Weekend Miscellany

Much of the weekend has gone, but it’s not too late for a weekend miscellany. Here in the UK it is very sunny, so I’m going to take my book off to a park to find an ice cream in a minute. First, I’ll leave you with a book, a blog post, and a link.

1.) The blog post – I’m really looking forward to a new reading week run by Mallika at Literary Potpourri – Reading the Meow! It’s coming up soon: 12-18 June, we are encouraged to read books about cats. That can be fiction or non-fiction, or somewhere in between. Ideally the cat should be the main point of the book, I think, rather than a passing visitor. I’ve got three books I’m planning to read – for anything looking for recommendations, I particularly liked The Fur Person by May Sarton and Particularly Cats by Doris Lessing.

2.) The link – Tom Cox’s beautiful article about a book hoarder’s manor for sale looks beyond the headlines to a moving imagining of the old man’s long life with the house, books and the community. (Sidenote: it’s on substack, which basically seems to the cool new cousin of blogging, though as far as I can see it is exactly the same as blogging. Everything comes full circle!)

3.) The book – Sarra Manning mentioned a novel that I am very drawn to – coming out in July, it’s Minor Disturbances at Grand Life Apartments by Hema Sukumar. It’s a group of residents of an apartment building in Chennai, India, and what happens when a developer threatens to demolish their homes…

It’s been a busy week, and eyes have been a little ropey again, so haven’t really done any reading. It’s going to be up and down, I’m sure, but hopefully it will continue to tend towards improvement. But I will pop down my first miscellany of 2023 – hope you have a lovely weekend ahead of you.

1.) The link – a brilliant article by Lucy Scholes on being an ‘archive mole’, hunting out titles for reprint publishers. While I didn’t contribute, there are many things I’d say the same from my perspective as Series Consultant for the British Library Women Writers. (My only disagreement is about keeping possible authors’ names secret – though have definitely seen some reprint publishers act like they’d rather be spies!) There’s also a great list of recent reprint highlights, and I was delighted to see A Pin To See The Peepshow made the list.

2.) The book – I saw Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince mentioned on Liz’s blog and it could scarcely be more up my street. Someone touring the bookshops of the UK and writing about it? Yes please.

3.) The blog post – James – known to many of us as Caustic Cover Critic – has written his overview of 2022 reading as one of the guest posts at Dorian’s blog. It’s a list that could hardly have less in common with my reading tastes, and a fun and interesting blog post.

Happy weekend! I’m off on holiday so won’t be blogging for a bit. But, dear burglars, there will be someone in my house while I’m away. No burgling please! Or burglarising, for my American friends. Or burglarizing, I suppose. The word ‘burgle’ has lost all meaning for me.

An episode of ‘Tea or Books?’ will be coming out while I’m away, but otherwise I’ll leave you with a book, a blog post, a link.

1.) The blog post – Susan at A Life in Books always comes up with interesting topics for blog posts, and ‘Five Novels I’ve Read With Unusual Structures‘ is no exception.

2.) The book – I loved comedian Tom Allen’s book No Shame, and I’m looking forward to Too Much coming out on 10 November. I recommend listening to him reading his own audiobooks. This memoir will cover his father’s recent death and, if it’s anything like the previous book, it will be sensitive, observant, and hilarious.

3.) The link – I love the ‘Never Too Small’ YouTube channel – looking at how architects have designed stylish, functional homes in small spaces. Here’s one to get you started, but you might end up getting addicted and binge-watching…

Happy weekend, everyone! I have lost my voice! It now seems to be a stage I get during most colds, which is super fun. It means a bit of a delay to ‘Tea or Books?’, which is probably fine because I haven’t finished the books yet. And that’s because I’ve been knee-deep in books for the 1929 Club – which starts on Monday. For those new to a club year, Karen and I invite everyone to read books published in the same year and review them wherever you post things – on your blog, on GoodReads, on Instagram, in a comment section – anywhere! Together we build up a picture of a year. And 1929 is promising to be, as ever, a really interesting one.

But, before that, here’s a book, a link, and a blog post.

1.) The blog post – Ali has written about the latest British Library Women Writers book, War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott, and (spoilers) she liked it a lot.

2.) The link – Barbara Kingsolver has a new novel out, and I enjoyed reading the books of her life over at the Guardian.

3.) The book – It won’t be for everyone, but I am very interested in reading comedian Rob Delaney’s A Heart That Works – a memoir, if that’s the right word, about the illness and death of his young child Henry.

