Weekend Miscellany

This week has been long. And sometimes a bit wearying. It started off with a nasty cold and feeling very sorry for myself. It ended with Trump coming to the UK with his hideous rhetoric about immigrants and general terribleness – I went to Blenheim Palace to protest. He truly is a terrible, terrible human being, and I’m ashamed that the leaders of my country were so sycophantic to him – though proud of the protests that the British people have put on in response.

Anyway. Ugh. Here’s a book, a link, and a blog post to distract ourselves…

1.) The blog post – is on Medium, which feels very millennial of me (is Medium still a thing?) It’s about the buy-out of Capitol Hill Books by the employees and friends of the eccentric owner Jim Toole. I’ve been a couple times, and love it, and the post is quite amusing. I’m so pleased this bookstore is sticking around, so close to the political heart of the US.

2.) The book – where did I hear about Avid Reader by Robert Gottlieb? Can’t remember, but it’s another book about reading (and an autobiography) that I will inevitably buy at some point. With his heritage working at Simon and Schuster, Alfred Knopf, and The New Yorker, how could this not be good?

3.) The link – with Trump on the mind, here’s a link for the best places to donate to help migrant and refugee families at the US/Mexico border. It’s from a few weeks ago, when the situation was a little different, but they could still do with all the compassion and help that we can give.

Happy weekend! I suspect it’s a scorcher (if you’re in the northern hemisphere – well, much of it), but I’m not intending to leave the house very much. I’m busy taking “feed a cold” seriously, and catching up on the excellent sitcom Superstore. And maybe a bit of reading because (a) why not?, and (b) I have two enormous books to read for Tea or Books? and I’m behind. But here’s a book, a blog post, and a link…

1.) The book – I absolutely covet The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970 by Martin Salisbury, and not just for that frankly stunning cover. My friends Paul and Kirsty got a copy and I flicked through it and it is gorgeous AND educational. I will give in and buy it soon, I’m sure.

2.) The blog post – Check out Ali’s wonderful review of Four Day’s Wonder by my pal A.A. Milne. I can’t remember if I’ve already posted it here or just on Twitter, but you can get five A.A. Milne books for the absurdly cheap price of £7.99. Do it, and start with either this or the glorious Mr Pim Passes By, please.

3.) The link – It’s sort of another bunch of blog posts, but I’m sure we can all make our peace with that. Basically, go to Shiny New Books and look at the Man Booker retrospective – where different reviewers have been covering all the winners (including me on Penelope Fitzgerald’s Offshore).

The weekend may be more than half over, but why not have a miscellany nonetheless? I was up in London yesterday, enjoying the spectacular royal wedding from the Southbank. I particularly loved the wonderful sermon from the minister – telling the world about the wonder of God’s love. Such a beautiful day for it all, too!

And here’s the book, blog post, and link…

1.) The link – I still freelance for OxfordWords, and wrote a really fun post about words in book titles that have changed in meaning: ‘What’s brave about Brave New World?‘

2.) The book – I didn’t love the only Salley Vickers novel I read, but I am drawn to The Librarian – not least for this stunning cover. Though it is a rip-off of Joan Bodger’s brilliant How The Heather Looks (google it!). I’d rather hoped it would be non-fic about a particularly influential librarian in Vickers’ reading life – somebody write that book! – but it could still be great anyway.

3.) The blog post – Hayley’s celebration of Virago at 40 is fab. And gives me a good excuse to post a picture of the beautiful tea cosy she made me while listening to ‘Tea or Books?’! Thanks Hayley :)

It’s Eurovision weekend!! I’m off to Bristol to watch it with friends, though I can’t imagine it’ll do anything for the headaches I’ve been getting this week. Anyway, whatever happens here’s a blog post, a link, and a book to keep you going.

1.) The link – was sent to me by Farid on Instagram. Thanks Farid! It’s a jam roly-poly recipe inspired by The Diary of a Provincial Lady. What a fun idea – even if the original in Delafield’s novel doesn’t sound that appetising. Follow the link for more context.

2.) The blog post – you probably already listen to the Reading the End podcast – but I’ll give a heads up, nonetheless, that in their latest episode they did the topic I suggested. It’s about whether or not you take your personal morality into reading experiences.

3.) The book – Rex v Edith Thompson by Laura Thompson looks fascinating. It’s about the infamous murder case that inspired F Tennyson Jesse’s A Pin To See The Peepshow and E.M. Delafield’s Messalina of the Suburbs.

As I write this, a little in advance of the weekend, we are being promised heat and sun and all sorts. I intend to spend the weekend reading, but I might go as far as opening a window. MAYBE TWO WINDOWS. Crazy, huh?

I have more links than usual this weekend, so don’t let anybody tell you I don’t spoil you. In fact, I’ll focus just on links this weekend.

1.) In Praise of Margery Sharp – from the New York Times. I’ve read three Sharp novels over the past 15 or so years, and really must read some more from my shelf – as they’ve all been brilliant.

2.) Do we need more than 120 words? – I wrote a piece for OxfordWords about Toki Pona, a recently created language with only 120 phonemes. It was really interesting researching the piece, and you can read all about it by following the link above.

3.) A new Marilynne Robinson novel! – don’t get too excited yet; it’s been announced, but there’s not even a title yet. Actually, do get excited – cos it’s the fourth in the Gilead series!

4.) Copy editors chat – this isn’t a new link, but I found it this week. The style guide doyenne of the New Yorker chats about her career, and maybe even tries to justify some of the New Yorker‘s sillier aberrations. (Did you know they use teen-ager and coöperative?)

