Weekend Miscellany

I can’t believe it’s the weekend already – which probably is a sentiment which could only be expressed by a student. It also marks a week since my library book was due back… oh dear. And I’ve only just started it. The money I’m saving on not buying books has gone straight to paying fines for borrowing books…

It’s been a little while, but I’m sure you all remember the drill with the Weekend Miscellany. We keep it simple it here – one from each shelf, please. Here we go…

1.) The blog post – Is Simon S’s wonderfully enthused review of Evelyn Waugh’s The Loved One, which has definitely moved it a couple hundred places in my tbr mountain. I’ve read a couple Waughs before, and will again (you could say this is my inter-Waugh period, a-ha-ha-clunk).

2.) The book – came through the door yesterday, and is Tarzan and the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I was amused to see this back at the fore of Oxford University Press’ marketing – I walked past their shop on the high street yesterday, and there are dozens of copies in the window, I wish I’d had my camera with me. Obviously I’ve heard of Tarzan, but my main experience with him of late has been QD Leavis’ dismissal in her rather snobbish and wholly fascinating Fiction and the Reading Public (from 1932) that ‘to the highbrow public “Ethel M. Dell” or “Tarzan” should be convenient symbols, drawn from hearsay rather than first-hand knowledge’. Ouch! I’m looking forward to getting my first-hand knowledge, thanks Queenie, love.

3.) The link – is sort of cheating, because it’s to a blog. But it’s a whole blog, rather than an individual blog post, because the whole thing is just so wonderful. And the blog in question? I think I’ve mentioned it before, but was reminded of it this week on Facebook (thanks Meg!) It’s called Colour Me Katie. Well, in actual fact it’s the American equivalent of that, but I can’t bring myself to take the ‘u’ out of ‘Colour’ – sorry! Clicking here will take you to it. There are no books involved, for once – Katie is a freelance photographer and street artist, and basically does exciting little projects involving lots of colour! She’s chalked footprints down the street, painted Pac Man characters around walls, spontaneously put up paper balloons… it’s all so lovely and joyful and definitely colourful. I’m getting a bit of life-envy here… Oh, AND she has a cat. Go and become happier!

I’m not feeling very weekendy, since I’m actually writing this on Tuesday (sshhh, don’t tell anyone) ready to be posted on Friday. By the time you read it, if all goes to plan, I’ll be in Paris – if all doesn’t go to plan, I’ll probably have accidentally got to Madrid or Moscow or something.

So, you’ll have to forgive me, because I haven’t read much of this week’s internet activity yet, since (for me) it hasn’t yet happened… I’m sure, despite that, that I can find a wonderful blog post, link, and book to tell you about…

1.) the blog post – is Kate aka makedoandread’s lovely post about how she first ‘met’ Virginia Woolf – and includes a great link to possible my favourite mural ever. You’ll love it, promise.

2.) the link – in fact, I have two. Thanks offmotorway for posting this great link on my post about favourite book titles – it’s about how not to choose a title for your novel. I don’t agree with everything the journalist says, but it makes for fun reading. The other link is courtesy of abebooks – Top 10 Books By Librarians. As a part-time librarian myself, I couldn’t help loving the idea.

3.) the book – is one I’ve had for a while, and has been available for a while, but I’ve been meaning to mention it. The Maintenance of Headway by Magnus Mills – looks really fun, don’t know why I haven’t read it yet, a nice short book about being a bus driver. His other books have been described as hilarious, surreal, even ‘a demented, deadpan comic wonder’ – and PG Wodehouse is mentioned on the cover of this one.

Why oh why haven’t I read it yet? An interesting review can be found here… but I think I’m going to have to find out for myself.

Will you look at that, somehow it’s the weekend again. Hope you all had a lovely week – mine has not been quite as busy as perhaps it should have been, but was very nicely interrupted today as Our Vicar and Our Vicar’s Wife paid a fleeting visit on their way through to a wedding in London. Oh, and the photo above isn’t particularly relevant – I took it last summer in Cornwall – but I don’t think I’ve shared it here before, and it is rather brilliant.

Right – as per usual, the link, the book, the blog post. It’s like the good, the bad, and the ugly – except it’s the good, the good, and the good.

