Books, eh? Books books books. The thought was prompted by this article in The Guardian, around which there was an enormous amount of Online Discourse earlier in the week. It’s not my intention to continue that discourse. Everything that needed to be said – and really quite a lot that didn’t – was said as the outrage grew and spread. A lot of it, as so often, seemed to be based on the headline, which, provocatively enough, included the words ‘smug’ and ‘middle-class’ – always a neat way to generate faux outrage from, well, the smug and middle-class (guilty on both counts, before you start, and yes, also privileged not only to have the means to buy books but also the space to store them). They have now changed the wording, no doubt in response to the outrage they intended to provoke by putting those words in there in the first place.
' I, for my part, am too feckless and lazy to go through the palaver of taking boxes of books to the charity shop. So there they sit, hundreds of them. I’m not proud of it, but nor am I ashamed. It’s just the way things are.'
GUILTY AS CHARGED.
I occasionally think to myself that I should have a sort out and get some off to the charity shop, but then I remember that I reread occasionally. How do I know which books I'll want to reread in 5 years and which I won't eh? Tell me that...
The Grauniad article didn't generate outrage in me, but it did make me say impulsively 'what piffle'.
- Winters in the World, Eleanor Parker, fantastic walk through the Anglo-Saxon year. Meant to start over Christmas because medieval winters are so rich, but dived into Kristin below, so it’s next.
- Kristin Lavransdatter, by Norwegian author, Sigrid Undset. Was put onto this by extremely strong recommendation of the translator I follow (I’m an ed./translator). I wish I’d gone a bit more slowly: saw its great length as a challenge not as source of lovely long slow acquaintance. Really makes me think. A life, right thro every stage from headstrong late adolesc to marriage, right thru marriage over years (strongest portrait of a marriage I’ve ever come across), to her later life, right to the end. Most novels turn away, this just gets deeper. Extraordinary. She won the Nobel prize for it. Apparently it used to be very well known, esp in the US. The prof**nd word.
- Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few
- Alan Garner, Treacle Walker, was waiting for the paperback.
- Iris Murdoch, A Severed Head. Child says have to read Iris Murdoch again
L is for Life by DH Lawrence - a collection of his essays that I’m reading to challenge my assertion that I don’t enjoy Lawrence, and so far I am enjoying quite a few of the essays but I won’t go back and read Sons and Lovers!
Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper - a darkly funny crime novel.
Alan Rickman’s Diaries - highly recommend.
Ballet Shoes by Noël Streatfield which is still sitting on the side following a highly enjoyable Christmas re-read for a Backlisted podcast episode.
Revolution in the Head - you can never read too much about The Beatles
Racing the Light by Robert Crais - the latest adventures of detective Elvis Cole.
Top middle and top right are on my shelves. Both special because they have relevance to my life. Bennett has a photo of my late uncle in it from his Leeds Modern schooldays and Fortey mentions Bear Island (Bjornoya) where I’ve studied migrant Barnacle Geese. Must check out the other four- they’re bound to be good.
1) currently reading and enjoying "The Hungry Empire: how Britain's quest for food shaped the modern world" by Lizzie Collingham.
2) next on my reading list: "Underland: A deep time Journey" by Robert Macfalane.
3) Just bought: "Wild: tales from Early Mediaeval Britain" by Amy Jeffs (who also wrote "Storyland: A new mythology of Britain" which I very much enjoyed).
4) Ought to come with a finisher's medal and a free cuddle of a puppy: "Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder.
5) A book I turn to when I'm unwell or need comfort "The Fairy Caravan" by Beatrix Potter.
6) The winner of my personal "huh, he wrote that, too?" category: "Steel Bonnets: the story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers" by George MacDonald Fraser (yes, the "Flashman" one).
I'm afraid I succumbed to the outrage too. And couldn't resist the invitation to supply my own enjoyed books, in easy reach. i.e. scattered around the armchair I am currently sitting in. That's why there's only 3.
1. The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey. I've just re-read all her books and this one is still my favourite. She's much under-rated.
2. Marple by various female authors. This was a Christmas gift which I dutifully read. I'm a fan of Agatha Christie and especially Miss Marple. This is a collection of 12 short stories written by contemporary female authors (Kate Mosse, Elly Griffiths to name two). Some were pretty good. One was fresh and interesting. More than a few missed the mark entirely. Especially the one that put Miss Marple in Manhattan and had her asking someone if they were 'on the level'. Ah, me.
3. 52 Weeks of Easy Knits by Laine publishing. I'm a big knitter in the winter and this will keep me busy for a while. Also it has patterns for adult size balaclavas which I am minded to knit for everyone I know.
That's my lazy three. I like the idea of sharing six, or three, books a week from readers' collections. Maybe you could start a thing.
' I, for my part, am too feckless and lazy to go through the palaver of taking boxes of books to the charity shop. So there they sit, hundreds of them. I’m not proud of it, but nor am I ashamed. It’s just the way things are.'
GUILTY AS CHARGED.
I occasionally think to myself that I should have a sort out and get some off to the charity shop, but then I remember that I reread occasionally. How do I know which books I'll want to reread in 5 years and which I won't eh? Tell me that...
