I've been peripherally following the controversy (probably controversy isn't the right term, maybe discussion?) over a new TV Book Club that's been airing in the UK. Since I have no access to the actual shows (unless they've started popping up on YouTube?), it's only via the blogosphere that I've heard about them. It seems as though there is a consensus that so far they've been disappointing viewing. So in response a group of British bloggers have come together to form the Not the TV Book Group. It sounds like fun and I hope to join in where I can. You can read about it in more detail here. The first two books are Philippe Claudel's Brodeck (in the UK: Brodeck's Report) and Ali Shaw's The Girl with Glass Feet. I've been trying to patiently wait for a library copy of the Claudel novel (I'm first in line), and which I have heard excellent things about, and I've got a copy of the Shaw book on my TBR pile.
Dorothy W. has passed along a link to a new blog, and now I want to pass it along, too. Do check out Diversify Your Reading. It "is meant to be a clearinghouse of blog reviews of books by authors underrepresented in English-language publishing today. It is not a traditional blog with regular topical posts." It's a great idea and it looks as though a lot of work and thought has gone into the blog. I'll be adding a link or two myself and checking it regularly for reading ideas!
And I have a link to share, Talking Books: Oxfam is another new blog. Oxfam is an international NGO, which looks to find "lasting solutions to poverty, suffering and injustice". I had no idea they are also here in the US, though I am not aware of any Oxfam shops at least locally. Apparently they are the largest second-hand book retailer in Europe (I like the idea of book profits going for such good causes). I often hear of wonderful book finds by British bloggers in Oxfam shops, and their volunteers have started a book blog, which I will be following with interest. Do take a look.
As for my personal reading notes--I've been concentrating on the same three or four books lately. I am struggling a bit with Stevie Smith's Novel on Yellow Paper, which is the Slaves of Golconda's next read (must put in a good word for another online book group!). It's an unconventional story, but one I think I am going to appreciate more as I discuss it with other readers. I've also been reading Clare Chambers's In a Good Light, which is a reread. It's not been overly long since I read it the first time, but apparently long ago enough that I've completely forgotten what happens in the story. In a way that's good, as it makes for a read that's a little bit surprising but bad as it shows just how awful my memory is! If you stop by regularly you'll already know I love Clare Chambers and this year I really am going to read something new by her (rather than reread the same two books over and over!). And I've been trying to portion out Jacqueline Winspear's The Mapping of Love and Death, but I am to a point where I just don't want to put it down. I'm going to try hard not to inhale the last half of the book!
One other note. I am having this strange, overwhelming desire to start reading Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I have no idea what's provoked this desire to read such a hefty book, but I pulled it off my bookshelves and will take a peek at it later. I usually have just one classic on the go most of the time and right now it's A Man of Property by John Galsworthy, which I am really enjoying. I hadn't even thought of reading another classic at the moment. Very strange. But this is generally how I get myself into trouble. Should I give in to my whim?