet Trefusis, just in case my whim takes me in that direction – but I thought I wouldn’t leave you adrift… before I tuck myself up in my room with the world of short novels, here’s a link, a book, and a blog post.

1.) The blog post – Peter mentioned Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson when I was asking for suggestions for books about moving house, and my curiosity was definitely sparked – now Jodie’s blog post has sealed the deal. Rarely has a review made me so very keen to read a book, and it’s absurd that I haven’t any Moomin books, given how much I love Jansson’s novels and short stories for adults. Is it going to be next on Project 24? Maybe maybe maybe…

2.) The link – thanks to all those people who spotted The Great British Bake Off and told me it would be right up my street. Of course it was! If you’re familiar with Masterchef, basically it’s that format but with baking. The first episode (which was on last Tuesday, but which I’ve only just seen) specialised in cakes – the contestants had to make their own speciality cake, then a basic Victoria sponge, and finally a chocolate celebration cake. The judges then sent two bakers home… I was surprised that I found the programme quite genuinely moving! I started off laughing a bit at the idea of competitive cake baking, and the serious tones everyone had, but I felt all anxious and sad when people had to go home… But anything presented by the fab Mel and Sue can’t be *too* serious…

Oh, and thrown into the mix is a bit of cake history – including some quite astonishing pictures of the wedding cakes Queen Victoria ordered for her children’s weddings! Of course, this is all leading up to a link – until the 14th September you’ll be able to watch the first episode here. Episodes continue on Tuesdays… as usual, I don’t know whether or not it’s available outside of the UK. Hope so!

Appropriately enough, I watched The Great British Bake Off whilst baking a cake. It’s a coconut and lime sponge – a combination I haven’t tried before, so the proof is in the, er, pudding. Chocolate/lime sponge and coconut sponge with raspberry jam are my favourite types, so I thought combining bits of both might work… it’s out the oven and cooling, so I can’t show you a pic yet.

BUT (gosh, this is getting more loquacious than most Weekend Miscellanies) this is a good opportunity to show you a piccie or two of a 1950s cakestand I bought last weekend… so I have. I would have loved a three-tier cakestand, but the one I got is pretty darn beautiful…

3.) The book – is getting a bit ahead of myself, but Lyn (of I Prefer Reading) mentioned in our online book group that Capuchin Classics are reprinting Stephen Benatar’s When I Was Otherwise next March. His novel Wish Her Safe at Home rather charmed me recently, and with great titles including A.A. Milne’s Two People on their backlist, Capuchin may well have scored another triumph..