An end of week recap

With various parts of Wales and the UK returning to full lockdown, to say nothing of the prospect of further restrictions in the offing for the rest of the country, I have determined to reclaim my writing mojo and attempt to resuscitate old book blogging habits. I don’t expect to go full gallop at the task – rather, I will start with the occasional post, possibly producing a couple of critical pieces or general features each month – with the aim of eventually upping the articles to one or more a week.

In order to devote my complete attention to Project Pen Poised for Action (in reality, my keyboard stands ready to commence tapping, but the sentence simply refused to flow), I am unlikely to take part in any further book reading challenges or annual literary jollies in what remains of 2020 – and for this I apologise – however, I will, as always, support and publicise these fabulous events. I shall also continue Winding Up the Week every Saturday.

Winter may be tedious in the extreme, and Christmas ‘cancelled’ (as the British media is so fond of announcing), but having been thoroughly remiss in my writing habits this year, I will resume routine to beat pandemic pessimism.

As ever, this is a weekly post in which I summarise books read, reviewed and currently on my TBR shelf. In addition to a variety of literary titbits, I look ahead to forthcoming features, see what’s on the nightstand and keep readers abreast of various book-related happenings.

CHATTERBOOKS >> 

* Margaret Atwood Reading Month 2020 * 

One of my favourite annual book happenings is due to commence on 1^st November – though, sadly, I won’t be taking part this time. If you haven’t already guessed, it is Margaret Atwood Reading Month, hosted by two of our community’s most popular Canadian book bloggers: Marcie at Buried in Print and Naomi of Consumed by Ink. “From Sunday, November 1st to Monday, November 30th we’ll be reading Margaret Atwood,” says Marcie, as she invites everyone to take part. It is also Atwood’s 81^st birthday on the 18^th, which, of course, means even more “celebrating with books, quotes, and cake!” As ever, there will be much from which to choose, including (but not limited to) “fiction, essays, poems, biographies, graphic novels, children’s books, film and TV.” You’ll find all the details plus plenty of suggestions for taking part on the official pages. >> Announcing Margaret Atwood Reading Month, November 2020 #MARM >> 

* Lit Crit Blogflash * 

I am going to share with you three of my favourite literary posts from around the blogosphere. There are so many talented writers posting high-quality book features and reviews, it is difficult to limit the list to only these few – all of them published over the last week or two:

Getting Away – In Laura Tisdall’s delightful post about a weekend away with her mother at Plas Cadnant, a “wild swimming and yoga retreat” on the idyllic island of Anglesey, she shares with us her pleasure in sitting “in the gardens [and curling] up by the fire in the evening to read “Tana French’s newest crime novel, The Searcher, and Nicola Griffith’s sixth-century historical novel Hild.

The Little War Cat by Hiba Noor Khan illustrated by Laura Chamberlain – Library Lady, Anne Thompson, describes this “story of a small, grey cat who lives happily in the city of Aleppo” as “full of compassion” and offering “hope in the midst of conflict”. Its “sensitive illustrations” and “gentle text” also “provide detail for children to discuss with parents or teachers.”

Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink: joyful exuberant bookishness – This exploration of how books can change a person’s life is “gloriously exuberant” and “emanates” joy from its pages, says Karen from BookerTalk. She found herself “smiling and nodding in recognition” – not to mention longing to “chat with [her] best bookish mate” – indeed, she “absolutely” recommends Dear Reader to those of us who are inclined to become “so deeply engrossed in a book, nothing […] else matters.”

* Irresistible Items *

Umpteen fascinating articles appeared on my bookdar last week. I generally make a point of tweeting my favourite finds (or adding them to my Facebook group page), but in case you missed anything, here are a handful of interesting snippets:

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The Economist: The sudden success of Sigrid Nunez – “What Are You Going Through is a companion piece to her bestselling The Friend”.

