An end of week recap

“Honest criticism, I suppose, has its place. But honest writing is infinitely more valuable.”
– Rachel Cusk (born 8^th February 1967)

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 publications, see what folk have on their nightstands 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.

* Unofficial Moomin Adventure *

Snouts up, Moominites! I see that Karen Langley (Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings) and Liz Dexter (Adventures in reading, running and working from home) are planning a sly Moomin jolly in tribute to Tove’s trolls turning 80. They will begin with the recently republished The Moomins and The Great Flood – a special anniversary edition from Sort of Books (with an introduction from Frank Cottrell- Boyce) on the 15^th February and, according to a recent post from Karen, continue “reading the series throughout 2025.” Although, “this is not an official readalong,” she says they “would be delighted if others joined in.”

* It’s Jane Again *

It’s all about Austen this year on her 250^th birthday with celebrations erupting far and wide like Regency hot springs. Over at Books and Co., Priyasha Anand from New Delhi invites fellow Janeites to join the Jane Austen Book Club – “a cozy space where […] admirers of Austen’s genius come together to read, discuss, and celebrate her timeless works.” Whether you are picking up her novels for the first time or revisiting old favourites, here you can “dive deeper into her world” with likeminded readers. Be sure to study Priyasha’s post, Step Into Austen’s World: Join Our Jane Austen Book Club! before plunging into another alluring Austenian book-pool.

* When Irish Eyes Are Reading *

Cathy Brown of 746 Books is very much hoping others will join her on a return trip to Reading Ireland Month on 1^st March. There will be no themed events or prompts this year, instead it will be all about reading “what [you] want, when [you] want as long as the author is Irish!” She suggests you “grab” the new badge and start “planning your Ireland themed reading or viewing” right away. If you intend to take part, please be sure to “tag” her in your #readingirelandmonth25 pieces or create links to your post/s in the comments section of her forthcoming Master Post. You are also encouraged to share your thoughts and schedules with everyone at Reading Ireland Month ’25 is on its way! – where you will discover plenty of tips to get you started.

* Almost Overlooked *

Last November, Book’d Out’s Shelleyrae reviewed a title with a striking cover (as you can see) – which, of course, should never be of overriding consideration when highlighting a post but it certainly drew my gaze in the first instance. Sing Like Fish: How Sound Rules Life Under Water by Canadian science writer Amorina Kingdon explores “the mechanics and physics of sound, and its unique qualities underwater.” However, while the subject is undoubtedly “complex” for the layperson, it is “presented [here] in an accessible manner.” Among much else, the author explains how marine creatures “use sound waves to navigate their underwater world” and “discusses the role sound plays in communication.” She also raises serious concerns (one of many) “about the ways in which humans are interfering with the soundscape of aquatic animals,” emphasising the importance of carrying out further research in this area. To discover why Shelleyrae considers Kingdon’s work to be an “absorbing dive into the mystery of our oceans” and recommends it to others with an interest in oceanography and ecology, please navigate your way over to Review: Sing Like A Fish by Amorina Kingdon.

* Lit Crit Blogflash *

I am going to share with you one of my favourite 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 in recent weeks:

Around The World On Two Wheels by Peter Zheutlin – Over at My Writing Life: Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration, Julia Hones looks back at Around the World on Two Wheels, the true story of Annie Londonderry’s epic bicycle ride around the world, setting off from the Massachusetts State House in June 1894 and arriving back in Boston in September 1895. This “adventurous woman was ready to defy the conventions of her time to accomplish her goal” – which was doubly impressive because not only did she have no previous biking experience but “she was a Jewish immigrant [at a time when] antisemitism and other forms of discrimination against minorities” was rife. She ditched “the heavy Victorian clothing” that was de rigueur for her sex at that time and disregarded “conventions […] to accomplish her goal.” There’s a great deal more to this story and the “book inspired [Julia] to learn more about Annie herself and the times in which she lived,” including “religious fanaticism” in the USA and how it affected “the rights of women.” She was left feeling relieved that she is no longer required to “wear those ridiculous bloomers” when riding a bike.

