It's no spoiler to reveal that there's no handy graph with great art on the X axis and monstrosity on the Y axis. What it does have is an ample selection of ethical chew-toys. She discusses themes such as: who gets to be considered a genius? How do we ascribe monstrosity differently to male and female artists? Who the hell is included in "we" anyway? To what extent does "our" individual, subjective judgement have any meaning? I liked it a lot.

Well, this was stirring stuff! It makes some of Uhtred of Bebbanburg's escapades look like a church fête!
There's no getting away from its being a matter of masculine heroics in the extreme; part of me wanted to find it all a bit ridiculous on that account. However, I was audio-drawing and more than once I realised my pen had been hovering motionless over the paper for some minutes. Audio is *definitely* the way to go with this.

Library #bookhaul
My InstantPot has long since been promoted from appliance to sous chef.
I've not made much use of the slow cooker function, though. (The air fryer is a new venture: so far it's at risk of becoming known as "the potato machine".)

She does a fine job of setting out her stall, that between the ages of 8 and 40 or so we're effectively hijacked by biology and culture and that midlife is an opportunity to become our true selves. However I found I don't subscribe to the myths about ageing that she assumes are universal, so it wasn't nearly the paradigm shift that was promised. And while she's good on excavating one's authentic dreams, the realising of them is more problematic.

I am so glad I discovered Beth Kempton (via Instagram, of all places)!
She comes across as a thoughtful, genuine and generous person and her books reflect this. This one's accompanying podcast is a great listen, too, and her website offers various supportive freebies (meditations, a writing group workbook...)

I am actually starting to think about writing again (I haven't been able to write since I completed my poetry book a couple of years ago).

Not my usual fair; in fact, had it not been Kyle Gray I would have dismissed it out of hand. I like and trust Kyle: for all his woo-woo he generally comes across as level-headed. From where I'm standing, though, this book is faaaaar out and some of the concepts and vocabulary made me distinctly uncomfortable. On the other hand, some parts made sense of things I've experienced. (I'll just think of them as spirit teachers and take it from there.)

God, I love how she tells a story!
Without intending to, I ended up reading back-to-back pandemic books. The other was for library book group and had all the close-quartered sameness of that time. In contrast, ES delivers another of her quiet books and lets its rich and capacious interiority sing out.

Read for my library's book group.
If I were pitching this I'd say it's a cross between Nina Stibbe's "Love, Nina" and Hazel Prior's "Away With The Penguins".
It's not bad, but for me it was too samey throughout, in terms of both tone and pace. And then it doesn't end so much as stop. ?

Thank you, @Caroline2 😙
I loved her Migrations (in a bleak moody kind of way!) so am looking forward to Wolves.
The Camus is nothing if not pertinent!

I have finally completed the #bookerprize longlist!
I wish I could say I finished on a high but, alas.... ? This had its moments but, goodness, did it test my patience! Many of the "events" happen off the page, in the great chunks of time between chapters, which makes the languorous prose / long-windedness (depending on how fed up I was) all the more frustrating. And I really could have done without that epilogue.

My birthday book haul, from the weekend: I'm a happy woman! ☺️
Thank you @squirrelbrain and @TrishB for "Rivers" and "Decembers". I've had my eye on those for a while.

Truth be told, it lacks the resonance of his Children Of Time trilogy. Instead there are multiple fight scenes, or maybe a kind of Goldberg Variations on the first fight scene. However, I grew to love the crew, and it took my mind off "world events".
If you don't go in expecting an existential crisis (despite its theme of the destruction of worlds bearing sentient life) but just buckle up and go with it, I think you'll enjoy the ride.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2cMcZgAIZS0ZafdW1MDYKU?si=qO2rbsPCSg2DiMb8QNxifg

Just leaving this here, for anyone who needs it today.

#libraryhaul ☺️
Marmalade is the next library group book.
The Messud is my final #bookerprizelonglist title.
The Tchaikovsky is by way of treating myself after showing up for a social activity. 😉

#bookerprizelonglist
My run of ho-hum books continues. ?
It took me to a world I would never have thought to enter otherwise, so I'm grateful for that, and the opening chapter/fight was interesting... but thereafter it proved to be a one-trick pony, until we reach the Space Odyssey-esque ending (wtf was that about?!). Nor do I buy the "competitively hitting seven bells out of eachother as a metaphor for girls maturing into womanhood" angle. Meh.

Readable but I'm perplexed by its making the #bookerprizeshortlist
Sadie's like a generic greetings card: attractive front, blank inside. It's problematic when we spend the entire time in her head as it renders the other characters and events flat, too.
She does make some sharp observations of people at times, so why did she find Bruno (a ten-a-penny boring old fart) beguiling?!
A couple of times it almost became thrilling but then decided not to.

My first book of 2025!
I loved the melancholic, dreamy vibe but it did make the abrupt revelation of Yaiyo's past somewhat jarring: I seem to have had more difficulty assimilating it than she herself did.
And I think if you are going to introduce a taboo relationship (or two!) then it really needs to be given more space and depth if the reader is to have any response besides wanting to push it away.

