While the cover of this 1952 Pelican edition gives husband, Christopher, top billing, wife, Jacquetta is billed first on the title page, and is given her rightful acknowledgement as main author on the back cover. An exercise in '50s #ShelfAppealForSexists !
The replica Paleolithic Venus figurine is wrong as I don't think any have been found in Britain, but the stones are Sarsen and Bluestone from Stonehenge, but don't worry, I didn't take a ⬇️

I've had to sit with this book a little while before reviewing it as it's so intensely personal, but as Carl Rogers said, “What is most personal is most universal," so there was also much that struck chord for me. Perhaps this has something to do with my own autistic process and occasional bouts of depression (though, thankfully, the latter have been less frequent and less intense for a number of years).

The term "brutally honest" is overused, ⬇️

I expected to enjoy this, and I wasn't disappointed ?

I do, however, have to disagree with the Times reviewer's adjective "jolly". Haynes does inject her subject with humour, but as that subject covers infanticide, rape, murder, torture, slavery, execution and war, even at a great historical distance, jolly it isn't!
She also cautions against judging the ancients by modern ethical and moral standards, while drawing out lessons to be learnt. 4⭐

"in 1843, Karl Marx wrote that religion was the opium of the masses. He couldn't possibly have foreseen that after a century and a half religion would, instead, be the cocaine of the few."

Back from Manchester Trans Pride March a little tired and much inspired! #TransRightsAreHumanRights ✊?️‍⚧️

#SocialistStandard #1452 was waiting on the door mat, speaking of which, Kier Starmer makes the cover following his meetings with ??
Obvs, the SPGB aren't fans of Labour, and this issue sets out what they're getting wrong (equally obvs, not dismantling capitalism!).
The "Capitalism is Mental" article looks like it might be interesting.

"I have been obsessed with the ancient world since I was eleven years old, when I began learning about Roman Life at school."
- Introduction

"It's tempting to believe that we no longer need to think about politics." ?
- Chapter 1: Old World Order
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

#BookmarkMatching featuring the good old XX Valeria Victrix Legion of the Roman Army, and a souvenir Greek Hoplite helmet from a long-ago holiday to Corfu.

Series 11 of "Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics" is up on BBC Radio 4, and the theme seems to be places, starting with Alexandria last week, The Library of Alexandria this week, and The Museum of Alexandria next week. The two episodes released so far are both as funny and informative as usual, the library episode really pushing those Litsy buttons!
I've two of her books tbr, and I'm inspired to read the tagged next ?

"What I'm really saying is
in the end, we all turned to each other,
carried and held and helped each other,
gave what comfort we could to each other,
thrown over and over back to each other.
What I'm really saying is -
our ability to care for each other,
to stand with each other,
it's all that we have
in the end"
❤️?❤️

#Poetry

A new book about reproductive rights in the Pluto Press "Outspoken" series. I haven't read this, but the infographic is interesting/shocking/sadly-unsurprising.
As it's written about the USA context, I won't be rushing to get it, but I thought other Littens might find it of more immediate relevance.
Book details and all 8 of those infographic "Shocking Facts" at this link: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745350615/coercion/

#LitsyBloodDrive @TieDyeDude
Having made a blood donation last week, I received an email to let me know how it has been used:
"After your donation...your blood was taken to our manufacturing centre in Manchester...then processed into a form that can be given to a patient in need. Once it was ready it was sent to the Hull Royal Infirmary where it will help to save or improve someone's life."
144 miles from Preston to Manchester to Hull! ❤️?❤️?

I thought Shaw's 2022 poetry collection, "Towards a General Theory of Love" was fantastic, so I've high hopes for their 2006 debut collection.
It appears they work with some similar themes: mental health, neurodivergence, gender and trauma, woven with imagery drawing on the landscape of Northern England. I'm up for this!

