I've been MIA for a couple of weeks - when I'm busy with life, and trying to spend less time on my phone (because no amount of engagement with posts about crochet and fun ways with lentils can drown out the algorithm's determination to tell me all about the horror of what's going on in the world), this thread tends to fall off my radar even though it's an oasis of nice sanity (I think - I have some catching up to do after this!).
Good news is that after a couple of months of being really quite anxious about various health-related issues I've had more or less the all clear (although the consultant helpfully pointed out that at my age, the troublesome organ that has been causing the issues is unlikely to improve...). So I've filed all that under something to worry about in the future, and feel able to come up for air, write some reviews and figure out what to read next. No shortage of choices, and there's a parcel waiting for me at the Post Office which I think must be some things I picked up from World of Books in a quiet moment a week or so ago.
24 A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley
Thank you for the recommendation which I picked up from this thread. Absorbing account of Silver Moon Bookshop on Charing Cross Road, which I have a vague memory of frequenting as a teenager visiting London (though to my dismay, not in the period during which I actually lived in London before it closed in 2001).
23 Anaximander: And the Nature of Science by Carlo Rovelli
Fascinating. I’d never heard of Anaximander, who lived in Miletus – a city on the Turkish coast – in 600BC but Rovelli makes the case for his fundamental importance in establishing principles of scientific thought. Some of his observations – that rain was caused by the air and heat of the sun not the gods – were revolutionary in themselves but its more the way in which he thought about the world that Rovelli contends was groundbreaking. This was short, fascinating and engaging. Would highly recommend and I plan on giving it as a gift to the various teenagers I know heading off to study science at university in September.
22 Palaces for People by Eric Klinenberg
Why social infrastructure (parks, libraries, schools and so on) matters for social cohesion, equality and climate resilience. Fascinating concept but not the book I was hoping for – would have preferred more data and more robust insight, with less anecdote.
21 Middlemarch by George Eliot
I think Middlemarch must be the last of the big hitting classics on my reading list. It’s been on my tbr for as long as I can remember – years ago I took a copy to Thailand while backpacking and despite it taking up half my rucksack it came back home unopened. It’s not the easiest of reads – I spent time trying to figure out some sentences and often had to go to the chapter summaries online to make sure I understood what was going on – but the plot and characters were clear enough. Quiet and good Dorothea marries a dull and priggish man hoping to find salvation in intellectual harmony but instead is made miserable during his lifetime and after it. Vain, pretty Rosamund marries a doctor who makes poor choices in pursuit of making her happy. Rosamund’s brother Fred is in love with Mary Garth and wants to do the right thing by her, while Mr Bulstrode – a close relative of the Vincys – waits for his past to catch up with him.
20 God’s Own Gentlewoman by Diane Watt
Picked up at the British Library after I went to see the recent exhibition about medieval women writers. I had never heard of Margaret Paston before then. She was a wealthy woman who married in 1441 and we know a huge amount about her from the letters she sent to various people (although it is believed she dictated rather than wrote them). She lived during the War of the Roses and her letters cover everything from the siege of the family home to domestic matters and gossip. The book isn’t just a biography but also touches on the author’s own life, although this was less interesting than Margaret’s voice across the centuries.
19 Rabid by Bill Wasik and Monica MurphY
Recommended on here. I was absolutely terrified of rabies as a child – we used to go on holiday to France and the terrifying posters on the ferries of rabid dogs convinced me that every campsite in Brittany was beset by hordes of slavering hounds. The first night of one holiday I apparently cried so much when I discovered the people in the next tent had a dog that my dad had to drive me around in the car until I fell asleep then leave me in there until morning (safe from the dog) after which point we moved campsite. I digress but reading this history of the disease made me feel slightly vindicated because it is a genuinely terrifying disease, albeit one where there is now a decent chance of survival if you get vaccinated in time. But to my horror, I now know that if you get bitten by a rabid bat (not an entirely far fetched scenario in some parts of the US) then you may not know you have been bitten until it’s too late. I’ve added bat rabies to the list of things keeping me up at night even though I don’t think there are many in south London.
18 My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes
At this point, if you read a book about one of the Walsh sisters you have to know what your getting – the other sisters are all shadowy caricatures of themselves despite being fully fledged characters in their own stories, the heroine is allegedly a mess but in reality everyone loves her and wants to be her despite her many flaws, and there’s a fairly strained plot that seems to only work if you don’t think too hard about it. But I go in knowing what I’m getting and I don’t mind it at all.
17 The Best Way To Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale
This was an entertaining romp which was odd because it’s about four women in abusive marriages who murder their husbands and have to dispose of the bodies during lockdown.
16 Die With Zero by Bill Perkins
I have been thinking a lot about money recently – a combination of contemplating my own mortality, wondering about what I do with the next ten or so years of my life, and dealing with ageing parents and their finances in a more hands on way than has been the case before now. It’s genuinely fascinating and our relationship to money is so much more complex than how much we have (or don’t have).
I’m a saver by inclination and I can see where that has come from if I think about my life and formative experiences around money. But in the last ten years or so, I recognise that has become a slightly over-developed trait. I’m very very fortunate to be in a position where I have been able to save but it’s come at the expense of some other aspects of life that I now realise are important. So I’ve been making an active effort to think more about spending, and what I spend money on and how I can spend more, but spend mindfully. It turns out I don’t want more “stuff” (books don’t count! In fact, books – if they are going to be read – are in the “buy more” category) but I do want to spend on cultural activities, trips and also on other people, whether that’s meaningful gifts or donations. And because I like to read about things I’m thinking about I went in search of some books on personal finance and came across this one.
It’s got a US focus and (despite his assertions to the contrary) is really aimed at high net worth people (that’s not me) but I liked the idea at the core – you maximise life experiences by spending money on experiences rather than accumulating wealth. And you should do that sooner rather than later because memories are more valuable the earlier you make them. And at the time you die, you should aim to have more or less nothing left.
He’s not suggesting you spend the children’s inheritance on a fast car, either (unless you want to) – he makes the valid point that holding on to money until you die at 80 to give it to your children is unlikely to be as valuable to them then (when they are likely in their 50s) as if you gave it them when you were 60.
Like most self help books there are four good ideas padded out with anecdotes and I’ve got a lot of work to do to figure out how to implement all of this but it has really made me think about spending and off the back of it, I’m investigating an upgraded holiday this summer staying in locally run but lovely hotels rather than our usual one which is done on a budget.