An end of week recap

“Do your bit to save humanity from lapsing back into barbarity by reading all the novels you can.”
–  Richard Hughes (born 19^th April 1900)

Warm Eastertide greetings to those celebrating the Christian festival, or a simple ‘enjoy those chocolate eggs’ if you plan a secular day of indulgence tomorrow. I hope the Eostre Hare (Bilby in Australia) refills your empty book baskets!

As ever, 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.

* Three Thingamajigs Plus Several Whatchamacallits *

Three Things… #6: This sporadic post covering all manner of things I’ve recently read, watched and done/thought (the latter varies from one TT to the next) is where I hold forth on matters both serious and silly. You are invited along for the ride – or better still, why not compile your own Three Things-type post.

* Almost Overlooked * 

Last November Libby Romfh of Change+Management shared a few thoughts about her “Scribner paperback edition” of the crime fiction writer Josephine Tey’s 1951 historical mystery novel (from the Alan Grant series), The Daughter of Time, in which “Inspector Grant has been injured, ignominiously falling through a floor whilst in pursuit of a fleeing suspect.” Stuck in hospital “with a broken leg” and feeling thoroughly down in the dumps, he becomes intrigued by a portrait of Richard III. It doesn’t look to him like the face of the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty who was said to have murdered his nephews before seizing the English throne. He investigates further. Discover why this was also something of a “real-life” mystery involving the author herself in Libby’s post: 365 Books: The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. 

* Lit Crit Blogflash *  

I am going to share with you a couple of my favourite posts from around the blogosphere. There are a great many talented writers producing high-quality book features and reviews, which made it difficult to pick only these two – both published in the last week or so:

Written on Water – Eileen Chang (tr. Andrew F. Jones) – Radhika Pandit of Radhika’s Reading Retreat found this 1944 essay collection “captivating”. It “comprises a little over thirty pieces of varying lengths” from the pen of Chinese born American realist and modernist writer Eileen Chang on topics ranging from “literary theory” to the “rituals of daily life” and includes a selection of her “charming black and white illustrations.” All told, Written on Water delivers “sharp, elegant reflections on art, literature, war, urban life, and her experiences as a writer and woman in wartime Shanghai and Hong Kong.” It is, says Radhika, a “thoughtful, witty” and “enjoyable read”.

A Bookshop in Algiers: Kaouther Adimi – In this historical novel, Kaouther Adimi takes us back to Algiers in 1936, when “Edmond Charlot, a Frenchman born in Algeria, opens a bookshop, Les Vraies Richesses (The True Riches), on rue Charras […].” Depicted by self-described “book-addict,” Suroor Alikhan of Talking About Books, as “a novel about the importance of literature,” A Bookshop in Algiers (2017) is based on the true story of a “booklover’s dream.” Its protagonist, “the first publisher of Albert Camus,” establishes not merely a bookstore but “a lending library, a publishing house and a place for people to meet” – which “survives for decades, through the French occupation of Algeria, World War II and Algeria’s independence” before “eventually [being] converted into an annex of the National Library of Algiers.” Suroor admits to feeling “strongly” about this work’s message. She hopes you will too.

* 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 is a selection of interesting snippets: 

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Brittle Paper: Mauritian Author Priya Hein’s Forthcoming Novel Explores the Violence and Beauty of Her Island Home – Mauritian author Priya Hein is set to release a new novel Tamarin, a book that “has already generated buzz in the literary world.”

Plough: Rereading Favorite Books – “I reread books because I love the story, or the voice, or the characters. And rereading increases that love,” declares Grace Hamman.

The Montréal Review: Burying the Mystery: The Grave of Edgar Allen Poe – Who was the unknown visitor dressed in black who for eighty years drank a toast at the graveside of Edgar Allen Poe on the author’s birthday, always placing there a bottle of Martell and three roses? Karen Alkalay-Gut investigates this and other mysteries surrounding Poe’s death.

A Narrative Of Their Own: “It’s always the mother’s fault” – In her latest discussion on “the work of 20th century women writers and their relevance to contemporary culture,” Kate Jones explores Sylvia Plath, “psychoanalysis and the cult of mother blaming.”

The Arts Fuse: Translation Spotlight: The Philosopher on the Threshold – “In three books of oblique self-reflection [What I Saw, Heard, Learned…, Self-Portrait in the Studio and Studiolo] Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben explores and exposes the artistic and intellectual thresholds that have been central to his life and to the life of his mind,” writes Tess Lewis in her bimonthly Translation Spotlight column.

The Guardian: ‘You must read my diaries’: unlocking the private life of Edna O’Brien – “Towards the end of her life, the groundbreaking Irish novelist granted film-maker Sinéad O’Shea access to her most personal writing. What she revealed was shocking and inspiring,” finds Sinéad O’Shea.