The Guardian: Talegate? Appledore beats Covid to keep book festival alive – “Event organisers think outside the box to hold drive-in literary event in North Devon field”, finds Steven Morris.

Wired: Loose Ends: A Literary Supercut of Sci-Fi Last Sentences – “Loose Ends is a literary supercut composed entirely of last lines from 137 science fiction and fantasy books”, says Tom Comitta. Apparently, it “doubles as narrative and archive, short story and data analysis.” 

The Paris Review: Editing Justice Ginsburg – “An editor recalls the experience of working with Justice Ginsburg to bring an unpublished memoir to print.”

AAWW: 100 Essential Books by Iranian Writers: An Introduction & Nonfiction – Niloufar Talebi “embarked on this list with an assumption of scarcity. Discovering “an embarrassment of riches.”

The Irish Times: The vanishing art of the book launch – “43 years after his first published story, Dermot Bolger used lockdown to finish his first collection”, finds Dermot Bolger.

Lapham’s Quarterly: Book of Revelation – David Rundle on “the power and privilege of the written word in the Middle Ages.”

NPR: Battle Of The Books – Shereen Marisol Meraji asks: “What kind of books are best to read during this pandemic? Books that connect you to our current reality? Or ones that help you escape it?”

Slate: Why So Many Readers Are Turning to Octavia Butler’s Apocalypse Fiction Right Now – Rebecca Onion asks why, 27 years after it was first published, Parable of the Sower has made it on to The New York Times’ bestseller lists?

Book Marks: Five Books About Sisters and Secrets – Nessa Rapoport, the author of Evening, shares five books in her life.

Culture Trip: The Top Travel Destinations Made Popular by Famous Books – “From Romania’s Bran Castle (think Dracula) to New York’s Great Neck (think The Great Gatsby),” Cassam Looch suggests “some top locations around the world that have become more popular thanks to their links to famous works of literature.”

BBC Scotland: Edition of Shakespeare’s last play found in Scots college in Spain – Reevel Alderson reports: “A rare edition of Shakespeare’s last play has been found in a Scottish Catholic college in Spain.”

Penguin: Love at first write: why we can’t get enough of debut novels – This year’s Booker Prize has been dominated by first novels. Alice Vincent is intrigued to know why readers – and the industry in general – are so obsessed with new writing.

Ploughshares at Emerson College: The Power of Reading About Your Home – Christopher Louis Romaguera on the emotional impact of finding yourself reflected in literature.

Intellectual Freedom Blog: Banned Books Week 2020: A Schedule of Virtual Events – Ellie Diaz with “some virtual events” happening during Banned Books Week 2020.

CrimeReads: Five Psychological Thrillers You Should Read This September – Lisa Levy on “private clubs, family secrets, and a new Ruth Ware novel.”

Book Riot: Middle Fantasy: A Sub-Genre for All Fantasy Lovers – Hannah VanVels examines ‘middle fantasy’ as a sub-genre.

HAARETZ: This Bedouin Poet Began Writing at 46. Her Feminist Work Is Now Celebrated Globally – “Sheikha Helawy hasn’t lived the traditional life of a feted writer, overcoming childhood hardships to become an award-winning poet who confronts the oppression of women in Bedouin society”.

Prospect: Xiaolu Guo’s half-familiar fictions – “The British-Chinese novelist and filmmaker talks [to Rebecca Liu] about writing about love in a time of division, why we need more balanced curriculums, and paying homage to an early European hero in her new novel, A Lover’s Discourse”.

Lapham’s Quarterly: What Preparations Are Due? – Travis Chi Wing Lau discovers Daniel Defoe “attempted to teach a nation how to live in a world where the next crisis is always closer than it appears.”

Tor.com: Fantasy and The Sword of Truth Author Terry Goodkind Has Died – “Fantasy author Terry Goodkind, known for his long-running The Sword of Truth series, has died at the age of 72.” 

