'It's not easy writing about nothing' That's how Patti Smith starts her book. The words uttered by a cowpoke in her dream. A kind of challenge that she accepts. Before I proceed with the review bit, I need to make a small disclaimer. I have seen Patti Smith live on All Points East in 2018, …
I remember the morning, long ago, hen the landlord called. [...]he said that of course we were aware that our lease was up? I said well, no, we hadn't really known that our lease was up. So he said well, he supposed that we hadn't looked at the lease recently and I (wondering if that …
Continue reading Life Among the Savages – Shirley Jackson – Quotes
So far I've read four books by Shirley Jackson, this one included. The first three I loved. We Have Always Lived in a Castle was an unexpected discovery for me, as I've never before heard of Jackson. Let Me Tell You a lovely holiday discovery from Barcelona. The Haunting of the Hill House could be called a …
Japhy and I were kind of outlandish-looking on the campus in our old clothes in fact Japhy was considered an eccentric around the campus, which is the usual thing got campuses and college people to think whenever a real man appears on the scene - colleges being nothing but grooming schools for the middle-class non-identity …
I've had this book on my shelf for years, bought probably eight or nine years ago in one of the second-hand bookshops. I think it must have been the £1 one because there's no price penciled in the book. Given my black heart and lack of patience for overly involved self-exploration, you could ask why …
I got this book from my mum for Christmas I think, or my birthday. In Polish edition, it has a beautiful cover, so I was tempted to read it, but at the same time deterred by its size. Finally roaming my shelves during lockdown in April I got to it. It is an odd choice …
Continue reading Wanderlust: A History of Walking – Rebecca Solnit
It is one of the four books on city planning I got from my mum last Christmas. I have Polish editions, but where I can identify the English version I'll refer to it for convenience (it saves me re-translating the title). My mum is a civil engineer and I am an art historian by education. …
Continue reading Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design – Charles Montgomery
I think that was the last one in the series that I owned. Apparently number four, but I didn't read them in order anyway, they're very loosely connected. Some characters repeat, but they always get reintroduced. I'll borrow the synopsis from Goodreads, as it gives a good summary of the plot. Alix London, the art …
Continue reading The Trouble with Mirrors – Charlotte Elkins, Aaron Elkins
I bought this book back in 2018 during my crazy bookshop crawl. Looking at the list now, I'm pretty much done reading half of the books I bought then. Definitely not running out of reading matter anytime soon! Witold Rybczynski is an architect and a professor, but he is mostly known for his writings on …
Continue reading Mysteries of the Mall and other Essays – Witold Rybczynski
Welcome to week six! I hope you are all still safe and healthy. After last week's relatively depressing fare I wanted to treat you this week to some of the most moving books I've read since I started writing this blog. Some of them are funny, others full of hope, yet others are tragic. What …
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