How about you?.....
Books All White Men Own....
Thursday, 14 May 2015
12 Books Boys Own...Apparently...
So, they say all white men own these, but I only have 13 out of the whole lot in my 2500 or so book collection.
How about you?.....
Books All White Men Own....
How about you?.....
Books All White Men Own....
Monday, 4 May 2015
Book Review: A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway....
A Moveable Feast (1964)
Published by: Scribner
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Acquired from: Shakespeare And Company Paris
BLM Rating 10 / 10
As you may remember from this earlier post, my BLM colleague, Baju, recently returned from a trip to Paris, where, I'm pleased to say, she kindly bought me a gift. No big surprise it was a book, and very appropriately, from my favourite bookshop in the world, (and now hers) Shakespeare & Company.
Even more appropriate was the book itself, Hemingway's Moveable Feast. You might be surprised to find out I've never read any Hemingway! Well, this was the place to start without a doubt!
A lover of Paris and a lover of literature can't fail to fall for this book. It instantly transports the reader to Paris in the 20's, a world of Gertrude Stein and the Fitzgeralds, Ezra Pound and Ford Madox Ford.
There's little wonder Woody Allen tried to represent just such a journey in his 2011 movie Midnight In Paris it's worth a look for sure, but Hemingway's final, posthumously released work does a far better job.
In summary, and in a pathetic attempt to mimic Hemingway's own style...
An author of renown wrote his final book. It was good. My friend bought it for me in Paris, to make me think of Paris.
It did. I am grateful.
Stevie at BLM
Published by: Scribner
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Acquired from: Shakespeare And Company Paris
BLM Rating 10 / 10
As you may remember from this earlier post, my BLM colleague, Baju, recently returned from a trip to Paris, where, I'm pleased to say, she kindly bought me a gift. No big surprise it was a book, and very appropriately, from my favourite bookshop in the world, (and now hers) Shakespeare & Company.
Even more appropriate was the book itself, Hemingway's Moveable Feast. You might be surprised to find out I've never read any Hemingway! Well, this was the place to start without a doubt!
A lover of Paris and a lover of literature can't fail to fall for this book. It instantly transports the reader to Paris in the 20's, a world of Gertrude Stein and the Fitzgeralds, Ezra Pound and Ford Madox Ford.
There's little wonder Woody Allen tried to represent just such a journey in his 2011 movie Midnight In Paris it's worth a look for sure, but Hemingway's final, posthumously released work does a far better job.
In summary, and in a pathetic attempt to mimic Hemingway's own style...
An author of renown wrote his final book. It was good. My friend bought it for me in Paris, to make me think of Paris.
It did. I am grateful.
Stevie at BLM
Saturday, 25 April 2015
A Literary Tour Of Paris....
Over Easter this year, I was lucky enough to go on a literary tour through the streets of Paris with Paris tour guide company Localers.
We turned back a few pages in history and revisited some of the literary VIPs who left their mark on Paris: The Romantics of the 19th century, The Lost Generation between the wars, and The Beat Generation of the 1950s and 60s.
Here are some of the highlights...
We turned back a few pages in history and revisited some of the literary VIPs who left their mark on Paris: The Romantics of the 19th century, The Lost Generation between the wars, and The Beat Generation of the 1950s and 60s.
Here are some of the highlights...
We started from the Passage Richelieu at the Louvre, where Hemingway & Fitzgerald went to check the penis sizes of statues. True story. It's in "The Moveable Feast" ... "Go over to the Louvre and look at the people in the statues and then go home and look at yourself in the mirror in profile".. Seriously.
Image credit: http://medias.photodeck.com/50ab13b2-0b69-11e1-abad-ebb4c6f90b2c/TS011431_xlarge.jpg
Climbing over the Pont des Arts, we stopped for a while at the Institut de France. Only the French can be SO passionate about their language and culture ... 5 académies including the Académie française founded in 1635 - the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language... Les immortels include Victor Hugo, Rousseau, Balzac, Descartes, Marcel Proust and Jules Verne. France did produce a huge number of literary greats, didn't they?!!
Image credit: http://michellegable.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PontDesArts.jpg
We then walked along the historic Rue de Seine, past its galleries and antiques into Rue des Beaux Arts and stopped at L'Hotel. Nestled in the heart of the Left Bank, amidst the cultural riches, bohemian soul and high fashion of St Germain-des-Prés, this was Oscar Wilde's last home and later the heart of Parisian society in the swinging sixties. It is now a 5 star hotel and restaurant. Once the world of the La bohème, this area is now home to Bobo's - the bourgeois bohemian...