* Irresistible Items *

Umpteen fascinating articles appeared on my bookdar last week. I generally make a point of tweeting/x-ing (not to mention tooting and bsky-ing) a few favourite finds (or adding them to my Facebook group page), but in case you missed anything, here are a selection of interesting snippets: 

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Literary Hub: What We Can Learn From a Dog’s Way of Looking At the World – In an excerpt from The Word of Dog: What Our Canine Companions Can Teach Us About Living a Good Life, Mark Rowlands expounds on “the value of appreciating daily life’s small yet significant routines.” 

The Literary Edit: Lucy Steeds‘ Desert Island Books – Lucy Pearson finds the latest selection by Lucy Steeds – author of the “beautiful, iridescent, and luminous” The Artist – features “a deliciously sneaky modern classic, and a quiet and devastating meditation on time and memories and what might have been…” 

World Literature Today: “Literature Is Iceland’s Cultural Legacy”: A Conversation with Thórdís Helgadóttir – Adam Goldwyn interviews Icelandic poet, playwright, novelist and short-story writer Thórdís Helgadóttir.

JSTOR Daily: Pulp Woman: Leslie F. Stone – “Cloaked in an ambiguous pseudonym, Stone was one of the first women to write science fiction for the pulps.”

The Marginalian: The Lily vs. the Eagle: D.H. Lawrence on the Key to Balancing Intimacy and Independence in Love – Maria Popova finds D.H. Lawrence’s “autobiographically tinted 1922 novel Aaron’s Rod” is “animated by the perennial question and perennial confusion of what love actually is, what it looks like between people and how it lives within a person.”

The British Columbia Review: A woman of her times? – Ann-Lee Switzer discovered five previously unpublished stories by Emily Carr in the archives of the Royal BC Museum in Victoria. They have now been added to the collection (first published in 2007). Here Mary Ann Moore reviews This and That: The Lost Stories of Emily Carr; Revised and Updated, including nearly thirty of Carr’s originals.

Atlas Obscura: Inside a Collection of ‘Imaginary’ Books – “Some of these books were lost and never found; others were never even written,” Elizabeth Minkel says enigmatically.

Heavy Feather Review: Graphic Novel Review: Jesi Bender Reads Jon Macy’s Biography Djuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes – “Why aren’t the women in Jon Macy’s graphic novel, Djuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes, more famous?” asks Jesi Bender. Her best guess is because of homophobia and perhaps even more because they were women.

Literary Review: La Vie en Rose – Few colours are as freighted with prejudice as pink. Long shunned by some men for its associations with male homosexuality and used to denounce Cold War liberals and progressives (pinkoes), Michel Pastoureau’s Pink: The History of a Color (translated from French by Jody Gladding) reveals another side to the story.

Frieze: The Working-Class Poetry of Tove Ditlevsen – “In a newly translated collection, There Lives a Young Girl in Me Who Will Not Die,” Katie Tobin finds “Ditlevsen’s social realism portrays all walks of life.”

The New European: The book of Europe – “A compilation of European literature, compiled by the son of Thomas Mann, is a reminder of the continent’s cultural power,” says Charlie Connelly. 

EuropeNow: Jellyfish Have No Ears by Adèle Rosenfeld – An excerpt from Jellyfish Have No Ears, French author Adèle Rosenfeld’s novel about a woman gradually going deaf.

The Monthly: Manne of his words: ‘Robert Manne: A Political Memoir’ – “The respected [Australian] intellectual’s writing is a reminder of a moral rigour lost to public debate and universities, replaced by populism and culture-war politics,” says Jonathan Green of a new memoir.

Scroll.in: Translated short fiction: A librarian gets trapped inside a dictionary. Will he be able to get out? – “An excerpt from Malayali Memorial: And Other Stories by Unni R. Translated from the Malayalam by J Devika.

