Alive, Alive Oh!: And Other Things that Matter | 
For the first four days of December I finished a book a day. And then…that stopped. I‘ve got I Capture the Castle and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet both in the works, but kiddo‘s being very needy and then my mom was visiting and everybody needs me to do everything all the time. So I‘ve read something like four pages in the last week. I have two gigs this week which is good for me and bad for reading time. Ah, December. But I‘m alive!
pickThis is a really enjoyable collection of essays. Diana Athill had a great interesting life, and is refreshingly honest about her privilege and the decisions she made. She was 98 when she wrote this and hearing the recollections and thoughts of that age is fascinating and makes you think about how you want to look back on your life if you're lucky enough to reach that age.
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I'm alive! Just catching up! Just Been overwhelmed with life and work, but I'm back. Until vacation next week anyway ;) EDIT: what have I missed? What's going on with all of you?
Can we give this lady some recognition she is 100 years old.
"Because it was a pre-Jekyll garden, the Rose beds were the only flower beds except for those for picking, tucked away in the kitchen garden."
While I've known about Gertrude Jekyll and have read her writings, I hadn't known the extent of her influence on garden design.
How extraordinary - how wonderful! - it is that a lot of little black marks on paper can bring a person who died nearly 200 years ago into your room: bring him so close that you know him much better than you would have known him if you met him in the flesh.
"As a child I knew exactly what was most desirable: pinkness and sparkle. When I was grown up I was going to sweep down a flight of stairs into a great ballroom wearing a pink satin dress with a huge skirt: yards and yards of the shiniest pink satin, because obviously if something was desirable you couldn't have too much of it. Oh, scrumptious pinkness!"
#pinkcovers
The bleach was a grassy space slightly larger than a tennis court where linen was hung or spread to be whitened by sunlight.
pickAthill's writing is rich, clear, beautiful and wise. Her 100th birthday is coming up in 2017 and I really hope she continues on strong, right past that milestone. It is so inspiring to read about what her life is like in her late nineties. Gives me peace regarding my own future, since longevity is in my family.
Athill lives in a senior's residence and describes the day three of them (ages 94, 94 & 97) planted six rose bushes in the garden there.
"By the time we tottered back to our rooms we were too exhausted to speak, but we were very pleased with ourselves. One good thing about being physically incapable of doing almost anything is that if you manage to do even a little something, you feel great."
Athill's chapter on Tobago addresses issues that are the fabric of Dennis-Benn's novel, so these make a good (unlikely) pair. Regarding revolutionary actions of Tobagonians: "even if they cannot alter the economic structure which condemns them to exploitation, they will no longer stand being used as live furniture in someone else's beautiful dream."
Jemimas, which I've never seen or heard of elsewhere, were clumsy overshoes made of waterproofed felt, fastening over the instep with a latchet. Galoshes were considered sissy, whereas jemimas, although they looked much more old-womanish, were perfectly acceptable on manly feet.
#TBRtemptation post! From the award-winning memoirist comes this latest memoir...written at the tender age of 98 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻! From her home for the elderly in London, she recalls, with concrete vividness, many more events from her long life well-lived, including childhood days in her grandmother's garden, getting pregnant in her 40s, and books she's enjoyed. These 10 essays are about life, not death. Loved by many! #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎
Ugh, I am so lame compared to all you guys! Epic reading slump illustrated 👎😭 #myyearinbooks #goodreads
"How extraordinary - how wonderful! - it is that a lot of little black marks on paper can bring a person who died nearly two hundred years ago into your room: bring him so close that you know him much better than you would have known him if you met him in the flesh. It is extraordinary and it is enlarging." P 150
pickDelightful collection of memoir essays by lit giant Diana Athill. I hope I'm this coherent when I'm 98. For real, she wrote this from a retirement home. Athill has lived a full life & wants to share it with you. She is optimistic, honest, & engaging about her life & society. She puts her fist down on colonialism & talks candidly about abortion, miscarriage, aging, deciding to live in a retirement home, agency, relationships, & death. 🌼 #ReadWomen
"How extraordinary – how wonderful! – it is that a lot of little black marks on paper can bring a person who died nearly two hundred years ago into your room: bring him so close that you know him much better than you would have known him if you met him in the flesh. It is extraordinary and it is enlarging." —Diana Athill, on the power of books & how much they mean to her. ?? #ReadWomen #BookQuotes
