#18// most beautiful book blogs
lockdown stories
Dear Reader,
Hope you are having a good week. I have been indulging in payasam, and reading more than usual because I like to keep my Decembers free. Talking about Decembers, we are nearing year end in ten weeks and I am so so so curious how the holiday celebrations and ‘Happy new year’ shouts will be this year. I have also been trying really hard to be less social and instant. But that's always a work in progress I guess.
Follow these Book Blogs
Books are amazing, so are readers who devour them. Now how about some beautiful book blogs that celebrate books, writing and everything else? These blogs combine reading with literary travel, book photography or slow living. Check out 10 aesthetically pleasing book blogs that’ll help you narrow down your book recommendations. These are the ones I usually refer to. So if I’ve missed out your favourite, do let me know.
This interview
I know we should not pick favourites among the work we do, but this interview with Dharini Bhaskar for Huffpost India was a wonderful experience. Bhaskar gives thoughtful, enlightening answers. We talk about family as a paradox, memories, favourite writers and Bhaskar lets us peek into her process of chasing a perfect word for months and giving importance to the musicality of language. Bhaskar’s debut novel, These, Our Bodies Possessed by Light is a deeply lyrical novel about three generations of women keeping a family together with white lies, love and dreams. It is shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Fiction 2020.
Watch
Call my Agent. This French TV show was recommended by author Nisha Susan on her Twitter and I loved it. It follows the daily shenanigans at one of the two biggest film agencies in Paris. Lots of comedy, and things genuinely going wrong because they are out of anybody’s control. A mother-daughter can’t act together because they can’t stand the shooting schedule and being in close proximity to one another, agents grappling with how to inform celebrities of rejections, a black actor being cast as hiphop dancer even though she cannot dance, an actor struggling with child care, somebody dying (by swallowing a wasp while on vacation)—this show is a treat. Many famous real-life actors have roles in this show—though I had to rely on Google because I know so little about French cinema. I have finished Season 1 but I will be watching the other seasons too.
Also the Tamil Putham Pudhu Kaalai. This heart-warming bundle of five films directed by five different directors was just the warm hug I needed in the pandemic. It helps that all five stories are set in the lockdown period. If you missed my thoughts on the film, find it in this thread.
Amazing links
- I have a new essay Existing through Marginalia about existing as a reader in the margins in Imprint magazine by G5a Foundation of Contemporary Culture.
"My own dog ears, and pencil markings are precious to me. They are bread crumbs for the future me to follow and perhaps end up in a new route altogether."
- The man who reads 1000 pieces of journalism a day and selects five (Dan Shipper, Superorganizers | Substack)
Robert Cottrell, ex bureau chief for The Economist and the Financial times now spends his time curating a daily newsletter with five best articles of the day.
“I’m able to read a thousand pieces of journalism a day, which I think makes me the most read person in the world. Not the best read, mind you, but the most read. I’ve taken account of somewhere between 3 and 5 million pieces of writing over the last 10 years. So if there’s anybody out there who has read more than that I would like to meet them.”
- Loved this essay My Husband married a sociopath : Me (Patric Dagne, New York Times)
"My husband was never thrilled to hear that I had spent the day in a stranger’s house without that person’s knowledge or committed other misdeeds. But his real anger was reserved for the fact that I never felt guilty about these things"
- I read twice (but don’t we all read Orah Mark twice?) — It’s time to pay the Piper (Sabrina Orah Mark, The Paris Review)
- 100 years of Agatha Christie (J. Kingston Pierce, Crime Reads)
A look at cover designs of The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Agatha Christie
For books — new, classics, translations, magazines, indie press titles — and movies,
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That’s all for today. If you would like to win a copy of the new Hercule Poirot mystery written by Sophie Hannah — The killings at Kingfisher Hill — head over to the giveaway on Twitter. I have partnered with HarperCollins India to celebrate 100 Years of Christie (India only, ends on 24th October). Currently reading the book and it is fantastic + very Poirot-ish. I really enjoyed Sophie Hannah’s The Monogram Murders and this looks just as promising—still trying to guess what really happened in the murder(s). PS: It is also available today at a steal deal if you don't want to go via the giveaway.
Until next time,
Resh x
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