5.) Judi, Maggie, Eileen, Joan – did somebody somehow bottle my dreams and hopes? This documentary is already my favourite film and I haven’t even seen it yet.

I’m writing this a few days before the weekend, and I’m already feeling a little bit ropey… fingers crossed I don’t spend the actual weekend in bed, since I’m supposed to be visiting a friend of mine. Eek. But anyway, here’s a link, a blog post, and a book nonetheless…

1.) The link – is the most fascinating true story I’ve read in ages.

2.) The blog post – is Harriet’s review of Sylvia Townsend Warner’s brilliant collection of short stories, Swans on an Autumn River. I also loved this, but she writes about it way better.

3.) The book – I’ve still never read any Rose Tremain, though am intending to read The Gustav Sonata at some point (and have it waiting) – but I see her childhood memoir is coming out in April, and I feel sure some of you would want to know…

Happy weekend! I’m sitting with a cat on my lap, and his paws are on my arm making it rather difficult to type. (Definitely worth it.) I’ve got a busy one, with my bro coming on Saturday and my friend coming on Sunday – I’ve made brownies in preparation – but plenty of time to leave you with a link, a book, and a blog post.

1.) The link- I’m super excited that the wonderful sitcom Mum is coming back for a second series soon, and you can catch up with series one on iPlayer (or, cough, more illicit means if you’re not in the UK). Not to be confused with the fairly dreadful US sitcom Mom, this one stars the always-wonderful Lesley Manville as a woman whose husband has recently died, as she deals with her son, brother, sister-in-law, parents-in-law etc. The writing and acting are sublime.

2.) The book – have I mentioned Lucy Mangan’s Bookworm: a memoir of childhood reading? A review copy is on its way to me, but I had to let you know it exists because it sounds wonderful. Just from that title alone, really, but follow the link and all the other info also makes it sound even better.

3.) The blog post – I loved seeing all the Persephone-related posts pop up in the blogosphere in the past couple of weeks, and here is Karen’s top ten, to pick one most. (Also have a mosey around Karen’s blog for a Miss Mole review!)

Happy weekend! I haven’t shared my most exciting new news yet, have I? Well, I have on my podcast and on all sorts of social media, but I might as well go whole hog for those who read this – I’ve got a cat! Hargreaves has lived with me for a week now. He’s very affectionate, and follows me around everywhere. He used to be a stray cat, so he’s probably enjoying a bit of love and warmth – the rescue centre guess he’s about six, and he’s lovely. And he’s sat on my legs as I type this.

In case you were wondering – yes, ‘Hargreaves’ is in honour of Miss Hargreaves, but also Roger Hargreaves, author of the Mr Men. And even the joy of having a cat won’t stop me sharing a book, a link, and a blog post…

1.) The link – is a fun article about Barbara Comyns by Nathan Scott McNamara. Be wary of spoilers, particularly about The Juniper Tree, But the article wins my love from the outset by connecting Comyns with one of my favourite films, Junebug.

2.) The blog post – is Jane’s Birthday Book of Underappreciated Lady Authors. Head on over there and she’ll explain.

3.) The book – is Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin, which is about to be a Penguin Classic, in a new translation by Michael Hofmann. Apparently Döblin is a widely-revered German author, though I have to confess I hadn’t heard of him. It was originally published in 1929, which is totally my jam – I’m not sure when I’ll get to it (and it is LONG) but I thought I’d spread the word.

Am I getting my first cold of 2018? Quite possibly. I only had two last year, and that is nigh-on miraculous for me, since I’m usually just counting the days between them. But whether or not I’m a picture of health (let’s face it – at the best of times, I’m not), here is a book, a link, and a blog post. Happy weekend!

1.) The blog post – I love, love, love Best Books of the Year blog posts. Don’t we all? I could link to any number of them, but here is the post from Juliana at The Blank Garden. I’ve chosen it because I also love book stats, and Juliana doesn’t skimp on those.

2.) The link – my friend Lorna sent a Guardian article to me, all about literature courses in Australia and how unprepared students are. It’s interesting, in that the author has (to my mind) lots of good points, but also demands that people read and act in a way she believes to be right. There’s a lot going on. It’s an interesting read.

3.) The book – I’ve bought it! Because I can buy books again, without restraint! (And, in fact, I had a book token I hadn’t used.) It’s Appointment in Arezzo by Alan Taylor, and falls into one of my very favourite categories of literature: memoirs about authors by people with a unique perspective. Taylor started by interviewing Muriel Spark, then became her friend, and this slim book tells the tale of it all.

I’ve finished work for Christmas (sorry to people who haven’t!) and I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks of reading and relaxing – or trying to, and then ending up going to a zillion carol concerts and the like. But Christmas is my favourite time of year – because I get to spend it with family, and realising afresh the enormity of what God did for the world, and food. Those three things aren’t necessarily in the correct order there, but they are all wonderful. As are the usual trio of book, blog post, and link in my Weekend Miscellany!

1.) The link – I’m so proud of my brother Colin, who is now a crossword setter for The Times! And not just any crossword but The Listener crossword, the sort that is so fiendish that I don’t even understand the rules usually. His crossword is called ‘Jury’, and his pseudonym is ‘Twin’ – if you subscribe to The Times, you can see it here; if not, rush out to a newsagent and buy a copy.

2.) The blog post – Ali is planning a Muriel Spark year-long readalong in 2018. As with the Woolfalong, you can join in whenever you like. I’ve read lots (maybe most?) of Spark’s prolific output, but there are still a fair few on my shelves waiting for me.

3.) The book – I know nothing at all about Miss Jane by Brad Watson. But look at that coverrrr.