#ClassicLSFBC
Zelazny weaves elements of Hindu and Buddhist motifs in a tale of technocratic "gods" vying for power and freedom on a far future alien planet.
It's a story of liberation from religious, oligarchic oppression, which once frames this as a fight against fascism, so it also fits for the #AntifaBookClub
The means of control of the populous is a high technology dressed in state religious ideology, used to enforce scientific ignorance ⬇️

#TuesdayTunes @tiedyedude

🎵 With a Little Help from My Friends
👨‍🎤 Joe Cocker
💿 With a Little Help from My Friends
📽️ https://youtu.be/rUVEFkjqiEE?si=EwZr4UI8UeG8-5-d

I've loved Joe's cover of this Beatles' song for years, but hadn't listened to the full album until this week, & it's magical! Joe covers a couple of Dylan songs, too, to which he does justice, but WALHFMF is definitely the standout track.
YT vid is his Woodstock performance🌻

Trans Pride Manchester 2025 is this Saturday, 2nd August 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
Mrs. B and I will be attending in solidarity, and looking forward to another lovely day, as we had last year 😊
Details, for anybody interested in attending or making a donation, are here:
https://www.transpridemcr.org/
#TransRightsAreHumanRights

I found the first section of the pamphlet incisive and inspirational, as Vaneigem sets out, via the Situationist concept of the Spectacle, how Capitalism oppresses people, and of how the discontents felt by most people living under this oppression point the way towards their liberation.
⬇️

#AntifaBookClub
Pic: Raoul Vaneigem [r] and Guy Debord [l].

Goodfellow states that their short book (88 pp) is a developing theory & compilation of thoughts, which is evident in the sudden shifts of focus and a certain amount of repetition, however it is a stimulating read which challenged some of my unquestioned assumptions about human/nonhuman relationships and 'pet ownership'.
Goodfellow's perspective is anarchist, anti-speciesist, anti-capitalist, anti-oppressive and liberationist: Full Metal Woke!
⬇️

"I don't wish to deny the reality of death or domination but instead laugh in the face of it. Laugh in the mindless, robotic face of oppression and repression, and its destruction. With loss comes grief and mourning, yes, but also a celebration of life itself, of theirs, of ours, of all nature. Joy, like revolution, is contagious and spreads like a forest fire."

"Assisting nonhumans to liberation is an act of love. Mutual aid is an act of love. Burning down prisons are acts of love. Feeding people is an act of love. Rising up in a slave rebellion is an act of love. Rioting is an act of love."
❤️???????????
#AntifaBookClub

Rather than "pet owner," Goodfellow suggests the term "animal accomplice," which I love as an alternative, but it does make me imagine a bank heist being pulled off by a team of bunnies!

(Also, they would not approve the 'cuteification' represented in this image!)

"Radical Companionship is a developing theory for evolving our relationships with others through an anti-speciesist lens."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Before I went to donate blood, I had a browse in a charity bookshop, and I was going to say I hadn't intended to buy anything, which is a flat out lie as I went out of my way to visit! 😁
To be fair to myself, I hadn't intended to make such a large #BookHaul but 13 books for 13 bucks (well, quid)! What could I do? 🤷‍♂️ I'm only human! 😏📚
I'm particularly pleased with the Wyndham🐧s and the Stoker 😀

I'm starting a bit late in the month for July's #ClassicLSFBC pick, but I think I should finish it before August.
I've had this book since 1980 and have started and not finished it three times, but I've kept it as Zelazny is one of my favourite authors. Hopefully, fourth time's a charm! 🍀
@RamsFan1963

I've put my photo of donating blood (🩸🅰️➕) behind a spoiler to protect the squeamish 😊 Mrs. B is one of those and would literally faint if she saw it!
I don't think anybody's yet posted a link to Tony Hancock's classic Blood Donor sketch for the#LitsyBloodDrive, so for those who haven't seen it, here's a little treat:
https://youtu.be/74rXlqx41vc?si=mqOOMKM96vUwaHIE

#NewInternationalist #555 has an article on the police & justice system in #Nigeria, in which is mentioned its execrable ranking at 122 of 125 countries surveyed for the 2023 World Internal Security and Police Index. #Denmark tops the survey, having the most effective and least corrupt police force (as measured), #Venezuela props up the list at the bottom. #UK is 23rd, & #USA at 32nd is reasonable, but not in the top tier for equitable justice.
⬇️

I've had H&S (as they preferred to be collectively known 🫠) and Tecumseh for 26 and 24 years respectively, and at 1207 and 509 pages, I have to face the truth that I'm never going to read them. So, they join the #AntiBookHaul ranks, and I've created space for four other books to come out of floor stacks and onto a shelf! This feels simultaneously 📚👋😢😮‍💨 and 📚👋😌🏆

"A Nibling's revenge is terrible!"
I want this on either a t-shirt ? or my tombstone ??