Ursula K. Le Guin: Statement regarding Nina Leger’s Mémoires sauvées de l’eau – Directors of the Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trusts, a non-profit public benefit corporation that operates several projects and programs to expand “the artistic and community-focused legacies” of the late and much loved American fantasy and speculative fiction author, Ursula K. Le Guin, are clearly unhappy with Nina Leger’s 2024 historical novel, Mémoires sauvées de l’eau (Memories saved from the water), which they feel ascribes “ideas and words to another artist who died only seven years ago,” without “seeking […] input” from relatives. They consider this “ethically and artistically regrettable.”

The New Criterion: Obsessions – “It’s hard to review Mishima’s fiction without looking at his life, but there is so much there,” writes Andrew Stuttaford in this piece on Voices of the Fallen Heroes and other “newly released fiction by Yukio Mishima.”

Art of Conversation: Azar Nafisi: The Magic of Fiction – As part of his Words of Wisdom series Matthew Morgan “zooms in on a passage of writing” from Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran. This time he explores “the transformative power of literature and the meaning of ‘upsilamba’.”

Open: Eco Friction – “Many fissures of Delhi come alive in [Indian author and journalist] Keshava Guha’s novel” The Tiger’s Share, writes Aditya Mani Jha.

The Booker Prizes: Reading guide: Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes – Italian author and translator, Vincenzo Latronico’s novel Perfection is a “taut, spare sociological novel about the emptiness of contemporary existence – scathing and affecting in equal measure,” says Emily Facoory.

Lit Mag News: Q: Can you judge a lit mag by its cover? – “How much can a writer know about a lit mag, based on its cover?” asks Becky Touch.

Public Books: Wings, Angels, Tentacles: Talking with Siddhartha Deb – “What lies outside the weird—the subconscious, our dreams, our fantasies, the monster, the alien—these are possible sources of liberation.” Amit Baishya talks to Indian author Siddhartha Deb about his new historical fiction/sci-fi novel, The Light at the End of the World.

OUPblog: We are mythmaking creatures – “Why was mythology of vital importance for the romantics? What role did mythology play in their philosophical and literary work? Owen Ware [Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto] combines intellectual history with philosophical analysis and literary criticism to offer a bold reflection on why mythology mattered for the romantics—and why it still matters today” in Return of the Gods: Mythology in Romantic Philosophy and Literature.

Pop Matters: In Northern Ireland Absence Makes the Heart Feel More Deeply – “Writers like Jan Carson understand that, in the absence of the Troubles, people of Northern Ireland may not know who they are, culturally or artistically, or may struggle to articulate who they are without it.” Reggie Chamberlain-King on Carson’s short story collection, Quickly, While They Still Have Horses.

EL PAÍS: Mario Vargas Llosa, a giant of universal literature, dies at 89 – “The Spanish-Peruvian writer, Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 2010, was the author of masterpieces such as Conversation in the Cathedral,” reports Javier Rodríguez Marcos.

The Nation: Will There Ever Be Another “Great Gatsby”? – “A century on,” says Mark Chiusano, “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great Jazz Age novel [The Great Gatsby] still speaks to what ails America. 

The Hollywood Reporter: HBO Reveals ‘Harry Potter’ Remake Cast, From Hagrid to Snape to Quirrell – “HBO just confirmed the six adult leads from its upcoming Harry Potter TV series and pledges a ‘faithful adaptation.’” 

Arts Hub: Book review: Human/Nature, Jane Rawson – Erich Mayer finds “deep insights into the present and penetrating pointers to a better future” in Australian author Jane Rawson’s poetic work of creative non-fiction, Human/Nature: On Life in a Wild World.

The Minnesota Star Tribune: ‘The Human Scale’ explores life between the bombs in the Middle East – “A slain Israeli cop sparks a violent chain reaction in the ancient city of Hebron,” says Claude Peck in his review of The Human Scale – an historical thriller that recognises there are “moderates, realists, cynics, religious extremists, peaceniks and hybrids of all those points on the spectrum” on both sides.

GQ: Translated fiction is the hottest trend in books right now. Here’s the novels you should have read – Josiah Gogarty says translated fiction is “having a moment” with readers in the UK.

Big Think: 6 books that shaped Japanese philosophy – “Japanese thought can’t be easily characterized by just a few books — but this essential guide [compiled by B.V.E. Hyde] is a great place to start.”

The Paris Review: A Very Precious Bonjour Tristesse – Mina Tavakoli on Canadian writer Durga Chew-Bose’s film adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s fifties novel, Bonjour Tristesse.

Africa is a Country: The memory keepers – “A new documentary follows two women’s mission to decolonize Nairobi’s libraries, revealing how good intentions collide with bureaucracy, donor politics, and the ghosts of colonialism,” discovers Coley Gray.

Inside Agenting: R.I.P. M.M.P.B – In what he describes as “the last days of paperback books,” leading New York literary agent and publishing authority Richard Curtis pays tribute to this mass market format.

Virago Books: Read an Extract from Ordinary Love – You are invited to read an excerpt from Marie Rutkoski’s forthcoming LGB novel, Ordinary Love – a “sweeping love story about desire, friendship, mistakes and the possibility of second chances.”

The Metropolitan Review: Indie, Please – Ross Barkan on Daniel Falatko’s “acid, uproarious, and punchily brilliant new novel, The Wayback Machine.”

