01. Look at this library.
02. Went to see the doco The Family last week. The film was combined with a talk by ex-cult members; the police investigator who rescued the children; and the authors of the book.* The police investigator was a shattered man – there are some things you simply can’t recover from.
03. Also went to see Giulia Enders of The Gut fame speak. She was smart, engaging and very funny. Haven’t decided whether my favourite bit of the night was when she was talking about the small intestine –
The small intestine has the advantage of being an eager project manager. After food, like a good project manager, it’s not like “Sit down and relax…”, it’s like “Cleanse the kitchen!”
Or when she said – “It’s a compliment to be the arsehole.”
04. Made my second book purchase for 2017 last week – Our Magic Hour by Jennifer Down. Might seem an odd choice but a friend mentioned she’d sent it to the local op-shop and when I said that I’d wanted to read it, I decided to motor to the op-shop to see if it was still there. It was ($2).
05. Ha ha ha *tweets link*
06. Really looking forward to Seven Types of Ambiguity.
07. This is an ACE blog post by Claire Fuller.
08. My Dad Wrote a Porno is coming to Melbourne!
09. I’m already excited about this *starts plan to relive my youth*
10. In the dying days of summer I need to make these.
11. The Baileys Prize 2017 longlist has been announced. Argh – I haven’t read any… Some are on my TBR stack and some** are in my ‘I’d like to think I’ll read that but it’s highly unlikely’ stack.
Was a little disappointed that Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things didn’t make it and surprised that Swing Time wasn’t there.
*And yes, I bought a copy of the book but I’ve decided books purchased at author talks are exempt from my book-buying-allowance because it would be rude not to.
**Barkskins
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Absolutely loved Our Magic Hour. I hope you do too.
It was actually your review that reminded me of the book, Susan! The friend who I got the book from (via the charity shop!) is my ‘best reading buddy’ – we have virtually identical taste in books.
Oh, excellent. That’s lovely to hear
What a gorgeous library!
The Family looks creepy/good.
You have only bought your SECOND book of the year? You have amazing restraint. I do know that I have a book buying compulsion, however, which you’ll notice if you visit my post of MY BOOKISH/NOT SO BOOKISH THOUGHTS
The Family was a big story in Australia during the 70s and 80s. The cult leader is still alive although I believe is in palliative care – when she dies I imagine the story will really blow up because many of the children who were abused over decades will sue for her estate (and quite rightly too as for various legal reasons they have never received any compensation).
I could cry at the beauty of that library. My Francophilia just went stratospheric!
It’s insane.
That library is amazing! I constantly kick myself for not appreciating the beautiful libraries at UCLA. Gah.
And 5 is fascinating. I don’t think I spend that much time on SM, but I do find myself consciously saying sometimes, “pick up the book, put down the phone.”
I totally didn’t realise that the Baileys longlist was upon us again until I saw the tweet the other day. I only have one of the books on the TBR pile (Do Not Say We Have Nothing); I very much doubt I’ll get around to reading any more than that, but it would be nice….
I’m sticking to my book buying ban too – though infuriatingly people keep wanting to give me books.