Written by Lars Jansson, and the last of the collected comic strips to be illustrated by Tove. Not much to say other than, "It's the Moomins," which is all the recommendation it needs ?? ????

Much as I'm finding Vaneigem's "Contributions to the Revolutionary Struggle..." stimulating and challenging, it's also a bit dry, so having got to a natural break in the text, I'm distracting myself with a volume of Moomin comics by Tove and Lars Jansson.
It opens in winter, with the Moomins preparing for hibernation, but, of course, their slumbers are interrupted by a succession of demanding guests seeking shelter from the snow! ?️❄️?

"Don't you find it odious and absurd to make any distinction between immigrant and home-born workers?
In that case you have realised that the old adage about "proletarians having no home land" remains perfectly true and should be borne in mind constantly to ward off the shit of nationalism and racism."

#AntifaBookClub

"Haven't you already taken part in pilfering from a distribution factory, ie, a supermarket?
In that case, you have come to understand that individual re-appropriation of goods stolen by the State & the employer class merely feeds the commodity process until it becomes a collective action & leads to total liquidation of the system, however...it is not enough to just repossess goods. One must also repossess the time and space stolen from us all."

There is a rumour that Russell was with British Intelligence during WWII and involved in Operation Mincemeat and other subversive projects, though there is no actual evidence for this. This sci fi novel detailing the disruptive campaign of an agent provocateur on an alien planet (a thin disguise for wartime Japan) was published a year or so after Operation Mincemeat was made public, so perhaps that's how the rumour started.
⬇️

#ZineHaul #ZineMail #AntifaBookClub 🏴

Three little tracts to read, plus a flyer for the Anarchist Book Fair on 8 November 25 at The People's History Museum, Manchester.
1: Radical Companionship, on anti-speciesism and how we might relate to animals in ways that respect their lives.
2: What About the Rapists?: Some responses to common criticisms of non-carceral justice systems.
⬇️

"He ambled into the room, sat in the indicated chair, and said nothing."

#FirstLineFridays @shybookowl

#BookMail
Terry Pratchett said of Wasp by Eric Frank Russell that "I can't imagine a funnier terrorists' handbook," which is quite a recommendation!
Written in 1957, it describes a one-man dirty tricks campaign to undermine the power base of an alien empire with which earth is in conflict.
My edition is a 1968 Panther with a cool cover design that I imagine has nothing to do with the contents, but which has drawn me in, nonetheless! ?

"Haven't you ever felt like giving up reading the newspapers and putting your foot through the television?
In that case, you have come to appreciate that the press, radio and television are the crassest vehicles for the lie...We subsist amid a forest of images with which we are driven to identify. We act less & less for ourselves and more & more as puppets of abstractions that direct us according to the laws of profit and power."
#AntifaBookClub

"Has it ever happened that, outside your place of work, you have felt the same distaste and weariness as you do inside the factory?
In that case, you have come to understand that the factory is all around us...It is the time and space of our everyday subsistence. It is becoming accustomed to repetitive moves and suppressed emotions."
#AntifaBookClub

I'm working hard to not just transcribe whole pages from this 1974 Situationist tract.

"Haven't you ever, just once, felt like turning up late for work or felt like slipping away from work early?
In that case, you have realised that time spent working is time doubly lost because it is time doubly wasted - as time which might be more agreeably spent making love, or day-dreaming, on pleasure or on one's hobbies: time which one would otherwise be free to spend however one wished - as time spent wearing us down physically & nervously."

