Hi Terry, I usually choose and Victor usually reads, although the other night I read him a short piece I'd just found that I thought was hilarious, so sometimes it changes (that was the first essay, "Wheels Up," in Sloane Crossley's book "Look Alive Out There"). I do mostly have an idea of what Victor would like to read so my choosing is usually fine with him. I think maybe I choose often because I read a slightly wider range of subjects than he does, and it works because I can't read one of the things he loves--science fiction (it can get too depressing for me) but also we like finding new things together on certain subjects such as biographies. We've been slowly reading through one of the best Bach biographies, for example. while also read a friend's new book, and some other subjects in between.
Ah, Terry, one day one of us will cross the water and we will spend an afternoon listening to fine music and leave the partners to do whatever women do when they don’t like jazz. Or Long John Baldry.
Hi Terry. I somehow looked in the wrong place for your longer review, and was commeneting on your short one. Then I looked again after hearing back from you and have now found and read the longer one. So, for the first one, I liked the subject itself as someone who is fond of many kinds of notebooks and uses them for many purposes, but also because I enjoyed being reminded of all the uses of paper in the past, including for recipes (note about that in a minute). I read on to see more about the history, and knew my husband Victor would be interested in for example how bullet journaling can be used for ADHD, and for both Victor and me (and many others) how writing about traumatic experiences had all those health benefits. Because of how you wrote those couple of paragraphs, and at the end mentioned how well resarched and readble it is, I may buy a copy as a gift for Victor (or we'll read it together. We read books to each other for a little while after dinner every night. Our cat Daisy sits on the sofa with us because she likes to be read to also.)
As for the longer review, I like how you begin by pointing out the subtitle and give a couple of thoughts about it (I work hard on my article subtitles, and it's nice to know that at least sometimes somebody notices and even finds meaning in them!) Then you let the reader know the book is truly well-researched and worth their time. That's always a good sign for me when I shop for nonfiction books.
I loved the Joan Didion quote and was glad you put it in the review. I love biographies of people who interest me and am always happy to learn a little more about people I've heard about but still haven't read that much about, for example Pepys, Chaucer, and Giotto (I bought a Pepys biography but haven't read it yet!) so when they're mentioned in a book review it draws me more to the book--it makes a difference Your review helped me to begin to see quickly that paper and notes are indeed more important than I'd ever imagined.
The Moleskine mention was interesting too since there's a ritzy company in Harvard Square (not too far from where I live) that sells only fancy, expensive Moleskine notebooks, and I never have understood what it is or where it came from (Moleskine that is).
I love reviews that are an education all by themselves, and yours certainly is.
About recipes, my mother had a tough life but very much enjoyed cooking and was a marvelous cook (and a good writer too), and wrote lots of notes in some important cookbooks, many of which are no longer published. There's a Julia Child section at one of the Radcliffe libraries at Harvard, meant to be a sort of museum of what American women have cooked and the cookbooks they loved. I offered them some of the more unusual of Mom's collected cookbooks, with her handwritten notes on the recipes in them, after she died, and the library curator was delighted to have them which made me very happy. So nice for Mom, and nice for me too to know her name is listed with those books. She adored books and libraries, and would love that. So paper and the cookbooks it's used in are good beyond just having the recipes, which of course are themselves full of histories of every person who ever used them to make food for people!
Hi Susan, thank you for such a detailed response. REading to each other sounds like a nice idea, a sort of human audiobook. Who chooses the work to be read, the reader or the readee? (Genuine question). Often Elaine and I will read something to the other person from a book or an article that has struck them as noteworthy. It's a good way of discovering new stuff and sparking off a new conversation.
Thanks for kind words about the reviews. The subtitle is always the second thing I look at, after the title as it happens. It gives an extra doorway into what the book is about.
Donating your ma's cookery books to a library is a lovely idea! Thanks for sharing that.
Thanks for the journey through the Southwold,Terry. I didn't know anything about the area. Now here is something to check out: Listen to the primary bass and rhythm guitar riff in Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll ( 1971). Then compare it to Cream's Sunshine of Your Love (1967) . Hear it? 1967 -- OMG! We lived through the best years for rock EVER! Eric Clapton ruled!
Thanks for your fresh air and hot feet, Terry. I adore the delicacy of carpeted stairs, so unusual in these latitudes. Beautiful views out there, but I'm worried about the cattle: do they read Orwell? Maybe they are already planning a plot twist. In the meanwhile, more Dexter Gordon, digesting the ultimate pizza...
Loved the videos and the photos and the reviews and the Cattle Keep Out sign and Elaine's comment about the jazz made me laugh out loud. The stairs look brutal, especially if one is carrying more than a light-weight paper bag. I should like to visit Southwold.
Hi, Terry. BGB and I just returned from Scotland, and I have a question. You mention "self-catering" and I saw place offering that sometimes. But we hadno idea what that actually meant. I have to say we indulged ourselves inthe lodging part of things, but I did wonder what we missed by not catering to ourselves. BTW, now everyone knows I'm a total noob about lodging in the UK. That's OK. We had a great time!
