An end of week recap
“Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict — alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence.”
– Dorothy Thompson
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 and its followers, please let me know. I will happily share your news here with the fabulous array of bibliowonks who read this weekly wind up.
* Zoladdiction Returns *
* Week Four of Reading Wales *
The second in a series of brief posts looking at literary and other cultural goings-on in Wales is now available to read. In the spotlight this time are CWLT – a new magazine for those interested in the Welsh music scene, plus a freshly published collection of folktales from Wales by Horatio Clare. >> DEWITHON 24: Llyfrbabble (Bookbabble) #2 >>
Should you post any content whatsoever relating to Dewithon on your blogs (or elsewhere) – even if it appears long after 31st March – please be sure to let me know. The whole point of this event is to encourage people to explore the literature of Wales in their own time. Dates are a minor detail.
* 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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BBC Wales: Witch hunts: Why were so few ‘witches’ killed in Wales? – “Britain has a long and bloody history of burning people accused of witchcraft at the stake, […] but curiously just five were killed in Wales,” says Nicola Bryan. “In his new book [Witches and Witch Hunts Through the Ages], author and historian Phil Carradice tries to unpack this anomaly and finds several explanations.”
LARB: Through a Grid, Darkly: On Anna Shechtman’s “The Riddles of the Sphinx” – Adrienne Raphel reviews Anna Shechtman’s The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle.
The Asian Age: Book Review | Editor’s honesty forges unlikely friendship in world of letters – “His first book, The Unquiet Woods: Ecological Change and Peasant Resistance in the Himalaya, launched [Ramachandra] Guha’s literary career,” writes Aloke Roy Chowdhury in his review of literary memoir The Cooking of Books.
JSTOR Daily: Up the Junction: A Place, A Fiction, A Film, A Condition – “In addition to a New Wave hit, Nell Dunn’s 1963 book [Up the Junction] about young women in a poor London neighbourhood inspired a Ken Loach adaption that helped shift British attitudes toward abortion,” writes Ivan Kreilkamp.
CBC: Heather O’Neill, championing The Future by Catherine Leroux, wins Canada Reads 2024 – “The dystopian novel [The Future] won in a 4-1 vote on the final day of the great Canadian book debate.”
The University Times: Why Libraries are the Best Places – Columnist Dr Becky Long “advocates for the importance of reading, regardless of when or where, for the personal growth it fosters.”
Chytomo: There Is Land Beyond Perekop – a Crimean Bildungsroman – “Many Ukrainian writers addressed the Crimean theme at different times, but it has been less present in novels, as has Ukrainian policy toward the peninsula, which resulted in its annexation,” writes Ihor Kotyk. However, “Anastasiia Levkova’s novel There is Land Beyond Perekop fills this thematic gap in Ukrainian literature,” he says, “and Crimea in this book is not just a setting, but, without exaggeration, a main character.”
The Critic: Three novelists pushing the bloat out – Some novels still dare to leave the reader’s hand unheld – without universal success, according to John Self.
The Armenian Mirror-Spectator: Exploring Identity and Advocacy: A Journey with Katia Tavitian Karageuzian – Attendees were welcomed “to a book presentation at the TCA Beshgeturian Center featuring Katia Tavitian Karageuzian, author of the memoir Forbidden Homeland,” reports Sevan Boghos-Derbedrossian.
ArabLit: Why Should We Translate the Novels of Ahmed Khaled Tawfik? – Melissa Krawczyk looks back at the works of Egyptian writer Ahmed Khaled Tawfik, who, she says, was “a trailblazing contemporary author of the Arabic horror, fantasy, science fiction, and medical thriller genres.”
Guardian Australia: The magic of audiobooks? Deep down, we still long to be read to – “An ill-matched narrator can ruin an otherwise rollicking book,” warns Elizabeth Quinn. “But a good one can bring stories to life – and evoke our earliest childhood memories.”
Buenos Aires Herald: Argentine writer Magalí Etchebarne wins prestigious literary award – “Previous winners of the Ribera del Duero prize include internationally acclaimed authors like Samanta Schweblin,” says Agustín Mango.
Pop Matters: Transcending to Badass: That’s How Female Rockers Roll – “The female musicians interviewed in Katherine Yeske Taylor’s She’s a Badass have persisted against all odds and infused rock with a feminist verve,” writes Alison Ross.
The Spinoff: The ‘undoubted brilliance’ of AMMA – Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews Saraid de Silva’s AMMA, a debut novel that “jumps between Singapore, Sri Lanka, Southland, Dunedin, Hamilton and London.”
TLS: Waiting to be happy – Originally published in 1949 and recently reissued with an afterword by Elena Ferrante, the historical novel Her Side of the Story by Alba de Céspedes is a feminist classic about a woman’s struggle for independence in fascist Italy. Here, Caroline Moorehead considers what it was like to come of age “as a rebellious woman in Mussolini’s Italy.”