The Grauniad article didn't generate outrage in me, but it did make me say impulsively 'what piffle'.
So there.
Nearest to hand:
- Winters in the World, Eleanor Parker, fantastic walk through the Anglo-Saxon year. Meant to start over Christmas because medieval winters are so rich, but dived into Kristin below, so it’s next.
- Kristin Lavransdatter, by Norwegian author, Sigrid Undset. Was put onto this by extremely strong recommendation of the translator I follow (I’m an ed./translator). I wish I’d gone a bit more slowly: saw its great length as a challenge not as source of lovely long slow acquaintance. Really makes me think. A life, right thro every stage from headstrong late adolesc to marriage, right thru marriage over years (strongest portrait of a marriage I’ve ever come across), to her later life, right to the end. Most novels turn away, this just gets deeper. Extraordinary. She won the Nobel prize for it. Apparently it used to be very well known, esp in the US. The prof**nd word.
- Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few
- Alan Garner, Treacle Walker, was waiting for the paperback.
- Iris Murdoch, A Severed Head. Child says have to read Iris Murdoch again
Yes! There's a great bit where Lorenz's swimming trunks accidentally make him an Enemy of Jackdaws.
Yes, to Alasdair Gray. I don't know many others that have read him but I've been a fan for many years. Lanark is a marathon but worth the run.
Six random books I can see from here:
L is for Life by DH Lawrence - a collection of his essays that I’m reading to challenge my assertion that I don’t enjoy Lawrence, and so far I am enjoying quite a few of the essays but I won’t go back and read Sons and Lovers!
Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper - a darkly funny crime novel.
Alan Rickman’s Diaries - highly recommend.
Ballet Shoes by Noël Streatfield which is still sitting on the side following a highly enjoyable Christmas re-read for a Backlisted podcast episode.
Revolution in the Head - you can never read too much about The Beatles
Racing the Light by Robert Crais - the latest adventures of detective Elvis Cole.
Six randomly selected books from the pile currently stacked in front of my log burner drying out (don't ask!)
1. Felidae by Akif Pirinçci - cat turns detective - quirky but bloodthirsty.
2. The Whispering Mountain by Joan Aitkin. Had this copy since 1972. Will not give it up.
3. French Provincial Cooking, Elizabeth David. Folio edition will now not come out of its box 🤬
4. Unlikely Stories, Mostly by Alasdair Gray. Strange and fascinating collection.
5. Puckoon, Spike Milligan. Nuff said!
6. How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran - I laughed, I cried - with laughing.
I just hope the logs last out.
Read, enjoyed, and physically proximate:
1. Emergency, Daisy Hildyard. Borderline fiction/essay, with an environmental slant.
2. King Solomon's Rings, Konrad Lorenz. Classic ethology.
3. The Books of Jacob, Olga Tokarczuk. Contains myriads.
4. blues in schwarz-weiß, May Ayim. Recent, accessible, politically engaged poems.
5. Dante's Divine Comedy tr. Alasdair Gray, without the boring bits.
6. Seven Empty Houses, Samantha Schweblin. Disconcerting absurdist stories..
Top middle and top right are on my shelves. Both special because they have relevance to my life. Bennett has a photo of my late uncle in it from his Leeds Modern schooldays and Fortey mentions Bear Island (Bjornoya) where I’ve studied migrant Barnacle Geese. Must check out the other four- they’re bound to be good.
Six random books:
1) currently reading and enjoying "The Hungry Empire: how Britain's quest for food shaped the modern world" by Lizzie Collingham.
2) next on my reading list: "Underland: A deep time Journey" by Robert Macfalane.
3) Just bought: "Wild: tales from Early Mediaeval Britain" by Amy Jeffs (who also wrote "Storyland: A new mythology of Britain" which I very much enjoyed).
4) Ought to come with a finisher's medal and a free cuddle of a puppy: "Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder.
5) A book I turn to when I'm unwell or need comfort "The Fairy Caravan" by Beatrix Potter.
6) The winner of my personal "huh, he wrote that, too?" category: "Steel Bonnets: the story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers" by George MacDonald Fraser (yes, the "Flashman" one).
I'm afraid I succumbed to the outrage too. And couldn't resist the invitation to supply my own enjoyed books, in easy reach. i.e. scattered around the armchair I am currently sitting in. That's why there's only 3.
1. The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey. I've just re-read all her books and this one is still my favourite. She's much under-rated.
2. Marple by various female authors. This was a Christmas gift which I dutifully read. I'm a fan of Agatha Christie and especially Miss Marple. This is a collection of 12 short stories written by contemporary female authors (Kate Mosse, Elly Griffiths to name two). Some were pretty good. One was fresh and interesting. More than a few missed the mark entirely. Especially the one that put Miss Marple in Manhattan and had her asking someone if they were 'on the level'. Ah, me.
3. 52 Weeks of Easy Knits by Laine publishing. I'm a big knitter in the winter and this will keep me busy for a while. Also it has patterns for adult size balaclavas which I am minded to knit for everyone I know.
That's my lazy three. I like the idea of sharing six, or three, books a week from readers' collections. Maybe you could start a thing.