Image credit: http://cdn1.buuteeq.com/upload/18234/le-bar-2.jpg.1340x450_0_150_6978.jpg
At the end of this road is the Ecole des Beaux Arts, one of the most influential art schools in Paris. On the entrance wall is a long standing graffiti of a cat. Apparently they could not quite decide to remove it since it was created by a famous street artist!! Our lovely guide Marie, treated us to some Ladurée melt-in-your-mouth macarons on Rue Bonaparte.
Image credit: http://newsweek-paris-france.tumblr.com/image/22183966881
Image credit: http://images.trvl-media.com/hotels/4000000/3160000/3160000/3159995/3159995_36_b.jpg
Image credit: https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3074/2930969060_21ae9166df.jpg
Like its main rival, Les Deux Magots, it hosted many of the French intellectuals during the post-war years...
Image credit: https://slm-assets0.secondlife.com/assets/2399810/lightbox/SO%20Les%20Deux%20Magots.jpg?1288122892
Nearby also is Café Procope, opened in 1686 and the oldest restaurant of Paris in continuous operation. Regulars here included Voltaire, Napoleon, Balzac, Hugo and Benjamin Franklin.
Image credit: http://www.procope.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-procope5.jpg
Image credit: https://www.kiwicollection.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/le-comptoir-du-relais.jpg
Image credit: http://kitchenscoop.com/images/uploads/Paris-evening-lrg.jpg
Image credit: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--0zU5w_2QPM/T6J9B_mY5qI/AAAAAAAALAI/KHfujGMxkkw/s1600/IMG_0326.jpg
Image credit: http://www.johnnydepp-zone.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=41971
We then strolled through the university town - past the Sorbonne & Collège de France.
Image credit: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/b2/0a/b4/b20ab4eb8732e0a6ad0ccf6dbb155895.jpg
In the middle of all these colleges and schools, there is also the magnificent Panthéon - originally a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, now a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. Hugo, Dumas, Voltaire, Rousseau, Braille and the Curies all rest here. Restoration work is ongoing to clean it up and apparently they use apricot scrub to clean the stones!!
Image credit: http://expressoparis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Le-Panthéon1.jpg
For Harry Potter fans, the Musée de Cluny has the Tapestry of the Lady and the Unicorn series - shown hanging on the walls of the Gryffindor Common Room in the films.
Image credit: http://www.historyofpainters.com/unicorn.JPG
This medieval museum also includes the ruins of Gallo-Roman thermal baths, believed to have been built in the 3rd century. The layers of history in Paris are simply fascinating!
Image credit: http://www.history.com/images/media/slideshow/paris-landmarks/roman-baths.jpg
After talking so much about 1920s Paris, we simply couldn't end it without some jazz!
Le Caveau des Oubliettes and the La Guillotine pub, tucked away in Rue Galande in the Latin Quarter, are the place to go for jazz and blues.
Image credit: http://esphoto500x500.mnstatic.com/le-caveau-des-oubliettes-pub-y-club-de-jazz_115151.jpg
If you are in the mood for some classical music instead, head on to the Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre - the oldest church in Paris - which regularly hosts classical concerts.
Image credit: http://www.oeuvre-orient.fr/wp-content/uploads/eglisedesaintjulienlepauvre.jpg
In the Square René-Viviani–Montebello beside the church is also Paris' oldest tree, planted in the early 1600s!!!
Image credit: http://theboldsoul.lisataylorhuff.com/.a/6a00d8341c82c653ef017ee8b4f216970d-pi
Finally - there it is! Shakespeare & Company... Nestled in a small stone courtyard just across the Seine from the Notre Dame Cathedral. It could hardly be in a better location.
Out front, bookstands surround an ornate drinking fountain. Inside, an extensive stock of second-hand books.
If there's a heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here...
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Image credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Shakespeare_and_Company_(July_2007).jpg/400px-Shakespeare_and_Company_(July_2007).jpg
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Armchair Traveller? 8 Books About.... LONDON...
There's an armchair traveller in all of us, even those who do plenty of the real thing.
So inspired by my co-BLM author's recent trip to Paris, (to soon be documented right here...) I thought I'd put together a list of a few titles which feature my particular favourite world city, Old London Town!
1: LONDON by Edward Rutherfurd
Of course one of my favourite books, by one of my favourite authors, so no surprise to see this gem on the top of the pile. Not only a series of great interconnected stories but a lovely potted history of the great city too. Rutherford has done his magic on a number of world cities but this is, for me, the best.
2: LONDON The Wicked City by Fergus Linnane
Giving us a glimpse through a thousand years of vice in England's capital, this is the tourist's guide to all things debauched, be they Roman legionaries, medieval traders, 18th century rakes or Victorian hypocrites, sex and the city have always gone hand in hand, sometimes open, sometimes hidden, always available!
