An end of week recap
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.”
– Lewis Carroll (born 27th January 1832)
This is a 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 >>
If you are planning a reading event, challenge, competition, or anything else likely to be of interest to the book blogging community, please let me know. I will happily share your news here with the fabulous array of bibliowonks who read this weekly wind up.
* Lit Crit Blogflash *
I am going to share with you one of my favourite literary posts from around the blogosphere. There are so many talented writers posting high-quality book features and reviews, it was difficult to pick only this one – which was published over the last week or so:
* Irresistible Items *
Umpteen fascinating articles appeared on my bookdar last week. I generally make a point of tweeting/x-ing (soon, perhaps tooting or bsky-ing) a few favourite finds (or adding them to my Facebook group page), but in case you missed anything, there follow a selection of interesting snippets:
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LARB: The Failed Saint: On George Orwell’s India – Jason Christian visits George Orwell’s birthplace in India.
The Yale Review: Why I Write – Greil Marcus: “The legendary cultural critic on finding a life’s work.”
The Walrus: Why So Many Authors Are Writing Multigenerational Stories – Samia Madwar shares her thoughts on “several new books [grappling] with displacement and diasporic living in ways that feel particularly resonant in this moment.”
The New Criterion: Galaxy brains – Gary Saul Morson on Michel Eltchaninioff’s Lenin Walked on the Moon: The Mad History of Russian Cosmism.
The Millions: The Enduring Influence of the Op-Ed – An excerpt from The Op-Ed Novel: A Literary History of Post-Franco Spain by Bécquer Seguín.
Swansea University: The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize reveals international Longlist for 2024 – “The international longlist for the world’s largest and most prestigious literary prize for young writers – the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize – has been announced.”
Quill & Quire: Cold – Cold, “the chilling new thriller” from Indigenous Canadian writer Drew Hayden Taylor, “is a perfect treat for the winter months,” says reviewer Robert J. Wiersema.
Slate: Why You Need to Relax About Your Identity – “Author Brad Stulberg discusses [with John Dickerson] the dangers of strict identity in his new book Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing—Including You.”
The Markaz Review: Illuminated Reading for 2024: Our Anticipated Titles – “A few of the many books [from the greater Middle East] TMR editors are looking forward to in 2024, and why.”
The Collector: Who Was Gabriele D’Annunzio? – The Italian poet, Gabriele D’Annunzio, “was one of the most prominent and influential public figures in Italy between the 19th and 20th centuries,” says Maria-Anita Ronchini.
The Home of Agatha Christie: Daring to Rank the Queen of Crime – Kemper Donovan, host of the All About Agatha podcast, has dared to do the impossible by ranking all Christie’s novels from best to worst using a clever system to analyse the stories. Do you agree or would you rather see another mystery take the top spot?
Defector: What Comes After The Post-Crisis Reading List? – Nicholas Russell sees the indie bookstore as a place in which to dip your metaphorical toe into social and political activism.
Gizmodo: The Hugo Awards Are Facing Yet Another Controversy – “Fans of R.F. Kuang’s highly acclaimed Babel are,” says Cheryl Eddy, “wondering why the Nebula-winning and best-selling novel was excluded from Hugo eligibility.”
Tablet: Susan Sontag’s Funny! Sexy! Sad! Magnum Opus Threatens to Upend Our Democracy – “The Volcano Lover, published in 1992, celebrates ideas of excellence and intellectual seriousness that today feel ancient,” says Blake Smith.
Prospect: Books in Brief: what to read this February – “From Xi Jinping to comic-book punks, from DNA to DLTM,” Prospect shares this month’s short reviews.
The Stinging Fly: After the Alphabet: What we do with words – The text of the literary magazine’s 2023 lecture, which was delivered by Irish novelist, short story writer and essayist Evelyn Conlon.
The Nation: What Does It Mean to Be Palestinian Now? – “After October 7, this question has become a matter of grave importance, amid crackdowns on free speech and protest. Five writers reflect on the state of Palestinian life today.”
Air Mail: Outside the Map – Gregory Wallance, author of Into Siberia: George Kennan’s Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia, explains “how George Kennan’s excellent prose opened doors for all types of writing, from war reporting to investigative work in Russia.”