Publishing Perspectives: DW Books: A News Network’s YouTube Resource for Readers, Publishers – “Produced in English and adding videos at a rapid clip, Deutsche Welle’s DW Books YouTube channel is widely internationalized and themed to current affairs and contemporary literature.”

Wanted in Rome: Rome launches major new literary festival – Rome is to merge three literary events to create Insieme – a brand new festival of literature.

National Geographic: How libraries are writing a new chapter during the pandemic – “Read about book bikes, bibliophile hotels, outdoor story times, and other ways libraries are reacting to COVID-19” with Melanie D.G. Kaplan.

Penguin: Why all true book lovers know autumn is the greatest season – “You can keep your sticky beach reads – autumn is the time for true bookworms to shine. Alice Vincent on why the ‘jumper months’ can’t come soon enough.”

The Guardian: Milan Kundera ‘joyfully’ accepts Czech Republic’s Franz Kafka prize – “Prestigious award follows the restoration of his citizenship last year after decades of exile in Paris”.

The Rumpus: What to Read When You Like Your Memoirs in Essays – Sarah Kasbeer shares a reading list to celebrate A Woman, a Plan, an Outline of a Man. 

NPR: ‘Here We Are’ Conjures Magic From Ordinary Lives – “Don’t be fooled by the deceptive simplicity of Graham Swift’s latest short novel”, says Heller McAlpin. Here We Are “turns out to be about nothing less than life’s frequently baffling illusions and transformations.”

Guardian Australia: Guardian Australia’s Book Club: why does medicine care so little about women’s bodies? – “For many women, the healthcare system entails long searches for diagnosis and few answers. Join authors Gabrielle Jackson, Kylie Maslen and Katerina Bryant as they discuss their books that take on the male-centric world of medicine”.

Architectural Digest: The Books Designers Are Reading Right Now – “Need an escape (and who doesn’t these days)? Read on for what the books designers are devouring”, suggests Katherine Burns Olson.

New York Times: Can a Book Capture the Magic of Birding? – Sophie Lucido Johnson on “delving into the many tomes that try to distil the fascination that makes so many want to stare up through their binoculars.”

ABC7 News: ABC7 For the Better Speaker Series: Inside the Black Literary Collective – “The Black Literary Collective is a group of award-winning Black authors who provide socially and culturally relevant content about the Black experience in classrooms throughout [San Francisco’s] Bay Area and beyond.” 

Interview Magazine: Martin Amis and Salman Rushdie on Cancel Culture and The Hitch – “Amis and Rushdie spoke this past July about cancel culture, the proper length of novels, and why authors might belong to a generation but never to a movement.”

The Paris Review: Re-Covered: An Unconventional South African Novel – This month, Lucy Scholes examines a South African writer whose unconventional work has often been left out of the canon.

South China Morning Post: Hong Kong bookseller says he asked visiting US officials to help activists in Taiwan – “A Hong Kong bookseller who fled to Taiwan says he has called on the US to allow activists from the city to relocate to the United States”, says Lawrence Chung.

Bitch Media: Queer Pressure – Rachel Charlene Lewis discusses “#OwnVoices and what we demand of Queer authors”.

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FINALLY >> 

If there is something you would particularly like to see on Winding Up the Week or if you have any suggestions, questions or comments for Book Jotter in general, please drop me a line or comment below. I would be delighted to hear from you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I wish you a week bountiful in books and rich in reading.

NB In this feature, ‘winding up’ refers to the act of concluding something and should not be confused with the British expression: ‘wind-up’ – an age-old pastime of ‘winding-up’ friends and family by teasing or playing pranks on them. If you would like to know more about this expression, there’s an excellent description on Urban Dictionary.

Categories: Winding Up the Week

Tags: #MARM, Books, Cathy Rentzenbrink, Hiba Noor Khan, Laura Chamberlain, Margaret Atwood Reading Month, Nicola Griffith, Reading, Tana French