Thanks, Mark. Glad you had a good time, and i hope it stopped raining for some of the time. Self-catering means you prepare all your own meals plus deal with the washing up, plus make your own bed etc. The advantages are:
1. You can come and go as you please, ie you're not bound by rules such as 'Breakfast is served between 7am and 9am).
2. You can eat your own meals, so you can use the ingredients you prefer + prepare it how you prefer.
Thoroughly enjoyed this article. It brought back a lot of memories from when I lived in Suffolk for a short while over 40 years ago.
I was just wondering about the timing of your concussion/ALIEN ABDUCTION in relation to the disappearance and reappearance of the Victor Klemperer entry.
Loved the book review, and the travelogue with photos--made me feel I'd been on a weekend trip myself (badly needed!) Especially loved your artwork Terry!
Thanks, Susan. Just out of interest, what did you like about the review? Yes, it was a nice break. I needed a break too. Hope you can get away for a bit.
Terry, thanks for the shoutout about my job history in headlines. (I wish I could find the swimshits ad, which my mother had framed as a gift to me. That would have been a fun image to include with the Substack.)
Yes, awful. What I especilly liked about his songs, or at least the ones I know, is that they told a story. Theey were a bit more advanced than "Ooh, baby, I love you" etc. I didn't know much about him until 1970, when my girlfriend at the time bought me an album commemorating the tenth anniversary of his death.
Terry, sorry. I misspelled the author. It's Crosley (not Crossley). I learned about her from a book review about another essay writer.
Fret nir, Susan. I found her anyway. Now all I have to do is find an essay of hers that isn't behind a paywall
Hi Terry, I usually choose and Victor usually reads, although the other night I read him a short piece I'd just found that I thought was hilarious, so sometimes it changes (that was the first essay, "Wheels Up," in Sloane Crossley's book "Look Alive Out There"). I do mostly have an idea of what Victor would like to read so my choosing is usually fine with him. I think maybe I choose often because I read a slightly wider range of subjects than he does, and it works because I can't read one of the things he loves--science fiction (it can get too depressing for me) but also we like finding new things together on certain subjects such as biographies. We've been slowly reading through one of the best Bach biographies, for example. while also read a friend's new book, and some other subjects in between.
Sounds like a nice arrangement! I'd not heard of that Crossley person. I'll try and find out what her stuff is like. Thanks, Susan 😀
Ah, Terry, one day one of us will cross the water and we will spend an afternoon listening to fine music and leave the partners to do whatever women do when they don’t like jazz. Or Long John Baldry.
🤣
Hi Terry. I somehow looked in the wrong place for your longer review, and was commeneting on your short one. Then I looked again after hearing back from you and have now found and read the longer one. So, for the first one, I liked the subject itself as someone who is fond of many kinds of notebooks and uses them for many purposes, but also because I enjoyed being reminded of all the uses of paper in the past, including for recipes (note about that in a minute). I read on to see more about the history, and knew my husband Victor would be interested in for example how bullet journaling can be used for ADHD, and for both Victor and me (and many others) how writing about traumatic experiences had all those health benefits. Because of how you wrote those couple of paragraphs, and at the end mentioned how well resarched and readble it is, I may buy a copy as a gift for Victor (or we'll read it together. We read books to each other for a little while after dinner every night. Our cat Daisy sits on the sofa with us because she likes to be read to also.)
As for the longer review, I like how you begin by pointing out the subtitle and give a couple of thoughts about it (I work hard on my article subtitles, and it's nice to know that at least sometimes somebody notices and even finds meaning in them!) Then you let the reader know the book is truly well-researched and worth their time. That's always a good sign for me when I shop for nonfiction books.
I loved the Joan Didion quote and was glad you put it in the review. I love biographies of people who interest me and am always happy to learn a little more about people I've heard about but still haven't read that much about, for example Pepys, Chaucer, and Giotto (I bought a Pepys biography but haven't read it yet!) so when they're mentioned in a book review it draws me more to the book--it makes a difference Your review helped me to begin to see quickly that paper and notes are indeed more important than I'd ever imagined.
The Moleskine mention was interesting too since there's a ritzy company in Harvard Square (not too far from where I live) that sells only fancy, expensive Moleskine notebooks, and I never have understood what it is or where it came from (Moleskine that is).
I love reviews that are an education all by themselves, and yours certainly is.
About recipes, my mother had a tough life but very much enjoyed cooking and was a marvelous cook (and a good writer too), and wrote lots of notes in some important cookbooks, many of which are no longer published. There's a Julia Child section at one of the Radcliffe libraries at Harvard, meant to be a sort of museum of what American women have cooked and the cookbooks they loved. I offered them some of the more unusual of Mom's collected cookbooks, with her handwritten notes on the recipes in them, after she died, and the library curator was delighted to have them which made me very happy. So nice for Mom, and nice for me too to know her name is listed with those books. She adored books and libraries, and would love that. So paper and the cookbooks it's used in are good beyond just having the recipes, which of course are themselves full of histories of every person who ever used them to make food for people!