Cleveland Review of Books: The Live Louise Glück – “When you grow up alongside a writer and see them change and rearrange and deliver a new object still dripping sweat, that object looks different than if you were merely recovering it from the long march of literature by the no-longer living,” says Greg Gerke in this essay on Louise Glück and Cormac McCarthy.
Counter Craft: On Reviewing Books – Lincoln Michel shares “two new publications and some tips on being a book reviewer.”
Big Issue: ‘Small is beautiful’: How independent bookshops plan to survive – and thrive – in ‘volatile’ times – “The number of independent [UK] bookshops dropped last year – but booksellers are fighting on. Here, two tell us what bookselling is like in 2024.”
The Daily Star: Where are Bangla literature’s female detectives? – “During the mid 20th century, when female wordsmiths somewhat flourished with their newly published works, they were still suppressed under the dominance of male authors,” writes Anika Zaman.
New Writing North: Shortlist announced for Gordon Burn Prize 2023-24 – “The shortlist for the Gordon Burn Prize 2023–24, which recognises and celebrates fiction and non-fiction books that are fearless in their ambition and execution,” has been announced.
Qantara.de: Children to fill the entire earth – “Stella Gaitano’s debut novel Edo’s Souls, set between Sudan and South Sudan, stages an epic battle between the forces of Motherhood and Death.”
Vox: Want to understand American views on Israel? Take a look at this 1958 novel. – “Leon Uris’s bestselling epic Exodus — and its hit movie adaptation starring Paul Newman — influenced generations of Americans, from the suburbs to the State Department,” says Marjorie Ingall.
The Guardian: Review finds libraries in England suffer ‘lack of recognition’ from government – “Proposals include the creation of a libraries minister and a high-profile libraries laureate to be the sector’s public champion,” reports Ella Creamer.
The Sydney Morning Herald: A deep dive into the world of Alex Miller’s creative mind – Stephanie Miller has chosen a selection of her novelist husband’s private writings to give a glimpse of how he works and observes the world.
The Japan Times: TikTok and YouTube fuel a Japanese literature boom in Britain – Translated novels sold a total of some 2 million copies in Britain in 2023, and Japanese works accounted for one-quarter of those sold.
Caught by the River: Revolutionary Spirit: A Post-Punk Exorcism – “Roy Wilkinson reviews [Revolutionary Spirit,] the remarkable memoir from Paul Simpson, Teardrop Explodes escapee, ‘Scouse Zelig’ and obsessive art-conceptualist.”
Pop Matters: ‘Pedro Páramo’ Is a Masterpiece that Resurrects and Welcomes the Dead – In our world, we irrevocably control the dead and their narrative. In Juan Rulfo’s masterpiece Pedro Páramo, however, the dead control their narrative, finds Luis Aguasvivas.
The American Scholar: Hey Siri, Call Webster – “When it comes to learning new words, it’s not where you look them up that’s important,” says essayist and former bookshop owner Kelly McMasters.
Psyche: After my mom died, I found comfort in a medieval Andalusi tale – Veronica Menaldi, author of Love Magic and Control in Premodern Iberian Literature, found “Ibn Tufayl’s story of a man mourning the gazelle who raised him helped [her] appreciate the interconnection of all things.
Book Riot: The Complete User’s Guide to Spotify Audiobooks: A How-To With Pros and Cons – Carolina Ciucci with some helpful suggestions for those “struggling to figure out how to actually make a purchase or listen to an audiobook on Spotify Premium.”
The Spinoff: Celebrating Sherryl Jordan, author of ‘the best book of all time’ – “Beloved New Zealand fantasy author Sherryl Jordan died on 15 December 2023, aged 74. She leaves behind a formidable body of work – in particular her 1992 novel Winter of Fire.”
Engelsberg Ideas: Roald Dahl’s readable but regrettable Uncle Oswald – “The great children’s author’s adult misfire offers a glimpse into his deeply peculiar psyche,” finds Alexander Larman.
LGBTQ Nation: Bill O’Reilly is outraged that the book ban law he supports caused his own books to be banned – Molly Sprayregen reports: “Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly is angry that a Florida school district has removed two of his books from library shelves for review in an effort to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R) book-banning law.”
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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 is an excellent description on Urban Dictionary.