Hey friends. How’s July treating you?

We had a lovely day yesterday but it’s back to rain and gloom today. The picture above is from one year ago and will soon represent a version of home for me – one where the sun is almost always out but there’ll be new ways to live, and a process of learning to do that.

This limbo stage of moving has been a great excuse to hang out with friends I usually see in group settings one-on-one, share the bounty of my bookshelves, and daydream a little bit more than usual. With 6 weeks to go I’m spending a lot of time thinking about how my life looks now, how I’d like it to look in the future, and ways to work towards that. But it doesn’t feel like I’m getting anywhere just yet.

And you? Looking for something to read? This week’s selection is as diffused as my thinking, but I gotcha…

 

 

–– MIXED MEDIA ––

If you’re feeling sad about world events today, Jen has Two Recommendations: one of which is a letter about fear and perspective. Listen to Jen read it in the video or read it here.

In this week’s new Bookish Blether we discussed Place as a Character – and other strong senses of place in literature.

I cracked up at Rosa Lyster’s The Best Time I Pretended I Hadn’t Heard of Slavoj Žižek. I am all in on this game.
 

 

–– AT THE MOVIES ––

It’d been ages since I’d been to the cinema, but in the past 3 days I saw Ghostbusters (good), Neon Demon (mixed), and Maggie’s Plan (lovely). It was a nice reminder that I really love going to the cinema after a few dud months of releases and other priorities.

Non-movie-wise, we’re well into the depths of The Good Wife season 7 and I finished Girls season 5 this week. What should come next? Suggestions welcome.

In related, here’s a nice feature with Greta Gerwig (star of Maggie’s Plan).

Jennifer Aniston spoke up against the media harassment and devaluing of women that she encounters daily.
 

 

–– ON MY SHELF ––

Here’s a lovely piece about the writing process from Ramona Ausubel: How To Be A Writer: The Map Is the Territory. I’m buying her new novel the minute we land in LAX.

My curiosity took me places this week, including to Everything You Wanted to Know about Book Sales (But Were Afraid to Ask).

Book-wise, my current reads include returning to Stranger on a Train by Jenny Diski (after taking a break from it to read her first non-fiction book, Skating to Antarctica, which I loved) and Sudden Death by Alvaro Enrigue, whom I can’t wait to see at the book festival next month.

What’s on your nightstand?
 

 

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Your turn! Read anything good this week? Hit reply or tweet me, won’t you?

Have a lovely weekend!
Nicola x
 

Happy Friday!

After a lot of early summer disruptions, life is getting back on track. I’m getting back to the gym, to note-taking, writing, and meeting up with internet friends. All that good stuff.

A conversation with an American friend reminded me about how blithe we get about being surrounded by really old stuff – and how I’m about to move somewhere where most of the “old” buildings are from, like, the 1940s – so I took a wonky photo of the castle to compensate.

This week’s reading has revolved a lot around books, ageing, and scribbles. Enjoy!

 

 

–– ME ME MEEE ––

Loadsa videos this week. To wit:
My Favourite Books of 2016 So Far
Capsule Reviews of May & June’s Reads
A Book Haul!
and How the Great Book Unhaul of 2016 is Going

ICYMI, the latest Bookish Blether is a Big Summer Book Haul – and Holly and I chat about how we spent Independent Bookshop Week in London.

 

 

–– BOOKS & WORDS ––

You know how much I love that hi-lo cultural blend, so I absolutely adored this, about The Genius of Making Elena Ferrante’s Book Covers Look Like ‘Chick-Lit’.

This piece on how investigative journalist Suki Kim became The Reluctant Memoirist and how the commercial concerns of her publisher have impacted her career is utterly maddening.

The Female Bachelor (in literature) has added a ton of books to my reading list.

I find translation and multilingualism fascinating. As English becomes a creeping Lingua Franca, Jessica Furseth shares her experience of moving away from a small language and hearing it become shaped by bigger influences. In this lovely piece she urges those who speak it to Keep Norwegian Weird.

Reading with intention can change your life – complete with nerdy tips on note-taking.
 

 

–– THE INTERNET/AGE ––

I’m really into the ideas about How an Archive of the Internet Could Change History and, ideally, make it more multifaceted and representative.

Not gonna lie, as a woman who intends to be childless, Dorthe Nors On the Invisibility of Middle-Aged Women utterly terrified me. A brilliant and illuminating piece of writing.

Also on the value of ageing women: Renee Zellweger’s Face and the Importance of Women Critics from Ceilidhann.

Why the Humble Notebook Is Flourishing in the iPhone Era: or, a guide to the popularity of Bullet Journaling.

 

 

–– AND MORE BOOKS ––

I’ve taken about 80 books off of my shelves this week, and the flurry of activity has translated into a hurried, almost panicked mode of reading.

Currently, I’ve several books on the go: Skating to Antarctica by Jenny Diski, The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley, Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue – and those are just the physical books. On ebook I’ve also begun A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa and Get in Trouble by Kelly Link.

All this to say I’m desperately trying to read things I’m excited about and books that I want to read before I ditch them and move; and it’s not looking realistic in the slightest. Wish me luck.

What’s on your nightstand?
 

 

––

 
Your turn! Read anything good this week? Hit reply or tweet me, won’t you?

Have a lovely weekend!
Nicola x