My 100th, and final, book of 2024.
I enjoyed the evocation of time and place very much, so it's a pick, but truthfully I never quite warmed to either Robert or Dulcie (and was unmoved by Romy's story, possibly because it was told at a further remove). It's a personal thing but I was riled by Robert's horizons being broadened by a toff: as if that world is the real world and all other experience a poor deviation from or distortion of that reality.

Amateurish.
The core concepts strike me as sound and deserving of serious contemplation (and application!) but the whistle-stop tour we're given of these takes up only 50% of the book. The second half launches into surface-level self help territory, as we're told how to set up and maintain an exercise regime, how to make healthy food choices, how to talk to our spouse so as not to escalate conflict etc. It's just weird and uncomfortable. 😣

This year's installment of my annual Last Kingdom fest. ☺️
Are the stories getting formulaic by now? Pretty much, yeah.
Is Uhtred a posturing self-mythologiser? I'd say he matches the description, yes.
Did I thoroughly enjoy these past few days in his company? Absolutely!

Merry Christmas, dear Littens, to all who celebrate. 🎄🎁📚
To those who do not, I wish you the best of Wednesdays. ☺️

👋 *waving at Uhtred from my sofa and a thousand years' distance*

Happy solstice to all who celebrate! ☀️
There's fruit cake, oranges, nuts, Uhtred of Bebbanburg... what more can you ask?
(Uhtred would prefer fewer books and more ale. 🙄)

A drugs-related kidnapping of a young lad: not a book I'd have picked up, were it not for its #bookerprize longlisting.
I enjoyed the characterisation (poor Dev, especially, and hapless Doll, and prematurely adult Nicky). There's something feels not quite complete about it though, and it could do with one more edit: not least to clear up the nonsensical imagery I kept tripping over (eg. the appearance of a distant building compared to an aspirin).

Oh, this was good! Actually, I think it's the best of his that I've read, partly because he has a defter touch with the foreshadowing here than in some others. I enjoyed the telling of this from the wife's point of view and her anguish re questioning her complicity/"stupidity".
I want to read "Earth" now!

The storm is mostly passed, the tree is up and, for reasons unknown, I'm after reading Tennyson. 🤷

#bookerprizelonglist (Yes, I'm still making slow progress through the longlist ?)

To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this much. Given the subject matter, I imagined it would be rather "tough" in a blokeish way: the book it would have been had Mustafa been the narrator, perhaps. As it was, I found it surprisingly tender. I felt for Khaled, whose life seems permanently provisional despite 30 years of staying put.

I'd have shortlisted it.

Shamelessly not even pretending to be book-related: I just wanted to show you the surprise gift of an advent calendar my daughter gave me. I smile every time I see it! 😀 ❤️ 🦕🦖

Fascinating book! A rich buffet for word-nerds, a collection of essays on e.g: ASL; the rules of Icelandic naming; the Manx language; details of translating Les Murray's poetry into French; Esperanto; the grammar and syntax of phone-speech; the work of Georges Perec (appropriately excluding the letter "e"); and his own synaesthetic language of number.
(I'm considering the possibility that I have a crush on Daniel Tammet's mind at this point. ?)

This maps the intersection between a life built from books, feminism, disputed childhood neglect and female (self) control.
I have close, albeit second-hand, experience of a near fatal eating disorder so this was a tough listen throughout: be warned! (Also, briefly, for suicide ideation.) If you're a fan of her novels, I think you won't want to miss this. I found it compelling, for which credit must also go to narrator, Morven Christie.

Oh, this was seriously good! It's a powerful story on a subject I don't recall reading about before. I very much enjoyed the characterisation of Isabel and Eva and, oh my, the tension generated throughout as it becomes clear what is actually going on here. Actually I think it would have been my personal #bookerprize winner, were it not for the generous amount of 🌶️ , which i just don't like.

Heigh ho, here we go for another turn around the relief-grief-rage cycle! Turns out there's a significant overlap between cPTSD and the autism spectrum (not surprised). This is a reassuring and potentially empowering book, in that the approach comprises things you can do for yourself, without requiring professional support. I've tweaked my journalling/meditation practice to include her methods. So far so good but it's early days yet.

Well that was... odd!
A writer-mother has conversations with her teenaged son, who has committed suicide: sounds pretty devastating, right?
But they mostly quibble over semantics. ? I wasn't up for being swept away by floods of tears but I was expecting to feel *something*. It's desolate enough, in it's own way, and has left me with a "what was the point of it all?" kind of emptiness. Maybe that was the point?

#bookerprize2024
I mean, I'm not *unhappy* but of the eight longlisted books I've read so far this one came in at 4th place. 🤷
Would love to know if it was anyone here's top pick.

Lovely book! She starts with basic paint- and brush- handling techniques which are then developed and combined in subsequent chapters. Each comprises several step-by-step projects on a theme: flowers/plants, animals, food, objects, people, places. I found them so satisfying to do and completed every single one!