3: LONDON The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
If London could choose it's biographer then Peter Ackroyd would perhaps be the best choice. From the time of Caesar to the present, he takes his reader through a chronology of her life. Thames-like in breadth and import to the great city, the book meanders on with the irresistible purpose of it's lifeblood river. My favourite London history by a city mile.
4: CITY OF CITIES The Birth Of Modern London by Stephen Inwood
Focusing on the late Victorian period to the pre-Great War years, this book demonstrates the way London coped with a unique period of population explosion and technological development that shaped much of the way we experience life in modern cities today. Mass transportation, mass production and mass marketing, changing London and the world, forever.
5: LONDINIUM London In The Roman Empire by John Morris
Like Rome, London really began with a bridge. Positioned at the lowest crossing place on the Thames, the Romans created a centre of government that, over time grew to be one of Rome's most prosperous regional capitals, but it was to ultimately be abandoned by the mother that gave birth to it, left to fend for itself in a world gone dark.
6: LONDON A Life In Maps by Peter Whitfield
This beautiful British Library publication serves a dual purpose, being both an excellent book in it's own right, but also being a very useful accompaniement to reading other books about London. Surprisingly to our modern sensibilities, nobody thought to map London until 500 years ago! For 1500 years I guess one used local knowledge and good luck to get around!
7: BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY London Entertained 1830-1950 by Gavin Weightman
One of the great things about London books is there are always a wealth of titles that deal with very specific, sometimes quirky bits of the city's life. This is one of them. A history of popular entertainment from stage and screen, this is a delightfully English, delightfully London piece of entertainment in itself.
8: LONDON The Illustrated History by Cathy Ross & John Clark
Produced by The Museum of London, this is a great concise presentation of the history of the English capital, wonderfully illustrated with both maps and images. If you can't get to the Museum of London, which you should try to do, this book will serve as an excellent substitute.
So inspired by my co-BLM author's recent trip to Paris, (to soon be documented right here...) I thought I'd put together a list of a few titles which feature my particular favourite world city, Old London Town!
1: LONDON by Edward Rutherfurd
Of course one of my favourite books, by one of my favourite authors, so no surprise to see this gem on the top of the pile. Not only a series of great interconnected stories but a lovely potted history of the great city too. Rutherford has done his magic on a number of world cities but this is, for me, the best.
2: LONDON The Wicked City by Fergus Linnane
Giving us a glimpse through a thousand years of vice in England's capital, this is the tourist's guide to all things debauched, be they Roman legionaries, medieval traders, 18th century rakes or Victorian hypocrites, sex and the city have always gone hand in hand, sometimes open, sometimes hidden, always available!
3: LONDON The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
If London could choose it's biographer then Peter Ackroyd would perhaps be the best choice. From the time of Caesar to the present, he takes his reader through a chronology of her life. Thames-like in breadth and import to the great city, the book meanders on with the irresistible purpose of it's lifeblood river. My favourite London history by a city mile.
4: CITY OF CITIES The Birth Of Modern London by Stephen Inwood
Focusing on the late Victorian period to the pre-Great War years, this book demonstrates the way London coped with a unique period of population explosion and technological development that shaped much of the way we experience life in modern cities today. Mass transportation, mass production and mass marketing, changing London and the world, forever.
5: LONDINIUM London In The Roman Empire by John Morris
Like Rome, London really began with a bridge. Positioned at the lowest crossing place on the Thames, the Romans created a centre of government that, over time grew to be one of Rome's most prosperous regional capitals, but it was to ultimately be abandoned by the mother that gave birth to it, left to fend for itself in a world gone dark.
6: LONDON A Life In Maps by Peter Whitfield
This beautiful British Library publication serves a dual purpose, being both an excellent book in it's own right, but also being a very useful accompaniement to reading other books about London. Surprisingly to our modern sensibilities, nobody thought to map London until 500 years ago! For 1500 years I guess one used local knowledge and good luck to get around!
7: BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY London Entertained 1830-1950 by Gavin Weightman
One of the great things about London books is there are always a wealth of titles that deal with very specific, sometimes quirky bits of the city's life. This is one of them. A history of popular entertainment from stage and screen, this is a delightfully English, delightfully London piece of entertainment in itself.
8: LONDON The Illustrated History by Cathy Ross & John Clark
Produced by The Museum of London, this is a great concise presentation of the history of the English capital, wonderfully illustrated with both maps and images. If you can't get to the Museum of London, which you should try to do, this book will serve as an excellent substitute.
Saturday, 14 February 2015
Listings Page Feb 2015 Update...