This is one of the categories into which the Dewey Decimal Classification puts this book:
616.85882:
Technology> Medicine & health>  Diseases> Diseases of nervous system and mental disorders> Miscellaneous> Personality, sexual, gender-identity, impulse-control, factitious, developmental, learning disorders, violent behavior; mental retardation> Mental retardation; developmental and learning disorders> Autism

I have so many issues with this! 🤬

"I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days - three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain."
- John Keats to Fanny Brawne

While reading some of Keats' poetry this morning, I was visited by these four butterflies: Speckled Wood (top left); two mating Gatekeepers (top right: I think they were more focused on each other!); and a Large White. And some water lilies ???

Sitting with John by a fish-filled, butterfly-haunted pool before the day's workshops begin 🐟🦋

I loved this! 5🔎😊

I think that most Holmes aficionados would find something of interest here, and personally I enjoyed all the essays, though they're probably not for casual readers of the stories (apologies if that sounds elitist - it does in my own ears!)
The chapters examine a variety of themes including colonialism and Holmes's cultural role in defending and normalising the moral threat to Victorian society of its perpetration of the ⬇️

"Israel, the US's rogue proxy in the Middle East with it's own agenda, initiated the current East by attacking Iran with the declared aim of physically preventing it acquiring the nuclear bomb."

Feels like #1451 of the #SocialistStandard is going to be heavy! ?
#AntifaBookClub

I've always felt that counselling is a radical, political endeavour, rather than a "There, there, poppet" tea-and-sympathy stereotype, and the tagged book was a key text for me when I was a student counsellor.
I'm excited for the workshop detailed in the pic this afternoon at the conference I'm attending: The Person-Centred Approach: Is it Political? Does it Matter?
⬇️

I'm attending a weekend conference in Derbyshire and, not feeling the necessity of checking my ticket, I've arrived at 8:30 for a 9:00 start, but it actually kicks off at 11:00! 🤦🏻‍♂️
Oh, well, there's worse ways of spending a couple of hours than sitting in a conservatory with a book and a coffee 📖☕😌

Is there such a thing as an #AntiBookHaul ?

I've taken a deep breath and I'm taking these to my local National Trust second hand book room in order to make space on my shelves for books I want to keep.
(When I say "space on my shelves," I actually mean "marginally reduce the height of the piles of books stacked on the floor," but let's not pick nits!)

“Look for the silver lining
Whene'er a cloud appears in the blue
Remember, somewhere the sun is shining
And so the right thing to do
Is make it shine for you“ 🌤️

🎺🎙️Chet Baker
🎵 Look For The Silver Lining
💿 Chet Baker Sings
📝 Jerome Kern
▶️ https://youtu.be/SpRvuVOCJac?si=Y6t-yyImp2FdShgi

#TuesdayTunes @TieDyeDude

A little cheese, bread and olive platter while I read a Holmes essay and start on a set of short stories about the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
Musical accompaniment by Talking Heads, entertainment by Skye, who is alternately hunting my cheese and a vocal little robin, who is fully aware of what she's up to! 🐦‍⬛🐈‍⬛🧀

"It seems that somehow the hearts of human beings and trees are connected."

- The Princess and the Nutmeg Tree ??❤️?

#FirstLineFridays @shybookowl

"The ghost stories and strange tales that make up this book are set in the ancient Japanese province of Shinshu, or Shinano (now Nagano Prefecture), located in the center [sic] of Japan's main island of Honshu, a region intersected by three mountain ranges, mist-covered streams and a number of large and fast-flowing rivers."

At about ½ way through, the blurb descriptors of spine-chilling, spooky & terrifying ??

"You are not the sum of the things you do wrong
In the eyes of someone who does not understand you" ❤️

? Kae Tempest
?Statue in the Square
? Self Titled
?️ https://youtu.be/aTDOFaAcEyc?si=V1GW3C_ZrO9B9FLw

I pre-ordered Kae Tempest's new album, Self Titled, with an accompanying zine (so this counts as a book post, yeah? ?), which arrived today, and it is excellent! ✊??️‍⚧️?️‍?
#TransRightsAreHumanRights