Book Chat Issue #66

Finding joy

Hello reading friends

Since my little trip away, I’ve been thinking a lot about joy, especially about what makes life worth living. Sounds deep doesn’t it? But don’t worry, all I’m talking about is finding small ways to make yourself feel better. There are so many negative messages out in the universe and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, so finding small ways to build yourself up is a good thing.

Joy can be can be found in a myriad of small moments, a hug, a hot cup of tea, some freshly baked cake. These are the good things in life. And yes, my list includes books. Books can make you feel better, more well informed, or simply entertained. All these things have value.

This leads me to this week’s reading recommendation, which is both funny and insightful.

What I’ve been reading

I’ve been meaning to read This is not a book about Benedict Cumberbatch for some time and finally got around to it last week.

In the book, Tabitha Carvan talks about how women’s obsessions are often considered childish and laughable. Men can be obsessed with their football team and no-one blinks an eye, but a woman who loves Taylor Swift or Benedict Cumberbatch is often the target of derision.

Strangely enough, Caroline O’Donohue (author of The Rachel Incident which I featured in the last issue) wrote an article with similar themes:

Why are women forced to chalk up their passions to either a joke, irony or poor judgment? Why are guilty pleasures seen as primarily a female thing? After all, you never hear a man saying “my guilty pleasure is watching the golf highlights”.

Sydney Morning Herald - September 20, 2023

Tabitha Carvan was (and is) obsessed with Benedict Cumberbatch, but the book is about more than that; it explores why and how women express their secret desires. I found it absolutely fascinating and it really made me think differently about a number of issues.

In one section, Tabitha addresses the (very popular) idea that we should be doing something momentous with our ‘one wild and precious life’.

When Mary Oliver died not that long ago, and she was being quoted everywhere, even more than usual, I was prompted to look up the rest of that poem, which is called ‘The Summer Day’. It turns out I had it completely and utterly wrong, which is very embarrassing for a literary critic. ‘The Summer Day’ isn’t about finding your Big Purpose at all! It’s about kneeling down in the grass and looking very, very closely at a grasshopper, and doing nothing more with your time than strolling through fields, being idle. Before she gets to the question about your one and precious life, Mary actually asks something else of the reader first: ‘Tell me, what else should I have done?’ How could she have made better use of her day than lying in the grass with the grasshopper? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? And there’s nothing to be done about it, except to pay attention to what moves us, in this, our one wild and precious life.

Does it matter what moves us, so long as we are moved?

‘You only have to let the soft animal of your body / love what it loves.’

Sounds so easy.

I loved this book. Highly recommended.

What I’ve been eating

Although I love seeing all the photos of coloured leaves, pumpkins and figs from my American friends on Instagram, it’s spring here in Australia, so we are looking forward to planting out tomatoes and enjoying fresh asparagus. While I wait for the summer bounty, I’ve been dreaming up some new breakfast options.

This week I’ve been experimenting with my own version of Bircher muesli. If you’ve ever made it, you’ll know you are supposed to soak the oats overnight in orange juice so that in the morning they are a squidgy mess, but I always forget this step, so I just get up in the morning and throw together some rolled oats, yoghurt and grated apple (an integral part of Bircher muesli) and whatever else is on hand, then mix together with a dash of milk. Yummy and nutritious.

Book club news

I’ve finally finished reading Demon Copperhead and have set a date for our next Book Club discussion.

It’s all happening on Friday 20 October at 8.30 am Sydney time (Australian Eastern Summertime).

If you live in the US or Canada it will still be Thursday! Check out the corresponding time in your locality and pop it in your diary. When the time comes around, just click on the link below:

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/vtp-biur-vwg

If you’ve attended a previous book club meeting, I’ve sent you a calendar invitation, so look out for it. If you’d like a calendar invitation, but didn’t receive one, send me a message and I’ll forward you the link.

I hope you’ve had time to read the book (or you’re near the end) and can join us for a lively discussion. If you’ve never attended a book club meeting and you’re nervous about how it works, let me assure you that it’s very low key and you don’t need to talk more than you want to.

Well that’s all for this week!

Keep well and read to your heart’s content.

Marg xxx