EL PAÍS: Kate Atkinson, the unclassifiable bestseller: From crime fiction to the magical world of Yorkshire – “The acclaimed British author, who has sold millions of books worldwide, reflects on her career and the value of giving fiction distance from contemporary issues to ensure it stands the test of time.” She speaks to Rafa de Miguel. 

History Today: ‘The Grammar of Angels’ by Edward Wilson-Lee review – Eloise Davies explains: “The Grammar of Angels: A Search for the Magical Powers of Language by Edward Wilson-Lee uncovers in Giovanni Pico della Mirandola a case for the Rennaissance as a triumph not of individuality, but of universal experience.”

BBC Devon: New choir’s songs to be based on 10th Century book – “A Devon cathedral is recruiting a new community choir to write and perform songs” based on The Book of Riddles – “thought to be the oldest surviving book of English literature in the world,” reports Jack Silver.

The Berliner: The Ways of Paradise – Described by Mathilde Montpetit as “a surrealist labyrinth […] written in footnotes” The Ways of Paradise by Peter Cornell (translated by Saskia Vogel) “gives us [a] beguilingly ambiguous novel-in-footnotes.”

The Common Reader: How good is AI at literary criticism? – LLMs are “starting to improve opinion into knowledge,” warns Henry Oliver.

Contemporary Japanese Literature: Strange Pictures – “Strange Pictures is a compulsively readable horror mystery novel first published in 2022 by Uketsu, a mysterious masked YouTuber,” reveals Kathryn.

The Booker Prizes: How Keri Hulme’s outsider story became one of the Booker Prize’s most controversial winners – “Forty years on, Keri Hulme’s violent, disturbing, poetic and striking book The Bone People remains one of the most divisive novels in Booker Prize history.”

Books and Lilies: Where Are The Daughters Of Queen Nzinga? Lilian Nattel reads “books by women around the world” – this time she turns her gaze towards Angola.

Chicago Review of Books: Almosts and Alliances in “Andromeda” – Madeline Schultz writes enthusiastically about Andromeda, Swedish author Therese Bohman’s recently translated (by Marlaine Delargy) novel, which, she declares, “encapsulate[s] what bookmaking is about [for her] in a way that no book has yet accomplished.”

Book Post: Notebook: How Do Your Novels Grow? – Ann Kjellberg peeks behind-the-scenes at “an industry [struggling] to reward and encourage great work.” * I recommend reading this article if you found last week’s Eurozine piece (Why are books so boring now? by John Merrick) of interest. *

The Beat: Auster’s complete New York Trilogy adapted by Mazzucchelli, Mattotti and Karasik – Heidi MacDonald announces that “Paul Auster’s acclaimed New York Trilogy is getting a complete graphic novel adaptation from Pantheon” – with the new edition scheduled for publication in April.

The Critic: Murders for February – “Winter might be fading,” says Jeremy Black, “but hearts remain cold.”

TNR: The Books That Ruin Your Life – Bibliophobia, Sarah Chihaya’s exploration of obsessive reading is, according to Briallen Hopper a “story of an all-consuming, sometimes destructive passion for books and reading.”

Aeon: The listening gift – “It is the dark matter of conversation, the white space around a poem. For [the Austrian poet and novelist Rainer Maria] Rilke, listening is receiving the divine,” observes Faith Lawrence.

The MIT Press Reader: Alexander Bogdanov: Immortality Day – “The following story by Alexander Bogdanov [edited by Boris Groys], excerpted from the volume Russian Cosmism, was first published in 1912 under the title Immortal Fride: A. Bogdanov’s Fantastic Narrative.

The Nation: The Art of Reading Like a Translator – “In The Philosophy of Translation, Damion Searls investigates the essential differences—and similarities—between the task of the translator and of the writer,” says Lily Meyer (author of the novel, Short War).