1.) The link – is this rather fun and interesting article about joining a book group. I may or may not have stolen this link from someone else, I made a note of it last Saturday, and can’t remember – so apologies if I’m not crediting you! I look forward to my various book groups as highlights of my month, and love reading about other people’s experiences in them…

2.) The book – came through the post yesterday, and has the rather irresistible title Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones and is by Bobbie Darbyshire. I’m hoping to read this before too long, but thought I’d alert you to it now, in case it takes a back seat while I wade through the enormous fantasy book I’ve promised my brother I’ll read… Anyway, the novel is about (I quote the blurb) ‘an innocent meeting of a reading group which sparks a series of bizarre events. Three troubled people, driven by loneliness, vanity and revenge, hurl themselves on Inverness public library to find that nothing is as they expect.’ Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

3.) The blog post – is a little unusual for a book blog, but I was struck by Spitalfields Life’s post on Postman’s Park – which commemorates those who died in ‘Heroic Self-Sacrifice’. To give an example: ‘Soloman Galaman, Aged 11, Died of Injuries, Sept. 6 1901, After Saving His Little Brother From Being Run Over in Commercial Street.’ For lots of photos of the unique commemorative tiles there (they are Victorian and the turn of the century), and a bit of the history behind it, click here. I’ve never been in person, but will try and seek it out next time I’m in London. Have you ever been there?

I’m so pleased that a lot of you enjoyed the review the other day – I’ll keep my eye out for similar things in the future, so watch this space…

And it’s the weekend again, so time for a book, a blog post, and a link.

1.) The book – is one for those with deep pockets. It’s no secret that I love EF Benson’s Mapp and Lucia series, and have quite a few of his books which I’ve yet to read – but what enhances my love for these wonderful six books is (as you’ll see if you follow that link back there) the beautiful Folio edition I have of them. My friend Barbara-in-Ludlow originally lent me her set, and I hankered after them for years… eventually finding the set for only £25 in Blackwell’s Second Hand Department – possibly the only recorded instance of there being a good value book there. It was indeed a frabjous day, and I’m pleased to report that the Folio Society have reprinted this boxset – which you can see here. The colours have changed a bit, but it still looks wonderful. Thanks so much Helen for bringing this to my attention. Here’s the downside… it will set you back £120. Less if you’re a Folio Society member, perhaps, but… well, I was lucky enough to find them at a reasonable price, but they’re scarce enough and give me more pleasure than almost any other books I have. (I should be working on commission!)

2.) The blog post – is a review by Elaine at Random Jottings. This fits in nicely with the previous post, since Elaine has just read The War Workers by E M Delafield. This was one of my favourite books read in 2008, but I didn’t write about it on my blog because it was so difficult to find copies. Now that a POD company is issuing it, it seems fair to point you in its direction! First stop, Elaine’s wonderful review.

3.) The link – is not remotely reverent. But is very funny. Anybody familiar with Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart (or, indeed, anybody who isn’t) will love this literal interpretation of her music video…

Happy weekend, everyone! I’ve had one of those not-very-productive weeks, in terms of work and in terms of reading. Not sure quite where it went, to be honest, but still picked up a few bits and pieces for a Weekend Miscellany…

1.) The blog post – is a lovely review of Miss Hargreaves over at Hayley’s blog Desperate Reader – click here to hear how my, er, persuasions have been noted over the years – and how they proved fruitful.

2.) The book – is one I heard about over at Cornflower, who is a fellow Debo fan – Deborah Mitford, or Deborah Devonshire as we should call her (or Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, if you feel so inclined) has succumbed to public pressure and written her autobiography: Wait for Me! You might remember my love of all things Mitford from 2008, and I’m excited about this – there is so much that Debo says that I don’t agree with, but she says it all so charmingly that she’s the most delightful Grumpy Old Woman imaginable. To the extent that none of her opinions really sound grumpy… but instead rather adorable. The book isn’t out til September, so this is very early warning – but I expect some of you will be putting pre-orders in even as I type…

And, finally, I thought I’d let you know that the latest Bloggers Books of the Month are available at the Big Green Bookshop and on its webpage (including my choice, which I love – see all the choices here) – and I’m sure you’ll want to join me in congratulating Simon from the shop on his beautiful new baby boy…

1.) The books – I’m cheating, as there are four this weekend… and they’re all short (539 pages between the four of them!), and they’re all in translation. That wasn’t deliberate, but somehow it happened – and so I thought I’d collect them altogether. Two from the library (The Blue Fox by Sjon, from the Icelandic; Identity by Milan Kundera, from the French) and two review copies (Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord and Beside the Sea by Veronique Olmi, both from the French). Look out for them on Stuck-in-a-Book over the following weeks, they look like they’ll cover quite a range of styles and moods, but all sounds interesting… Since there are four, I don’t think I have space to offer summaries or blurbs now, so we’ll wait til I’ve read them…

