That sweet horse is named Alvin. He lives in Sweden. I follow him on Instagram, he's the most adorable creature, second only to the wombats I follow on Facebook. I could cook up a trip around the world just to pet all the beautiful animals I've met through the internet.
Oh, I love knowing what he's called - thank you so much. Also yes, I agree about wombats - when I was about seven, I met a wombat called Sophie and still haven't forgotten her. x
I've always thought the REM line was "Only tried to wake her up" and I'm standing by that! Had never heard or noticed the very obvious rip/reference in the intro either, but am now wondering who received the royalties - there's a really interesting documentary on Netflix about the original writer of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and the legal battle over it (the doc is called ReMastered: The Lion's Share). https://youtu.be/mrrQT4WkbNE
I partly choose my audiobooks by length as I'm always trying to get the most out of free Audible credits and thereby avoid making Jeff Bezos any richer (one of my most futile resistances!), so I've listened to Anna Karenina, Bleak House, David Copperfield, Middlemarch, Don Quixote, and as you know am now mid-A Suitable Boy. I love being immersed in one world/cake for weeks on end! The only thing putting me off War and Peace is that it's in two parts (i.e. two credits, damn that evil billionaire); I've got Wild Swans in my library too but somehow haven't been tempted to start that one yet - have you read it?
Ooh, that is interesting - thank you. It's quite fascinating generally, isn't it - the rights around a collection of a few notes - with the Ed Sheeran case recently, I listened to both songs side by side a few times and felt no clearer over whether he'd done something wrong (my friend Ben would say he has just fundamentally done something wrong, not necessarily related to that lawsuit, but that's a separate matter. I don't really listen to his music, but I love his cameo appearances in films where his role is usually sending himself up - he just seems like a very humble sort of person and I really like him for it...but you probably didn't actually need that level of detail around my thoughts on Ed Sheeran....you're welcome to give me yours in return). I don't even know if I'm spelling his name correctly...
Are you ever tempted by something that's just a few hours long? I have been on occasion and it feels a bit like each word should be gold.
I got over half way through Wild Swans (surely the equivalent of 25 regular books) and although I thought it was very well-written and interesting, for me it just wasn't quite compelling enough to justify its length and so I abandoned it and the relief was huge. x
Ah Florence, another wonderful newsy letter. Thankyou. Sunshine, coffee and a good read...I'm happy. That little horse is definitely an overdose of cuteness. Are you a fan of Sally Vickers? I love her books, a gentle and comfortable read but compelling too.
I'm off to the library to find Where the crawdads sing. Have a wonderful week 🌸🌸
No, I haven't read anything by her, but I've always been tempted by her covers and wondered if I might like her, so thank you for the recommendation :) I specifically remembered a novel called The Librarian and when I went to her website just now to double check that definitely was the title - because even specific remembrances aren't always entirely reliable - I was shocked to find very different looking covers on her website. I'm assuming she's put the ones on there that she likes the most, which is interesting in itself, but the ones I'd seen had looked much more modern and stylised.
Oh, that books was such a treat - I hope you enjoy it. By the way, I hadn't noticed that it is quite heavy on sex scenes to begin with until I recommended it to my mum and she commented on this, but the carpets are in there, I promise! Just not right at the start. For the record, my mum absolutely loved this book too! x
Am I alone in finding long books a mixed blessing? They are daunting to start. I have Jane Smiley’s trilogy Some Luck sitting on my bedside table glaring at me accusingly! Three volumes each over 700 pages. Oh but what a joy if they turnout to be compellingly joyous and the enjoyment of a good story just goes on and on. There’s nothing worse than turning a page and finding yourself at the end of a good book when you thought you had a good chunk to go. Damn those blank pages mocking you.
Yes, I feel exactly like that before starting one - totally overwhelming...but then wonderful to be in the middle of! And yes, the blank pages are awful. That also happens with audio books too - occasionally they put a bonus Q&A at the end of one, which is lovely, but totally devastating when I thought I had an hour of the novel left and suddenly it's all over...
