Next read: The Life of Violet by Virginia Woolf

This was a nice find, published last year. And it will be my next Woolf read

New 🎧 📕 - The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch

Simon Vance is reading. 😍

(Wish i had skipped the second half of the introduction which gave all the plot points away)

Oh… i’m so so happy to read this. It’s such a terrific book. No clue why it took so long to get translated because it’s fits better in a 1980’s mindset than a 2020’s one. But it’s rich and unique. I’m really glad you found a way to enjoy it and got some reward.

Yes! That’s true. It definitely requires a fully awake, maybe heavily caffeinated, mind.

My geology side (well, from grad school. Now I deal with salt)

How amazing!

But i hope it works well enough for you to enjoy it

In a review of this Roemer i wrote: “The text is full of unspoken aspects the reader is left to fill in. Some readers have complained they get lost. And it's not always clear what happened in those gaps. But they are strategic for affect, and they keep the reader thinking …“

Sounds wonderful 🙂 What mountains?

Fun stuff. Spark was terrific

Finished 2, started 1, so 5 ongoing. I finished Surfacing by Margaret Atwood (ok) and The Moor’s Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie (his 1st post-fatwah novel). And I started I Who Have Never known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (terrific so far)

January

Perhaps a dash? 2-knife people? Because i read “to knife people” Maybe i would have anyway 🙂

I really hope i didn’t break rule 6. I don’t do jocular well. So probably safe. And i like your post, regardless.

But.. oh, wait, i can’t break rule 2. Or is that breaking rule 4. Or am i now breaking rule 5. 😳 I’m muted BD. 🙂

Six ongoing. The square ones are on audio

❤️ I’m starting to read through her works on 2026. Have a Bluesky thread dedicated. I opened Mrs. Dalloway on Jan 1. Next are some early stories. Then The Voyage Out… (previously i had read one novel, and A Room of One’s Own. I plan to reread both)

It’s really slow. But i’m adoring it. Pacing. I’m reading with a group on Litsy and we’re going to discuss the 1st four chapters today. I think Wharton lovers will find it deeply rewarding. Based on your blog, you easily qualify. 🙂

Two of her bests. I adored Summer. Of course EF is like the perfect little novel. I’m reading her biography by Hermione Lee right now.

A little touch of Edith Wharton - quoted from her 1904 guide - ‘Italian Villas and Their Gardens’ (in her biography by Hermione Lee)

Plate tectonics was universally accepted scientifically in the 1960’s, although some key evidence is war time and cold war Atlantic sea flood mapping in the 1940. So it was known earlier. Checking for a key reference… couldn’t find 🙁 Anyway, dates are right

Interesting!

There was some debate about birds and dinosaurs when i was a grad student in the mid 1990’s. But the counter arguments had gotten pretty weak, held by some more stubborn personalities. 🙂

Fun stuff!

This was glorious on audio. The best part for me was learning that she spent time as a camp counselor, where she led nature activities and was known as Peggy Nature. How funny-charming-perfect is that! Our dystopian naturalist.

Review: www.librarything.com/work/3361160...

A thread of whims and random books. Ok, I don’t really do whims. Much. But I will put the sorta uncategorized reading i do here.

I started on Jan 1 with Mrs. Dalloway. I loved everything about it. It’s really difficult, but gloriously so, with a flush of associations built into each and every sentence.

I reviewed it here: www.librarything.com/work/4890/re...

A Virginia Woolf thread - or at least the optimistic idea of one.

I’m planning to read through Woolf’s works. I’ll post on them as I progress in replies here. Pictured is what’s on the shelf waiting.

Thanks! I’m interested