The New Statesman: How we misread The Great Gatsby – “The greatness of F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel lies in its details,” argues Sarah Churchwell. “But they are often overlooked.”

London Review of Books: Why children’s books? – Katherine Rundell writes: “Children’s books, to a great extent because they are written for those who cannot participate in the market, can offer resistance to a vision of the good life which is a built on a hegemony of acquisition. Children’s books insist on having faith in vast truths that lie beyond consumption and display.”

On the Seawall: On I Don’t Care, stories by Ágota Kristóf, translated from the French by Chris Andrews – “In 1956, Ágota Kristóf fled Hungary […] after the Soviet army suppressed the Hungarian revolution, […] eventually settling in Switzerland” says Wim Hylen in his review of I Don’t Care, Kristóf’s Beckettian short story collection, which “is replete with strangeness.” 

Freefall: Review of Ben Berman Ghan’s “The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits” – Canadian author, Ben Berman Ghan’s “expansive and timely [speculative fiction] novel, The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits,” contains “space whales that are also ships, AI, Toronto, algorithms, colonialism, ghosts, consumerism, consciousness, unconsciousness [and] the last dying flickers of capitalism,” says Samantha Purchase.

Reactor: Reading Writing About Reading and Writing – Molly Templeton on “getting happily lost in books about books — and also about community and creativity and frustration and life.”

Quill & Quire: Paying Homage – Sharada Eswar tells Inderjit Deogun: “Tradition is the cornerstone for the creation, practice, and performance of my art” as she makes her literary debut with [When the Banyan Sways: Folktales from India] a delightful collection of folk tales. 

Literary Ladies Guide: The quotable Zora Neale Hurston – Nava Atlas kicked off National Black History Month in North America with a piece on Zora Neale Hurston, “one of the most beloved literary figures of the 20th century,” widely known for her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.” 

The Conversation: Compendium of the Occult by Liz Williams is a rich and appealing history – Historian of Supernatural Beliefs, Martha McGill describes Compendium of the Occult, Liz Williams’ directory of occult history and artefacts as “handsomely bound, pleasingly laid out and beautifully illustrated.”

The Daily Star: Accounts of a joyless life – Cult science fiction author Izumi Suzuki “was little known outside of Japan during her short lifetime,” says Shahriar Shaams. Set My Heart on Fire is her first novel to be published in English.

The Connexion: Photos: the best English bookshops in Paris according to Vogue France – “From ‘chic’ historic addresses to ‘cutting edge publishing houses’, find your favourite.” 

The Letterpress Project: The Study: The inner life of Renaissance Libraries by Andrew Hui – Terry Potter gives a brief review of The Study: The Inner Life of Renaissance Libraries, a personal account of the life and enduring legacy of the Renaissance library by Andrew Hui.

Historia: The challenges of writing a novel set in Morocco – “When the perfect idea for a novel presents itself, but then you find that your source is (factually and morally) questionable, how do you approach it?” Robert Wilton, author of The Sultan’s Emu, suggests it is by “telling the story behind the stories.”

Fast Company: Why I’m making 2025 my year of dead-tree books – Harry McCracken loves e-books but misses “the immersive, bespoke experience that only print offers.” So, “this year, [he’s] making a point of getting [his] share.”

Broad Street Review: The analog revolution is happening at Passyunk Avenue’s Philly Typewriter – “Bryan Kravitz and Bill Rhoda never thought their South Philly typewriter shop would thrive in the 21st century, but it did, especially after the pandemic pause brought a surge of new customers hungry for tactile technologies,” reports Erin Dohony. 

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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.

Categories: Winding Up the Week

Tags: #readingirelandmonth25, Adèle Rosenfeld, Amorina Kingdon, Ben Berman Ghan, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Book Club, Mark Rowlands, Moomin Books, Peter Zheutlin, Rachel Cusk, Reading Ireland Month 2025, Therese Bohman, Tove Jansson