The Daily Illini: Jonas Hassen Khemiri captivates with stories of memory, myth – Swedish author Jonas Hassen Khemiri traces three sisters and their childhood friend, a fellow Swedish Tunisian, over decades in his family saga, The Sisters. Last month he “shared insights into his creative process” with a gathering of enthusiasts at the Author’s Corner of the Illini Union Bookstore, reports Mariana Quezada.

The New Criterion: Ambassador of dreams – Gary Saul Morson on Poet in the New World: Poems, 1946-1953 by Czesław Miłosz, one of the most respected figures in 20th-century Polish literature, as well as being one of the most acclaimed contemporary poets in the world.

LARB: Annoy Me to Death – Wade Newhouse ponders Norwegian author Camilla Bruce’s new horror novel At the Bottom of the Garden – which he describes here as “a gothic novel in the old-school mode.”

The National Book Review: Q&A: Alice Austen Talks About Her New Novel Set in Holocaust-Era Belgium – “Alice Austen’s staggering debut novel 33 Place Brugmann, set during the Nazi invasion of Belgium,” finds the characters “in circumstances they never would have imagined.” Austen speaks with Zelda Zerkel-Morris about her recently published historical novel.

Words Without Borders: Postcolonial Translations and the Reception of Indian Literature in the West – “From Anne Carson’s groundbreaking translations to Geetanjali Shree’s Booker-winning work, [Saudamini] Deo explores the complex dynamics of translation, cultural appropriation, and the reception of non-Western literature in the Western literary world.”

In These Times: Kaveh Akbar’s Narratives of Love – Aina Marzia shares his “exclusive conversation with the bestselling author of Martyr! on the moral crises we’re facing.”

BookTrib: An Elegy for the Duke: Are Reports of the Demise of Historical Romance Exaggerated? – Is historical romance dead? JeriAnn Geller investigates.

Forward: From an Italian Holocaust survivor, a Kafkaesque nightmare of imprisonment under fascism – “Set in the Lanciano internment camp, Maria Eisenstein’s Internee Number 6 is a testament to the power of writing,” says Julia M. Klein.

TNR: What America Can Learn From the Americas – America, América: A New History of the New World, Greg Grandin’s “sweeping history of the new world shows how immutably intertwined the United States is with Latin America,” says Patrick Iber.

The Marginalian: Carl Jung on Creativity – “The question of what it takes to create — to make something of beauty and substance that touches other lives across space and time — is one of the deepest, oldest questions,” writes Maria Popova in a piece focusing on a chapter from Swiss psychologist Carl Jung’s 1933 essay collection, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, about the mystery of the creative spirit.

The Irish Times: GP and author Claire Gleeson: ‘I have dealt with patients who lose complete touch with reality’ – Dubliner Claire Gleeson’s “debut novel, Show Me Where It Hurts, explores the before and after of an ‘out of the blue’ tragedy to devastating effect,” says Niamh Donnelly.

Le Monde: Gisèle Pelicot will release her memoir, ‘A Hymn to Life,’ in 2026: ‘I now want to tell my story in my own words’ – “Pelicot, 72, won international acclaim last year for her courage during the trial of her former husband for orchestrating her mass rape while they were married.” A Hymn to Life is set to be published in January 2026.

The Oxonian Review: Digressions about Digression – “‘Literature can still save, even if history betrays’. Ian Ellison reviews Daniel Mendelsohn’s [part memoir, part history, part lit crit] Three Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative, and Fate.

National Geographic: Love reading? These are the best book towns around the world – “In these small towns from Scotland to New Zealand, books shape identity, tourism, and community.”

The Telegraph (via Yahoo! Entertainment): Peter Lovesey, novelist who pioneered the historical whodunnit with his Victorian detective Cribb – “Peter Lovesey, the crime novelist, who has died aged 88, was a pioneer of the period whodunnit, as the creator of the Victorian sleuth Sergeant Cribb.”

Subverse Reads: How to read an intimidating book – Natalie McGlocklin takes a light-hearted look at methods for reading intimidating books – using, in this case, Mircea Cărtărescu’s Solenoid as an example.

Rolling Stone: Are Em Dashes Really a Sign of AI Writing? – “ChatGPT didn’t invent this punctuation mark out of thin air — human authors have used it for centuries.” Miles Klee investigates a claim that content nicked by AI from literary writers is now showing em-dashes far more than might be expected. (Personally, I use them quite a bit because they’re dead handy.)

Aftermath: It Happened To Me: I Wrote Those Shitty Tweet Roundups – Gita Jackson looked on “tweet roundups” as “a way of paying for [her] serious work,” since a piece of serious criticism generated far lower traffic – but she now feels “ambivalent” about these pieces, describing them as “writing [about] what [she saw] as ‘the internet,’” rather than “writing blogs about what ‘the internet’ was reacting to.”

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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: Books, Carl Jung, Easter Reading, Eileen Chang, Jane Rawson, Jonas Hassen Khemir, Josephine Tey, Kaouther Adimi, Keshava Guha, Priya Hein, Richard Hughes, Three Things