What Katy Read

Book plates

Some beautiful book plates:

and my favourite

Book Club: Whoops!

If you recognize this formula then you probably don't need to read Whoops! by John Lanchester. At WhatKatyRead this was our first book of the new year, and now we're up to speed with all Black and Scholes's tricks. Click through for our reviews and scores (or would you rather stay? Ok then, it scored 73). Pretty good ratings from us for a book about global finance. Definitely one we'd recommend. A thoughtful, and thought-provoking, review from someone who is definitely not a layman, Howard Davies, Director of the London School of Economics, on The Guardian's website here.

 

Paris, Le Bal

I was just in Paris for a few days, and saw a great exhibition on Latin American photography books, 'fotográfica', at Le Bal, a photography gallery, cafe and bookshop in the 18th arrondisement. Definitely worth going to anytime you're in Paris, the food in the cafe is delicious (and they do brunch from 11 till 4 which is great for anyone weekending caught out by the hour's time difference as I always seem to be), the staff charming, and the shows (well, the two I've seen since it opened anyway) beautifully curated and inspiring.

Actually I was expecting to be underwhelmed by the subject of Latin American photography books, but I was completely won over by this brilliant show. A must for anyone interested in book design. And here's a little gem I saw there.

Untitled from Kate Slotover on Vimeo.

 

The Believer tumblr

Favourite US literary mag The Believer now have a tumblr.

Book lovers

A trip to east London yesterday when I spent the day working on a new book project at my friend Rhiannon's house. After lunch we dropped in to the Pages of Hackney bookshop, just round the corner from where she lives. A beautifully organized, calm and inspiring place to browse & a respite from the unlovely (though I'm sure not unloved) Lower Clapton Road.

'Couldn't write "bum" on a wall'...

Poor James Thackara, Philip Hensher really hated The Book of Kings. It's an old review, but I came across it online and it did make me laugh. Hensher grumbles about having to wade through 700-odd pages; he should have counted himself lucky. According to Wikipedia the original draft of the novel ran to 1,470 pages! Click through for the rest.

The Joy of Books

Oh my, this must have taken them a long time to make. Sadly I can't just pop round to Type Books in Toronto. I'd like to, though.

 

 

Books: Peter Jensen

A Christmas-present from my sister-in-law Emily who turns out to be one of Peter Jensen's muses. Not surprising, really, as she's a talented and super-stylish girl. I confess I didn't know anything about Peter Jensen before receiving this book, but I love his elegant tailoring and quirky ideas and this book is very nicely designed by cooler-than-cool design collective Abäke. I love the endpapers, particularly. What's nice is how successfully it takes you into his world, which is a thoroughly beautiful and inspiring one. I'll have to look out for his clothes from now on.

 

Eve Arnold

Very sad to hear of the death of Eve Arnold, although peacefully in your sleep at 99 after a fascinating and eventful life is a pretty good way to go, I reckon. I've loved Arnold's work ever since a retrospective I saw at the Barbican a good few years ago, the catalogue from which is still a book I curl up with from time to time. Arnold more than held her own in the male-dominated world of Magnum. Her photographs have a warmth and intimacy that came from her ability to get close to her subject (often spending months or years building up relationships) and her personal style. She is famous for her photographs of Marilyn Monroe, including this one below of her reading Ulysses that I'm including just so I can make the link to books somehow. Rest in peace Eve.

 

Things to read: a box full of books

Mostly post consists of bank statements and uninviting things like insurance renewal reminders, so it's a treat, is it not, when something unexpected arrives. For me today it was a brown box that turned out to be full of books, sent by a friend who is also Director of the Ways With Words literary festival – anything selected by her I feel sure will be good. And so I have How It All Began by Penelope Lively, who apparently lives quite near to me here in Islington.

I like the encouraging cover – oh for the time to curl up in an armchair with a pot of tea and a chocolate brownie. (Slightly worrying choice of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code top of the pile of books on that table, though – can Penelope Lively be a fan?)

Next is '50 Literature Ideas You Really Need to Know' by John Sutherland. I felt a bit worried when I pulled this out of the box, is she saying my criticism isn't technical enough? On the other hand, I'd be the first to admit I can probably do with all the help I can get, and so I shall find out about Deconstructionism, Heteroglossia ('many-voicedness' - see, we've all learned something already!) and the Solidity of Specification, and you can expect my posts to improve accordingly.

Alan Bennett, 'A Life Like Other People's' is one of the 25 World Book Night books. At the back it tells me this book is to be read and then passed along, I can even register it on the World Book Night website. I think last year's World Book Night largely passed me by, althought I did think it was a nice idea. The next one I see is on 23 April.

And finally A Bigger Message by Martin Gayford, which actually I have read already and enjoyed very much. David Hockney is a fascinating figure and Gayford (who also wrote the excellent Man With a Blue Scarf, about his experiences sitting for a portrait by Lucien Freud) offers a very intimate view of his world. It's an easy and enjoyable read, and makes you look at everyday things like trees in quite a new light for a while afterwards.