2.) The blog post – is the very innovative Cate at Bookshelf Project with her Book Oscars 2010. You only have three days left to vote, so click on that link and choose amongst the nominations in categories including Best Cover Design, Best Fiction Novel, Best Book-to-Film Adaptation… and maybe more. She also made this rather fab banner:

3.) The link – I’m cheating again, because it’s not really a link. I’m just copying and pasting from a recent email… it’s a hard life, being a blogger. Said email was from a man named Peter, who runs Flashlight Worthy Book Recommendations. Apparently he’s looking to expand his offerings of book club books. Take a look at what he has and if you have some ideas as to a list you could contribute, get in touch with him at info@flashlightworthy.com.

I’m off for the weekend, to give a talk on Barbara Comyns to the Bidford History Society (argh! nervous!) and visit my brother in Bristol (not nervous…) so I’m typing out a couple of posts to appear whilst I’m away. First off, the Weekend Miscellany – which has a little bit extra this week. Don’t worry, we’ll still be looking at a book, a blog post, and a link – but before that…

UK Book Bloggers Meet-Up
I wrote about this quite a while ago, when it was in its very early stages of organisation – it’s now a little nearer being organised which, let’s face it, is as near as I’m likely to get, not being one of nature’s organised people. Just ask my family, in whom hope springs eternal.

I don’t want to put all the details up here, Just In Case (we don’t want the wrong sort of internet-lurker turning up!) but I have booked a venue. We’ll be meeting in the function room of a lovely, traditional English pub in London (which comes recommended by Kim) on Saturday May 8th at 5.30pm. To get involved, give me an email at simondavidthomas [at] yahoo.co.uk . I think everyone who got in touch before has had an email from me – let me know if I’ve missed you! The room dooes have a restriction of 35 – I shouldn’t think we’ll have more than that, but just in case, it’s first-come first-served… so get emailing!

1.) The book – Thought I’d mention something which came through the postbox this week – Croc Attack! by Assaf Gavron. Sounds like an edgier David Attenborough, doesn’t it, but no – the novel is about Eitan Enoch, known as Croc, and his survival of various terrorist attacks in Tel Aviv. He inadvertently becomes a national celebrity, but thus also becomes a target… To be honest, it sounds more violent than my usual choice of book, but is also apparently ‘blackly funny’ and might appeal to the more politically minded amongst you? In fact, let me know if you fancy reviewing it for this blog and (if you live in the UK), I’ll pop it in the post to you…

2.) The blog post – it’s always great when bloggers come fresh to my favourite books, so I was delighted to see Thomas at My Porch review EM Delafield’s The Diary of a Provincial Lady; Lisa at BlueStalking Reader write about The Love Child by Edith Olivier, and that Miss Hargreaves has paid a visit to Nicola at Back-to-Books. All are books on my 50 Books list, and though not all the blog posts are from this week, I’ll confess, they’re recent… that’s good enough, isn’t it? OH, and see Jenny’s review of Lucia in London too. So many great posts!

3.) The link – If you’re like me, then the words ‘free’ and ‘book’ in the same sentence won’t go amiss. That’s just what train company First Capital Connect are intending to do, with their own book club – more info here, please excuse the ad agency’s rather bizarre logo.

(by the by, anyone who used to use the ‘Home…’ link in the left-hand column, I’ve now deleted it – but clicking on the picture in the top left-hand corner will take you back to the main page)

These weeks do come around quickly, don’t they? Hope you’re all ready for a fun Valentine’s Weekend – that’s right, I’m one of those few single people who finds Valentine’s Day rather sweet. Not the commercial bit of it, no, but the fact that it makes people take time out to celebrate their relationships. Awww…..

But I haven’t availed myself of the opportunity to make this a themed Weekend Miscellany, you’ll be pleased to hear. Instead, we have our usual mixture of interesting link, blog post, and book. Here goes…

1.) The blog post – I have my friend Barbara to thank for bringing this to my attention: anyone interested in old Penguin paperbacks should go and check out this lovely post on a blog called Spitalfields Life.

