Welcome to Litsy!

It is a quiet weekday signing. Fortunately one couple need six signed copies. Browsing to pass the time, I am again mistaken for a bookseller.

'Could you help me with the Paddington Bear books? I have a granddaughter in Perth.'

Of course I can. We find the adventure that seems exactly right, and then the lady asks me how long I have worked here. I explain that I don't - that I've simply been signing my book.

[Rubicund Radical Bookshop offers] the second transcendent moment of the tour, sipping coffee and seated by a shop window displaying a Robert Mapplethorpe photography book, as a sense of hope grows in me that there really could be a radical future with acceptance of everyone for whoever they may be, and quality cake for all. Rather than being a champagne socialist, I may become a Battenberg Bolshevik.

Dangerous for the wishlist...

OMG, this was so unbelievable, so overwrought. And the author couldn‘t stop writing about nipples. 🙄At least I‘ve knocked off one #readyoirkobo for September. But don‘t waste your time on this one. @CBee

Recent acquisition for our personal library.

Finding a Penelope Lively in a charity shop that I haven't read is a bonus, especially when it proves to be another beautifully told story of lifes traumas. Frances is grieving the death of her celebrity husband. The picture of grief is very good, also the relationship with her friend, her sister in law, and adopted children. Lively is, in my view, one of the greats, and I will be on the search for more.

Recent acquisition for our personal library.

#london

Interesting true crime. Not sure how this landed on my radar but it was very interesting and well written.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Yes, Philip Larkin named a book after me 😆. Why I thought it a good idea to read the story of a teenage boy from the provinces excruciatingly trying to find his way through the incomprehensible nuances of life at Oxford University when I‘m about to send my own teenage boy off to uni I don‘t know. My heart both broke and cringed for poor John Kemp as things unravel. You‘ll also love to hate his privileged (or is he?) roommate from hell.

I found Fake Law surprisingly funny, despite the serious subject matter. The Secret Barrister has a wonderful turn of phrase, and doesn‘t hold back in criticising those who deserve it. But even without the laughs, it's a good read, and a crucial lesson in critical thinking and media literacy. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/fake-law-the-secret-barrister/