Hi everyone, thanks to your wonderful input a couple of weeks ago, we've now added a whole heap of new independent bookstores to our listings page! We still want to hear more input from you, so if there are any more you feel deserve a mention, let us know!
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
February 2015 Already?? Ok, Here's some Book News Then....
Hi everyone, time has flown, speeded along by copious amounts of reading as usual!
We're already more than a month into 2015 so I thought I'd give you a quick update on my bookish world so far this year, starting with some recommendations from my recent reading pile.
First up I'd like to give another heads up for Ben Elton, author of my first review of the year, Time And Time Again. Following my enjoyment of that work I launched straight into Two Brothers, another of Elton's, works of historical fiction, this time without the 'supernatural' element.
It's a very absorbing piece of work, more than equal to a Follett or Deighton treatment of the time period (the early 20th century) and has made me a firm favourite of Ben Elton's work.
Talking of Ken Follett, which I kind of was, I've also read Fall Of Giants, this month, and I'm well into the sequel, Winter Of The World. Both are great works in the Follett style, expansive character groups, historical narrative that threads the characters (almost) seamlessly into the big moments in history, love, rivalry, and of course sex. I've never been a big fan of the 'sexy bits' in fiction, but I'm reliably informed that many females of the species like that kind of stuff in a novel. I'm inclined to think, from my male perspective, he seems to do a fairly good job. Let me know if I'm wrong!
Staying with bit of an early 20th century theme this month, I've also polished off two Alan Furst novels, Night Soldiers, and The Polish Officer. These are truly great works in the spy/thriller/war genres, Furst is a more than admirable successor to Le Carre in my opinion. I've bulk bought another six of his novels on the strength of these two, I'd suggest you do the same.
My last read this past month was an excellent piece of local history, Bearbrass by Robyn Annear. An "imagining' of early Melbourne as it describes itself, this is a real gem for visitor or Melburnian alike. You'll never take a stroll through the CBD again without thinking about this book.
On a final note, I have to raise a glass and offer respect to Colleen McCullough, one of Australia's great artistic talents who died in the last few days.
One of the wonderful things about being an author is that, in one way at least, they gain immortality. May you live on forever in your work Colleen.
That's it for now.
Stevie at B.L.M.
We're already more than a month into 2015 so I thought I'd give you a quick update on my bookish world so far this year, starting with some recommendations from my recent reading pile.
First up I'd like to give another heads up for Ben Elton, author of my first review of the year, Time And Time Again. Following my enjoyment of that work I launched straight into Two Brothers, another of Elton's, works of historical fiction, this time without the 'supernatural' element.
It's a very absorbing piece of work, more than equal to a Follett or Deighton treatment of the time period (the early 20th century) and has made me a firm favourite of Ben Elton's work.
Talking of Ken Follett, which I kind of was, I've also read Fall Of Giants, this month, and I'm well into the sequel, Winter Of The World. Both are great works in the Follett style, expansive character groups, historical narrative that threads the characters (almost) seamlessly into the big moments in history, love, rivalry, and of course sex. I've never been a big fan of the 'sexy bits' in fiction, but I'm reliably informed that many females of the species like that kind of stuff in a novel. I'm inclined to think, from my male perspective, he seems to do a fairly good job. Let me know if I'm wrong!
My last read this past month was an excellent piece of local history, Bearbrass by Robyn Annear. An "imagining' of early Melbourne as it describes itself, this is a real gem for visitor or Melburnian alike. You'll never take a stroll through the CBD again without thinking about this book.
On a final note, I have to raise a glass and offer respect to Colleen McCullough, one of Australia's great artistic talents who died in the last few days.
One of the wonderful things about being an author is that, in one way at least, they gain immortality. May you live on forever in your work Colleen.
That's it for now.
Stevie at B.L.M.
Thursday, 1 January 2015
Book Review: Ben Elton, Time And Time Again
Time And Time Again (2014)
Published by: Bantam Press
Author: Ben Elton
Acquired from: Margaret River Bookshop
BLM Rating 10 / 10
This book is not only the first I've read this year, it's also something of a record for me, having started reading it less than twenty four hours ago and having finished it already! I bought this book a few weeks ago in Western Australia. It isn't the first Ben Elton I've owned, but it is the first one I worked around to reading and what a place to start! I'm pretty sure I've never given a book a 10/10 rating, so if you're going to take my advice on some reading matter, this might be the place to start.
This is a time-travel story to top them all, with twists that pepper the last few chapters enough to have you hanging off your seat.
I'm not going to give any spoilers here, but if you pick this up, make sure you have nothing important to do for a couple of days because you'll be cancelling it.....
Finally the cliche of 'un-put-downable' is real to me.
Finally the cliche of 'un-put-downable' is real to me.
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