Is it summer? Is it autumn? Is it winter? The weather in the UK this week is very unsure on that point, and so am I. But the windows are still open, and the blankets are out, so I’m making the best of fresh air and cosiness. The perfect reading weather. And perhaps the perfect weather to enjoy a book, a blog post, and a link…

1.) The book – I’ve never read Celia Dale, but I’ve heard great things and I totally trust the combination of (a) Daunt Books and (b) novelist Jenn Ashworth, who has written the introduction. I’m going to copy across a big chunk of the description from the Daunt Books website, because doesn’t this sound wonderful?

Middle-aged Josh and Maisie Evans lead an unremarkable, unassuming life. When Auntie Flo, who has lived with them for years, dies and leaves them her Estate, they head to Italy on holiday, to take in the sea air and let the sun soak into their bones. It’s there they meet Mrs Fingal. A wealthy widow, she lives with her grown-up niece Lena and it’s pretty clear that neither is happy with the situation. So when Josh and Maisie bond with Mrs Fingal, over ice-cream and gentle toddles, it’s only natural that they all decide she should must move in with them once home. It suits everyone.

Beneath the suburban respectability of cups of tea and genteel chitchat, however, emerges a different tale: one of ruthless greed and exploitation, and suffocating, skin-crawling terror.

2.) The link – the forthcoming film of Paul Gallico’s Flowers For Mrs Harris (aka Mrs Harris Goes To Paris) has led to the Guardian doing a list of ten books about cleaners. I’ve read three (Ibbotson, Stockett, Gallico) and haven’t heard of the other seven. I’m also struggling to think of any to add to the list? Unless we encompass domestic servants, then obviously there are dozens.

3.) The blog post – I’m not sure I’ve ever used this slot to link to Captive Reader’s Library Loot, so let’s do that. And scroll back through a few others – she always has such an interesting selection. I seldom use the library (basically just for book group books) because I have so many books unread on my shelves, but I try to go and chance my luck on something new every few months. (The most recent was a Bryan Washington novel – I was very grateful that I hadn’t bought it, because I gave up after a few pages when I discovered there were no speech marks.)

Join me in wishing Our Vicar’s Wife a very happy birthday today – it’s a big one, though I won’t say which because I’m a GENTLEMAN. Since I last wrote here I’ve had a weekend trip to Brussels – very handily, my friend’s boyfriend is a tour guide, so we were shown around excellently. Yes, I gorged on chocs and waffles, and took a trip of mourning to the EU Parliament.

Hope you’re having a good weekend – here’s a book, a blog post, and a link to take you into it.

1.) The book – “Fifty Forgotten Books [by R.B. Russell] is a very special sort of book about books, by a great bibliophile and for book-lovers of all ages and levels of experience. Not quite literary criticism, not quite an autobiography, it is at once a guided tour through the dusty backrooms of long vanished used bookstores, a love letter to bookshops and bookselling, and a browser’s dream wish list of often overlooked and unloved novels, short story collections, poetry collections and works of nonfiction.” That’s the description from And Other Stories’ website. I preordered it as soon as I saw it included Miss Hargreaves…

2.) The link – is to my brother’s movie podcast, The C to Z of Movies – because I’m a guest in the most recent episode. Among other things, we discuss the portrayal of twins in movies. I’ve linked to the SoundCloud, but you can find it anywhere you download podcasts.

3.) The blog post – I enjoyed Rosemary’s round up of recent reading, even if I didn’t agree with all the results…

Yikes, it’s hot. Here in the UK, we are not built to deal with these muggy temperatures (and almost no homes have air-conditioning), so I am spending my time feeling enervated in front of a fan. And reading, of course. And looking suspiciously out of the window, wondering if I should go somewhere or if that would kill me.

ANYWAY, hope you’re having a good weekend, wherever you are! The usual book, blog post, and link…

1.) The link – want to move to the Bennet family house from the 1995 Pride and Prejudice? I should warn you that it has a pretty sort of wilderness. Anyway, it can be yours for offers in excess of £6,000,000. Makes you wonder why Lizzie said “Beggars can’t be choosers”, doesn’t it?

2.) The book – I’m watching the growing list at Manderley Press with a lot of interest. Indeed, I’m currently reading one of their first books – Appointment With Venus by Jerrard Tickell – in an edition I’ve had on my shelf for a few years. The one that has really caught my eye is The Fly on the Wheel by Katherine Cecil Thurston. Click that link to learn more about this 1908 Irish novel – but that stunning cover (by Fatti Burke) and the promise of a spirited heroine are enough to have me looking forward to its October publication.

