Tonight is the finale to season one of AMC's The Killing. I was pleasantly surprised by it. I don't watch a lot of TV, but I have enjoyed the show. It seems to have sparked some very vehement discussions online--people either love it or hate it. But as a way to pass an hour on a Sunday night it seems head and shoulders above most of the other choices out there. I was happy to see it will be back for a second season, which will apparently closely follow the Danish original. It would be nice if Forbrydelsen will at some point become available to US viewers as I am very curious about it. I believe it is in its third season in Denmark and has won a number of awards.
Isn't this a pretty pile of books? Frances at Nonsuch Books is setting herself the small task of reading each and every book in Melville House's Art of the Novella series this August. If you join in you'll have a chance to win some cool prizes, and whenever this includes books it makes me take a second look. Since I am already making plans for August I think 42 novellas might be a little steep for me, but there are a number of interesting-sounding stories in their list so I might manage one or two.
Aren't these bookmarks great? Stefanie at So Many Books shared this link, so I have to pass it on. Someone made some similar to these and sent them to me, but I wasn't sure how she made them. They are similar but not quite the same. I might even be inspired to try making a few myself next time I'm feeling particularly crafty.
You may already have seen this list of the 100 Greatest Non-fiction books. I've never been a great reader of nonfiction, though I do enjoy them when I pick them up (and I definitely accumulate them faster than I read them). I've only managed to read three (Anne Frank, Lorna Sage and Patrick Leigh Fermor), which seems a very sorry state of affairs, though there are a number on the list that are also on my shelves. Do good intentions count?
If I've not read many of the books on that nonfiction list, I have read quite a few of the books that are referred to in a fascinating article on the Country House and the English Novel. I guess you see where my priorities lie. I can see I'll be looking for Alan Hollinghurst's new book, The Stranger's Child, which is due to be released this fall, which is also discussed. And I had no idea of the size or scope of Vita Sackville-West's house (though house doesn't quite seem to catch the magnitude of the place), Knole House. I had never heard of a Calendar House before: 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and 7 courtyards. If I ever get to travel to England again I think I must try and visit it. Until then I'm lucky there are so many books with country house settings.
Speaking of country houses, there is one in L.P. Hartley's The Go Between. I read this last year at about this time. It was one of my favorite books last year. Ali Smith gives it something of a new interpretation in a recent reread. I was interested in her comments. She writes about it so beautifully that I am already thinking of giving it a reread myself.
One bookish note of my own--I have once again this weekend picked up Cynthia Harrod-Eagles's The Long Shadow. I am sure I've mentioned the Morland Dynasty here, a series of more than thirty books that follow one Yorkshire family through the years from the 1400s onwards. I last read one of the books in 2009! I was all set to read The Long Shadow last year but didn't quite click with it. Inspired by Teresa's faithful reading of the books (she just finished #30!) I thought it time to get moving on my own pile. As I had another false start with it earlier this year, and July is going to be my "clean up" month, the timing is just right. The thing is, Restoration England is not really my favorite historical period. You'd think I'd like it what with all the libertine excesses and bawdy behavior--that it would make for very entertaining, but I can't seem to get past page 50. Third time a charm? Let's hope so, as I'm ready to move on to the 1700s.
And one needlework note. I've been neglectful of my needlework of late. It's too hot, or it's too late or I'm too tired, but maybe my problem is I need new inspiration? In the last couple of years I have not bought more than a (very small) handful of stitching supplies and I have long wanted this Quaker sampler. So I think I am going to splurge and treat myself. Isn't it pretty? The chart isn't cheap but the floss is simple (and inexpensive) DMC, so it won't be too much of a splurge, and it would look so nice on my living room wall!