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Monday Musing: 09/09/13

September 9, 2013January 20, 2019 ~ The Book Habit

Hello hello!

I am still alive, despite disappearing for most of last week. My mum’s birthday brought about a surprise trip to the US and, with jet lag and an Elvis impersonator to contend with, my attention to blogging has been less than stellar. But I am back to it this week, with some more reviews and the regular features. Enjoy!

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My name is Laura and I am a book addict. The Book Habit is a chronicle of my literary adventures, indulging my decades-long love affair with the written word. Here I post reviews, as well as anything else related to the literary lifestyle.

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“Just as the painter Rubens amused himself with being the ambassador to the court of St. James’s – a sufficient career in itself for most busy men – so Mrs. Lucas amused herself, in the intervals of her pursuit of art for art’s sake, with being not only an ambassador but a monarch. Riseholme might perhaps, according to the crude materialism of maps, be included in the kingdom of Great Britain, but in a more real and inward sense it formed a complete kingdom of its own, and its queen was undoubtedly Mrs. Lucas, who ruled it with a secure autocracy pleasant to contemplate at a time when thrones were toppling, and imperial crowns whirling like dead leaves down the autumn winds.” . . . I stumbled across E.F. Benson’s enchantingly vibrant ‘Mapp and Lucia’ stories at a time of serious need. My life had taken a series of dramatic turns and I found myself jobless, homeless, and thousands of miles away from my then-fiancé. As per my usual method of coping with life’s challenges, I turned to the library for comfort - and it’s there that I discovered the socially turbulent worlds of Benson’s fictional English utopias. The ‘Mapp and Lucia’ stories centre around two effective monarchs of village life - Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Mrs. Emmeline (‘Lucia’) Lucas - as they work to depose any potential obstacles to their respective reigns. When the two are brought into collision in the sweet seaside town of Tilling, however, war ensues - a battle waged over evening bridge parties, musical evenings, and Lucia’s well-guarded recipe for Lobster a la Riseholme. With a humour that rivals P.G. Wodehouse and a depth of insight that far exceeds him, Benson is a master of early-20th century social satire. ‘Mapp and Lucia’ is exquisite - the perfect remedy to just about any of life’s troubles. Click the link in my bio to read a full review! 🌻 . . . #bookworm #bookstagram #booklover #booknerd #bookish #bookphotography #bookaddict #bookstagramfeature #bookaholic #booknerdigans #instabook #reading #booklove #book #booksandtea #bookrecommendation #bookreview

As a self-proclaimed lover of classic novels, I’ve often wondered what exactly makes a book a ‘classic’ (beyond uniting high school students in dismay and confusion). T.S. Eliot supposed that there is no such thing as a ‘classic’, except for anything by Virgil. On the opposite side, Italo Calvino developed 14 separate criteria for use in determining whether or not a novel should be awarded ‘classic’ status (before concluding that it will vary from person to person and we will all ultimately have “our own ideal libraries of classics”). In today’s article on The Book Habit, I’ve pulled some of the research and definitions of classic literature in an attempt to answer the question ‘what exactly makes a classic a classic?’. Click the link in my bio to have a read, and let me know what you think ‘defines’ a classic! . . . And please enjoy my new collection of John Steinbeck novels! Shipped from across an ocean because I was compelled by these incredible covers. Props to @penguinbooks and their modern classics collection! . . . #bookstagram #booklover #booknerd #bookish #igreads #bookphotography #bookaddict #bookstagramfeature #bookaholic #booknerdigans #instabook #reading #booklove #books #bookworm #johnsteinbeck #steinbeck #booksandtea

“These were the hidden violences. Day-long deaths that snuffed out our small and limited futures. Since we grew up around London towers, struggle was a standard echo in our speech, in thought, in action.” . . . Guy Gunaratne’s debut novel, ‘In Our Mad and Furious City’, comes with some hefty recommendations. Longlisted for last year’s Man Booker Prize and praised by the likes of Marlon James and Ali Smith for its unrelenting authenticity, this is a novel that vibrates with the frenetic energy of life on the fringes of contemporary London. Told from the perspective of five characters of different generations, ‘In Our Mad and Furious City’ relates the events of 48 hours on a London estate, following the murder of an off-duty soldier by an Islamic extremist. Exploring the connections between extremism and the limited futures of a population consigned to life on the outskirts, Gunaratne’s novel is necessary reading. Click the link in my bio to read a full review. . . . #bookreview #bookrecommendation #booksandtea #summerreading #bookworm #bookstagram #booklover #booknerd #bookish #igreads #bookphotography #bookaddict #bookstagramfeature #bookaholic #booknerdigans #instabook #reading #booklove #bookstagrammer #instabooks #read

Heading unrelentingly into summer, May has been a pretty good month for reading. I quelled my anxiety with a favourite from Jasper Fforde’s ‘Thursday Next’ series, before welcoming the stomach-churning stress of Koushun Takami’s ‘Battle Royale’. Bouncing between the literary dystopias of Ken Liu’s Chinese sci-fi anthology ‘Invisible Planets’ and the sweet English utopia of E.F. Benson’s ‘Mapp and Lucia’, it’s also been a month of real diversity. I’ve been similarly engrossed in some incredible articles and interviews that’ve come out of the literary world this May - click the link in my bio for this month’s edition of The Monthly Reader and a summary of May’s best pieces and releases! 📚 . . . . #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookrecommendation #bookstagramfeature #booksandtea #books #read #reading #booklover #bookphotography #bookblog #booknerdigans #booknerd #bookaddict #summerreading

“And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky!” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, ‘The Little Prince’ . . . Of all the challenges we face, grief is perhaps the most universal. We’ve all known loss of some kind - whether through the death of a loved one, a move away from friends and family, or even a redundancy. Grieving is an important part of the human experience, moving us toward a point where we can trade sadness for a gratitude toward the time spent. Despite its importance, grief can still be isolating and overwhelming. It is here that bibliotherapy has something to offer. Given the universality of grief, it is no surprise that fiction deals at length with loss and its consequences. In today’s installment of my series on bibliotherapy, I’m looking at the relationship between fiction and grief and making some recommendations for books to help you cope with loss. Click the link in my bio to have a read. And let me know which books have helped you through periods of grief. 💖 . . . #bibliotherapy #bookstagram #bookworm #booklover #booknerd #bookish #igreads #bookaddict #reading #bookphotography #books #instabook #booknerdigans #book #bookblog #bookblogger #harrypotter #booksandtea #cozy

It’s no secret that I love a good adaptation. I spent much of my teenage years on the verge of an incredibly unhealthy obsession with Colin Firth’s portrayal of Mr. Darcy (who am I kidding? It was sufficiently extreme that I performed a pilgrimage to the lake from his infamous diving scene). While I’ve yet to honestly encounter an adaptation so expertly rendered as to make reading the novel redundant, there are some truly wonderful efforts to visualise classic fiction via the big screen. Drawing on my experience as an avid student of the adaptation, I’ve put together a list of the best TV and film versions of classic novels. Click the link in my bio to have a read! And let me know if you have your own favourite adaptations (because I’m always looking for new recommendations)! 📚 . . . #bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #booklover #booknerd #bookish #igreads #bookphotography #bookaholic #booknerdigans #reading #bbc #books #bookaddict #cozy #janeeyre #booksandtea #filmadaptation

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