3.) The blog post – I love a themed list, particularly if it’s about types of houses in books. And so Susan’s list of ‘Five Books I’ve Read Set in Apartment Buildings’ at A Life in Books was a delight – as were all the recommendations in the comments. Go and explore, and maybe add your own?

Somehow it’s apparently July? 2022 is rushing past as quickly as 2021 was SLOW. Reading continues apace, and I have sailed past my 100th book of the year – helped, as with last year, but the volume of audiobooks I’m getting through.

I shan’t be helping your reading piles, as here are some weekend miscellany suggestions that might increase the tbr…

1. ) The blog post – I’m going to cheat and give you two, as two particularly stand out this week. Jacqui’s list of boarding house novels is kryptonite to readers like me, and the comments section has lots of great suggestions too. And then Girl With Her Head in a Book wrote a really brilliantly insightful review of David Sedaris’s new collection, Happy-Go-Lucky. One of the best book reviews I’ve read in a while, so had to share.

2.) The link – a lot of readers love the artist Eric Ravilious, and even more so when his paintings appeared on Furrowed Middlebrow books. Enjoy this interesting new article about his life.

3.) The book – I was watching a book vlogger the other day and she mentioned Indelicacy by Amina Cain. She sold it as a spin on A Room of One’s Own, so naturally I was intrigued. Here’s the description, which does sound winning. Has anybody read the book? (And what a shame that design is ruined by the puff quote in the middle.)

In an undefined era and place, a cleaning woman at a museum of art aspires to do more than simply dust the paintings around her. She dreams of having the security and time to use her mind, and the liberty to be a writer.

She escapes her lot by marrying a rich man, but having gained a husband, a house, high society and a maid, she finds that her new life of privilege is no less constrained. Not only has she taken up different forms of time-consuming labour social and erotic but she is now, however passively, forcing other women to clean up after her. Perhaps a more drastic solution is necessary?

Reminiscent of a lost Victorian classic in miniature, Indelicacy is at once a ghost story without a ghost, a fable without a moral and an exploration of the barriers faced by women in both life and literature.

A very happy weekend to you! Hope you are spending it well, and not panicking about the fact that we are somehow almost halfway through the year even though I’m pretty sure it only just began? Quell the existential angst with the usual round up…

1.) The blog post – I love Jacqui’s list of books set in hotels, and the comment section is filled with brilliant additions. I’m already looking forward to her boarding house list.

2.) The book – Louise Finch’s The Eternal Return of Clara Hart would sound right up my street even if I hadn’t been to school with Louise. We haven’t seen each other since then, but Facebook is great for these updates – and when she mentioned that her young adult novel would be published in August, I looked it up. The synopsis sounds very up my street. I love the time loop concept, and this one is about a boy called James trying to prevent the death of Clara Hart at a party…

3.) The link –  10 books about things going horribly wrong on islands. Because why not? I’ve read numbers 6, 9, and 10 – you?

I have read a novella today, but I’ll write about it tomorrow alongside whatever I pick up for Day 13. I hope you have good plans for the weekend? I’ll be heading to my godson’s first birthday party and then, of course, watching Eurovision. I’ll be cheering on Estonia, because I got them in a sweepstake.

Speaking of all things musical, last week I was in London and saw &Juliet – if you get the chance, race to it. It’s the most fun I’ve had a show ever. It might have been custom made for me – it’s a wonderful combination of Shakespeare and 90s/00s pop. The premise is that Anne Hathaway persuades Shakespeare to let Juliet live at the end of Romeo & Juliet – and then what happens next. Set to the music of songwriter Max Martin, who penned hits for people like Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Pink etc. Basically a total nostalgia dream for an older millennial like me, and enough Shakespeare to feel vaguely intellectual. I’m already planning when I’ll go again…

Anyway, let’s do the usual think for the weekend miscellany.

1.) The link – Emily got in touch to ask if I’d like to join one of her Emily’s Walking Book Club, which meets on Hampstead Heath. If I’m ever in London at the right time then I’d love to go – but if you’re London-based, do check it out. Particularly the next one, discussing Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov on 22 May, which is a fundraiser for Ukraine. More details.

2.) The blog post – it’s not too late to join in with Ali’s Daphne du Maurier Reading Week, or catch up on the participants’ reviews!

3.) The book – a new Ned Beauman is always of interest. This one, with the fairly horrible title Venomous Lumpsucker, is ‘a hilarious, terrifying novel in which Ned Beauman captures brilliantly the contradictory blend of urgency, paralysis, panic and resignation the climate emergency and its attendant mass extinctions inspire’, according to Chris Power, and it’s out in July.