2.) The book – is, sadly, not one which has landed on my doormat. I spotted it mentioned on Claire’s (aka The Captive Reader) blog, and – unusually? – it’s a great book which is available in the US and not the UK. Well, available in Canada too, presumably, if Claire has a copy – my other deductions come courtesy of Amazon snooping! Enough preamble – the book is A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen. I confess I was a little dubious – would this be a collection of modern ‘great writers’ of whom I’d never heard? Or, worse, Danielle Steele informing me that Elinor Dashwood is, essentially, the same as the heroine of her latest novel. But no – this appears to be a collection of essays spanning the years, and the writers in question include Virginia Woolf, Eudora Welty, W. Somerset Maugham, Fay Weldon, CS Lewis, David Lodge, Harold Bloom, the director of Clueless… and, yes, quite a few people I wouldn’t know from Adam – but enough there to make me hanker rather a lot for this collection.

3.) The link – if you ignore the unbookish caption to this video, and close your mind to the destruction of a book or two, then this link is rather fun, and very inventive…

Hope you’ve all had a good week – doesn’t it go quickly? – here we are again with a book, a blog post, and a link to amuse and bedazzle you this weekend. (NB: bedazzlement not guaranteed.)

1.) The book – I’ve been meaning to read Grace by Alex Pheby for ages, ever since Two Ravens Press sent it to me… and that was quite some while ago. I’m still keen to read it, but it looks like it might not be in the very near future, and I think some of your lovers of quirky literature might quite like this, judging on the blurb. Peterman escapes a secure hospital, and wanders, half-delirious, into a nearby forest. Here he stays with an old woman and a young girl, and an extraordinary relationship develops between them. And so on…. Unreliable narrators, madness, apparently ‘luminous, lyrical prose’ – could be a winner. Having done a scout around, I see that almost exactly a year ago Lizzy Siddal reviewed Grace and interviewed Alex Pheby… It’ll still probably be a while before I get to this book, but I’d love to hear from anyone who has read it, or plans to.

2.) The blog post – I don’t usually pick straightforward reviews for this, as usually something a bit different has caught my attention, but I was rather struck by Harriet’s review of My Lover’s Lover by Maggie O’Farrell – find it here – and thought I’d make a change. I’ve only read one O’Farrell novel (The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox) but I will probably be spurred on to more now…

3.) The link – isn’t remotely literary this week, but if (like me) you can’t quite see the point of Twitter, and are quite fond of English eccentricity, then you could do worse than clicking on this link…

Hello there, hope you’re well, do take a seat and have a cup of tea. I can do normal, Earl Grey, and… er, water. More miscellany for you – and on the right day of the week as well (though I’m actually typing this on Friday – sshh, don’t tell anyone).

1.) The blog post – is a myriad wonder… featuring several posts from a fairly recent blogger who seems to be reading all the books I want to read, or re-read. Here’s one on Mariana by Monica Dickens; one on Can Any Mother Help Me? by Jenna Bailey; one on The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne – go, enjoy, and welcome Claire aka Captive Reader to the blogosphere.

2.) The link – comes with a warning, this weekend. I found this hilarious… others were not, shall we say, ‘exceedingly diverted’. Click here to judge for yourself.

3.) The book – I don’t know if I’ve always made this obvious, but ‘the book’ section in this weekend miscellany is for books I’ve heard of, or which have come through the door, but which I haven’t read. Usually they’re ones I don’t think others will have heard about yet – but this week I’ve gone for one that I somehow missed, but hope you have heard of – White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. I was very impressed by The Icarus Girl back here, and have The Opposite House on my shelves, but somehow didn’t notice that White is for Witching was published back in May 2009 – and is coming out in paperback in April, I think. Reviews aren’t great at Amazon, tis true, but I’d rather hear your views… the publishers say “A remarkable, shape-shifting tale… The narrative oscillates between the mundane and the supernatural, and it is this skilful blend of the fantastic and the everyday that makes it resonate so chillingly… In the end, this isn’t a fantasy about ghosts and witches. It is really about memory and belonging, love and loss.” Over to you…

And a little extra – I’d love contributions to this in future, if you hear any – Best Bookish Quotation of the Week. I’m not talking quotations from books, I’m talking quotations about books which you’ve said yourself, or have heard friends say. I hope my friend won’t mind me using hers – I’ll keep her anonymous until/unless she hoves over and approves…[edit: she now has, and you can find out who it is in the comments!]
“I recite my Book Depository preorders to myself at night if I’m having trouble getting to sleep!” rivalled only, this week, by my own confession to my housemate: “I once bought a book solely because I liked the smell…” If you have any others – let me know!