I'd recommend gouache to anyone who wants to paint but finds watercolour intimidating and doesn't have the space to set up acrylic/oils.

#bookerprizeshortlist
I have yet to read Safekeep (my next-up) and Creation Lake but, as it stands, for me it's a contest between this and James.

It's a quiet, pensive, slow-paced book, with themes of grief, remorse, forgiveness. It explores how we go about the task of being able to live with ourselves (never mind others!) and whether "retreat" is a culpable or even possible response to the world. Oh, and there's a plague of mice to keep it real.

Glad I persevered but sorry to use such a word where reading is concerned.
My FIL was a Baptist minister and I've good memories of comet Hale-Bopp (I was pregnant), so there's that.
I did enjoy it in the end but it's a qualified pick: the vibe was more 1897 than 1997, which was disorienting, and several minor characters, along with the whole Maria Vaduva story arc, didn't quite come into focus.
I did like Grace and Thomas's complex friendship.

Amen (or whatever the Sanskrit equivalent is) to that!

Fascinating book! He says at the end, "If there is hope for wild nature, it's in our love for it." What's the opposite of a gatekeeper? Someone who says, "Off we go, then: be sure to pick up a flask of tea and a magnifying glass on the way out."? That's what this book feels like. He's keen to demonstrate that you're not nearly as bad a botanist as you probably think: once that hurdle has been cleared there's a whole world of wonder to explore.

#bookerprizelonglist

I loved it! I thought it followed a similar pattern to The Overstory, but focused on the ocean rather than trees. And, again, it's not so much about the plot as what it *means*. In short, it's a gorgeous "thinky" book that appeals to the heart (my favourite kind?). I'm disappointed it wasn't shortlisted.

BorrowBox was definitely the way to go with this: I wouldn't have wanted to invite it into my house in physical form. I know that's superstitious, but it's a testament to how it scared the feckin' bejesus out of me. 😱
I wanted to shake Eilish, but can I honestly say I would behave differently? Unlikely. I hope to God I never have to find out.

Wasn't sure this would be my thing: an online freebie she offered proved to be beneficial so I wanted to support her work. It's a lovely, quiet, thoughtful book. A book of emotional courage and vulnerability. In short, insofar as "kokoro" can be unpacked even in the space of a whole book, it's about living from an experience of orienting to and from the heart-mind. The three pondering/journalling questions at the end of each chapter keep it real.

I know of KA primarily as a poet: always creative, always interesting, sometimes very moving, sometimes just plain baffling. This book was all of those things by turn. Or all at once.
Cyrus is colossally self-absorbed, but is aware of the fact. I wanted good things to happen for him.
Structurally, I'm not entirely convinced it worked, but KA makes for a dazzling, rhapsodic novelist. I enjoyed his book very much.

#libraryhaul
Waiting for me on the "reserved books" shelf this week.
Mr K was also waiting for me; I deliberately didn't take my glasses, so I wouldn't be tempted to browse. ???

My wholly spontaneous Jess Kidd-athon continues! 😁
This was an excellent October read (and the audiobook has a top-notch narrator, too): it's a female detective story with possibly mythical creatures and an absolute boat-load of Victorian macabre.
I adored Bridie Devine and was somewhat more surprised to find I had a soft spot for the ghost of a heavyweight boxer: that's the power of fiction, I suppose.

Alone, alone, all, all alone,
With a pot of cardamom tea...

My autumnal Sunday afternoon vibe 👌

As with Anne Michaels' "Held", I was into the first half but once the narrative reached 2018 it kind of dissipated and/or fragmented whilst feeling increasingly repetitive, not helped by the fact that the various characters are written with the same voice. It's a worthy book dealing with seriously heavy themes and perhaps I'd feel differently had I read "There There" beforehand but, as it is, my reading experience became something of a trudge.

A qualified pick because while Jess Kidd's books are a good read/listen this was my least favourite so far. She does favour rather dark themes but this one got *really* bleak.
I appreciated the repetitions that linked the two narratives, and had to look up the history of the Batavia afterwards.
There will be NO animal cruelty on my watch! (poor tortoise 🐢 😩)

I marvel at the thought process that results in a book that makes it impossible to look away from a still-unfolding culture of racist violence and plays it for laughs.
I kind of enjoyed it, after a horrified fashion: it's sickening on many levels. (And, once again P.E calls me out: murder on all sides but it's the *language* that bothers me?)
When the weird 💩 went off-the-charts crazy it lost me rather; maybe I'd just reached saturation point.

Frances Hardinge is a damn good storyteller (and Emilia Fox is a top notch narrator)! Yes, there are gothic shenanigans involving an eldritch tree that thrives on lies and produces psychotropic truth-fruits. Then there is a suspicious death to be investigated. But *really* it is about scientifically-minded Faith refusing to content herself with the crumbs that fall from the table as she grows towards womanhood in the Victorian era.