The Collector: 5 of the Most Important Magical Realist Writers – “Magical realism is a literary style in which an otherwise seemingly realistic narrative is infused with the fantastical, supernatural, and mythological. Here are 5 of its writers.”
The Asahi Shimbun: Foreign interest grows at ‘world’s largest’ used bookstore area – “Foreign visitors and other history-minded readers are flocking to Tokyo’s Kanda-Jinbocho area, which is considered the world’s largest used bookstore district.’”
Cultured: Min Jin Lee, Porochista Khakpour, and Other Authors Share the Women Writers Who Inspire Their Work – Sophie Lee recommends we “take a look at the paperbacks lining the bookshelves of authors currently reshaping the literary landscape.”
European Bank for Reconstruction & Development: EBRD Literature Prize 2024: shortlist announced – The shortlist for this year’s EBRD Literature Prize has been revealed, which honours exceptional writers translated into English.
The Millions: The Virtue of Slow Writers – Lauren Alwan weighs up the pros and cons of slow writing.
BBC Wales: Global writers on Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist – Dafydd Evans reports: “Six young international writers have been shortlisted for the 2024 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize.”
Smithsonian Magazine: The Sensation Novelist Who Exposed the Plight of Victorian Women – “Wilkie Collins drew on his legal training to dramatize the inequality caused by outdated laws regarding marital and property rights,” finds Katherine Hobbs.
Humanities: It’s Dante’s Hell—We’re Just Living In It – Nick Ripatrazone on “the great Italian poet, in light of a new documentary.”
Russia Beyond: Mikhail Bulgakov’s ‘Heart of a Dog’: A short summary – A “relatively short novella,” Heart of a Dog “is considered one of the best literary works of the 20th century.” Which is down to “the author’s creative skills and an incredibly intriguing plot,” explains Alexandra Guzeva.
Tablet: Gaza in the Minds of Israelis – Benny Morris looks at “a new collection of essays, published just before October 7th, [which] captures the complexity of the current war” via the words of both Israelis and Palestinians.
TNS: Tracing the footprints of trauma – Pakistani author Safinah Danish Elahi’s second novel, The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon, “comes through as a meditation on loss, forgiveness and the path towards healing,” says reviewer Taha Kehar.
Toronto Star: An uplifting story about alcoholism and dementia? This debut novel is also profound, angry, and never boring – “If a narrative about a mother descending into alcoholic dementia sounds too downbeat,” Nancy Wigston assures us that the “Montreal writer, actress and playwright Sabrina Reeves’s book Little Crosses proves just the opposite.”
The Japan Times: Beloved bookstore in quake-hit Ishikawa reopens at temporary site – The reopened Iroha Bookstore, which has a 75-year history, is lined with picture books taken from the original store and manga related to the prefecture.
Scroll.in: Winners of the 2024 Women AutHer Awards announced in four categories – Winners in four categories of the 2024 Women AutHer Awards, presented by The Times of India, were revealed on 17th March.
Esquire: Is It A Betrayal To Publish Dead Writers’ Books? – Alex Belth goes “inside the ethically thorny world of posthumous publishing.”
Jan Michalski Foundation: Exhibition Simenon From 16 March to 29 September 2024 – Simenon, an exhibition devoted to the Belgian writer Georges Simenon, is now open to the general public at the Jan Michalski Foundation (described on the website as “a place entirely dedicated to writing and literature, where a writers’ residence, a library, an auditorium and an exhibition hall coexist”) at the foot of the Jura Mountains in Switzerland.
TNR: The Workplace Novel Comes to the Big Box Store – “Adelle Waldman’s Help Wanted makes the case for retail warehouse work as a subject worthy of serious fiction,” says Jess Bergman.
Brisbane Times: Don’t let the name fool you, there’s something for everyone at this ‘writers’ festival – The Brisbane Writers Festival returns from 30th May to 2nd June, bringing the likes of Mirandi Riwoe, Bryan Brown, Anna McGahan and an “intellectual all-you-can-eat” to the city, reports Courtney Kruk.
The Deep Dive: The Mysterious Little Free Library In The Middle of Nowhere – “What is inside? Who curates it? Why does it have a charter number but no further information?” wonders former public librarian Kelly Jensen.
Reactor: Five Very Good Dogs in Horror Fiction – “If you find yourself trapped in a horror novel, let’s hope you’re lucky enough to have a loyal canine companion by your side!” says Lorna Wallace.
McSweeney’s: Famous Works of Irish Literature as Limericks – Amanda Lehr adapts celebrated works of Irish literature into limericks.
BBC Culture: Harry Potter: Is Miriam Margolyes right that adult fans should ‘grow up’? – “For some Harry Potter fans the fantasy lives on into adulthood,” says Yasmin Rufo. Was actress Miriam Margolyes (aka Professor Pomona Sprout in the Potter films), right to say they should “grow up” and get “over it”?
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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.