Hi Susan, thank you for such a detailed response. REading to each other sounds like a nice idea, a sort of human audiobook. Who chooses the work to be read, the reader or the readee? (Genuine question). Often Elaine and I will read something to the other person from a book or an article that has struck them as noteworthy. It's a good way of discovering new stuff and sparking off a new conversation.
Thanks for kind words about the reviews. The subtitle is always the second thing I look at, after the title as it happens. It gives an extra doorway into what the book is about.
Donating your ma's cookery books to a library is a lovely idea! Thanks for sharing that.
Thanks for the journey through the Southwold,Terry. I didn't know anything about the area. Now here is something to check out: Listen to the primary bass and rhythm guitar riff in Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll ( 1971). Then compare it to Cream's Sunshine of Your Love (1967) . Hear it? 1967 -- OMG! We lived through the best years for rock EVER! Eric Clapton ruled!
Oh yeah! I hadn't noticed that before. I've always been focussed on the piano in Don't Try...
Ah, lovely Southwold. And even lovelier Walberswick. Yes, you rather over-egged the ferry in your picture.
Poetic licence, June 😁 So you are fmiliar with the area, then?
Yes, we've spent many holidays there and at Aldborough.
Us too! Love the light in Aldeburgh
Thanks for your fresh air and hot feet, Terry. I adore the delicacy of carpeted stairs, so unusual in these latitudes. Beautiful views out there, but I'm worried about the cattle: do they read Orwell? Maybe they are already planning a plot twist. In the meanwhile, more Dexter Gordon, digesting the ultimate pizza...
The cattle have probably read Animal Farm, for sure. LOL re DExter Gordon and pizza 🤣
Loved the videos and the photos and the reviews and the Cattle Keep Out sign and Elaine's comment about the jazz made me laugh out loud. The stairs look brutal, especially if one is carrying more than a light-weight paper bag. I should like to visit Southwold.
🤣 Thanks, Mary. I think you'd enjoy it, especially if you hired a bike (nice country lanes, relatively flat)
Oh, flat country lanes! Sounds right up my alley!
Yes, but dangerous I think because of insane and inconsiderate drivers
I should have a very large bell, then, with spikes, maybe
😂
Hi, Terry. BGB and I just returned from Scotland, and I have a question. You mention "self-catering" and I saw place offering that sometimes. But we hadno idea what that actually meant. I have to say we indulged ourselves inthe lodging part of things, but I did wonder what we missed by not catering to ourselves. BTW, now everyone knows I'm a total noob about lodging in the UK. That's OK. We had a great time!
Thanks, Mark. Glad you had a good time, and i hope it stopped raining for some of the time. Self-catering means you prepare all your own meals plus deal with the washing up, plus make your own bed etc. The advantages are:
1. You can come and go as you please, ie you're not bound by rules such as 'Breakfast is served between 7am and 9am).
2. You can eat your own meals, so you can use the ingredients you prefer + prepare it how you prefer.
3. You have a lot more privacy.
8 miles and 20 flights! You must have the heart of a 20 year old!
Smart cows in the UK. But I've always said the education is so much better there.:)
As it happens, I DO identify as a twenty year old. Yes, excellent bovine education in this country! Chortle.
Thoroughly enjoyed this article. It brought back a lot of memories from when I lived in Suffolk for a short while over 40 years ago.
I was just wondering about the timing of your concussion/ALIEN ABDUCTION in relation to the disappearance and reappearance of the Victor Klemperer entry.
😂 Thanks, Maureen. Actually, I didn't think: I should have visited Rendlesham: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendlesham_Forest_incident
Maybe it was fortunate that you didn’t !
😂
Loved the book review, and the travelogue with photos--made me feel I'd been on a weekend trip myself (badly needed!) Especially loved your artwork Terry!
Thanks, Susan. Just out of interest, what did you like about the review? Yes, it was a nice break. I needed a break too. Hope you can get away for a bit.
Terry, thanks for the shoutout about my job history in headlines. (I wish I could find the swimshits ad, which my mother had framed as a gift to me. That would have been a fun image to include with the Substack.)
You're welcome, Debby. (It will turn up when you least expect it!)
He was. He was touring England, in fact, when he died in an automobile accident.
Yes, awful. What I especilly liked about his songs, or at least the ones I know, is that they told a story. Theey were a bit more advanced than "Ooh, baby, I love you" etc. I didn't know much about him until 1970, when my girlfriend at the time bought me an album commemorating the tenth anniversary of his death.
Eddie Cochran was an amazing songwriter and musician. He died way too young.
I agree, David. I think he was only 21.