That sweet horse is named Alvin. He lives in Sweden. I follow him on Instagram, he's the most adorable creature, second only to the wombats I follow on Facebook. I could cook up a trip around the world just to pet all the beautiful animals I've met through the internet.
Oh, I love knowing what he's called - thank you so much. Also yes, I agree about wombats - when I was about seven, I met a wombat called Sophie and still haven't forgotten her. x
I've always thought the REM line was "Only tried to wake her up" and I'm standing by that! Had never heard or noticed the very obvious rip/reference in the intro either, but am now wondering who received the royalties - there's a really interesting documentary on Netflix about the original writer of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and the legal battle over it (the doc is called ReMastered: The Lion's Share). https://youtu.be/mrrQT4WkbNE
I partly choose my audiobooks by length as I'm always trying to get the most out of free Audible credits and thereby avoid making Jeff Bezos any richer (one of my most futile resistances!), so I've listened to Anna Karenina, Bleak House, David Copperfield, Middlemarch, Don Quixote, and as you know am now mid-A Suitable Boy. I love being immersed in one world/cake for weeks on end! The only thing putting me off War and Peace is that it's in two parts (i.e. two credits, damn that evil billionaire); I've got Wild Swans in my library too but somehow haven't been tempted to start that one yet - have you read it?
Ooh, that is interesting - thank you. It's quite fascinating generally, isn't it - the rights around a collection of a few notes - with the Ed Sheeran case recently, I listened to both songs side by side a few times and felt no clearer over whether he'd done something wrong (my friend Ben would say he has just fundamentally done something wrong, not necessarily related to that lawsuit, but that's a separate matter. I don't really listen to his music, but I love his cameo appearances in films where his role is usually sending himself up - he just seems like a very humble sort of person and I really like him for it...but you probably didn't actually need that level of detail around my thoughts on Ed Sheeran....you're welcome to give me yours in return). I don't even know if I'm spelling his name correctly...
Are you ever tempted by something that's just a few hours long? I have been on occasion and it feels a bit like each word should be gold.
I got over half way through Wild Swans (surely the equivalent of 25 regular books) and although I thought it was very well-written and interesting, for me it just wasn't quite compelling enough to justify its length and so I abandoned it and the relief was huge. x
Ah Florence, another wonderful newsy letter. Thankyou. Sunshine, coffee and a good read...I'm happy. That little horse is definitely an overdose of cuteness. Are you a fan of Sally Vickers? I love her books, a gentle and comfortable read but compelling too.
I'm off to the library to find Where the crawdads sing. Have a wonderful week 🌸🌸
No, I haven't read anything by her, but I've always been tempted by her covers and wondered if I might like her, so thank you for the recommendation :) I specifically remembered a novel called The Librarian and when I went to her website just now to double check that definitely was the title - because even specific remembrances aren't always entirely reliable - I was shocked to find very different looking covers on her website. I'm assuming she's put the ones on there that she likes the most, which is interesting in itself, but the ones I'd seen had looked much more modern and stylised.
I hope you love Crawdads as much as I did.
Wishing you a lovely weekend,
Florence x
Thanks Flirence, looking forward to reading The Blood of Flowers now 😀
Oh, that books was such a treat - I hope you enjoy it. By the way, I hadn't noticed that it is quite heavy on sex scenes to begin with until I recommended it to my mum and she commented on this, but the carpets are in there, I promise! Just not right at the start. For the record, my mum absolutely loved this book too! x
😜
Am I alone in finding long books a mixed blessing? They are daunting to start. I have Jane Smiley’s trilogy Some Luck sitting on my bedside table glaring at me accusingly! Three volumes each over 700 pages. Oh but what a joy if they turnout to be compellingly joyous and the enjoyment of a good story just goes on and on. There’s nothing worse than turning a page and finding yourself at the end of a good book when you thought you had a good chunk to go. Damn those blank pages mocking you.
Yes, I feel exactly like that before starting one - totally overwhelming...but then wonderful to be in the middle of! And yes, the blank pages are awful. That also happens with audio books too - occasionally they put a bonus Q&A at the end of one, which is lovely, but totally devastating when I thought I had an hour of the novel left and suddenly it's all over...