Featuring the usual bookish and knitting content, a lovely day out in central London, and the first signs of autumn.
Music: ‘Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100’, performed by Nicola Benedetti and Katya Apekisheva
Featuring the usual bookish and knitting content, a lovely day out in central London, and the first signs of autumn.
Music: ‘Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100’, performed by Nicola Benedetti and Katya Apekisheva
Footage which I gathered in August, featuring literature, long walks, and the first signs of autumn.
Music: ‘3055’ by Ólafur Arnalds
Featuring many days out (Milton Keynes, Brighton, London), a lot of animals, and even more books.
Featuring European Championship festivities, a trip to Pollok House and Country Park, and quite a lot of books.
Music: ‘Pu Ert Solin’ by Olafur Arnalds | ‘The Mansion’ by Manchester Orchestra
Featuring some books, some beautiful sunsets, and gig footage from Conor Oberst, whom I *finally* got to see live this month. Keep your eyes peeled for another August Document Your Life video, from my holiday in France and Belgium.
Music: ‘Devil in the Details’ by Bright Eyes
I had planned not to buy any books in August; needless to say, that did not quite go to plan, despite my being on holiday for a fortnight! I purchased two books on my Kindle, received two for review for the first time in what feels like an absolute age, and also bought one for a forthcoming book club read. That was before I found a wonderful seller on AbeBooks, who had priced almost everything at 78 pence with free delivery; needless to say that I stocked up my shelves!
My Kindle books come first, as they were the first which I purchased. I chose the Collected Works of Willa Cather as there are a couple of her full-length books which I haven’t read to date. I also bought one of the daily deals, Naoki Higashida‘s autism memoir, The Reason I Jump. I have read this already, and whilst I found it fascinating in places, it was a little underwhelming in its simplicity and repetitiveness. The two books which I received for review – Keeping Henry by Nina Bawden, which has just been reissued by Virago, and Stella Duffy‘s chilling The Hidden Room – were both great, and I would highly recommend them. Full-length reviews for both novels are forthcoming on the blog, so do stay tuned! My book club has altered of late, and is now running around the idea of geographic locations. Thus, my choice was a free one, provided it was set in Bosnia. I chose The Delivery Room by
Sylvia Brownrigg, which looks fascinating. I also ended up ordering a secondhand copy of Catherynne M. Valente‘s Deathless, as I have been seeing so many positive reviews of it of late.
Now, on to my huge AbeBooks haul! I have very little self-restraint when paperbacks are so heavily discounted, and true to form, I selected over twenty of them. A few of them are applicable as book club tomes, and others will work for the Around the World in Eighty Books Project, which I am starting in January. Rather than group these rather diverse books together, I am simply going to type them up in a long list below.
In September, I am going on holiday to Florida and the Caribbean for two wonderful weeks. Whilst I am not planning to buy books, I am going to allow myself a tome or two if they are difficult to get hold of in the UK. This is a reader’s prerogative, surely?
Which of these books have you read? Which have piqued your interest? Which books did you buy during August?
I do apologise that this video wasn’t uploaded over the weekend, but my WordPress app was playing up and didn’t want to post it.