The Sneaky Magpie

I have not read a book for a bit which is very unusual for me. Maybe it is because I am forcing myself to read books I own and haven’t read yet, or perhaps I ditched the tube for a bike loosing up to 1h of valuable reading time a day.

Very often I read book after book and when I get to # 5 or 6 I can’t concentrate anymore and need a break. I don’t stop reading entirely but engage in magazines and short stories instead until the book hunger pang strikes again.

At the moment I am reading short stories by Chekhov, Bukowski and J.D. Salinger. Chekhov has been one of my most beloved writers forever, his elegant and pure style is a big part of my literary education. I read all Bukowski’s books in one go and got a slight overdose while reading his short stories but I reached for The Most Beautiful Woman in Town again and I am enjoying it a lot. As for Salinger, I loved Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey but couldn’t engage with his stories, I had a second approach at Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters this morning and I can’t wait to go back to it when I get a free moment.

My book pile is getting smaller and smaller, I was really hoping to be done with it by the end of the year but I really don’t think this will happen. The few books left to read are:

Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller

Ulysses (2 failed attempts – what I need is a right moment in the future)

The Corporation by Joel Bakan (not feeling it at all so might skip it)

The Faithful River by Zeromski

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

And a few books that I am planning to read afterward:

Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat and Travels with Charlie: In Search of America- I have to ration his books as they are so good!

Capote’s Summer  Crossing

Eggers’ Zeitoun

Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich

start on Proust

I’d like to try something by Anais Nin as never read her before and some of the Persephone classics

Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia and The Road to Wigan Pier, the only things I have not read by him and I adore him!

Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned and This Side of Paradise

Ayn Rand’s Anthem and also her biography, she fascinates me and if we are talking of amazing women I really must read D.V. by Diana Vreeland

A friend of mine mentioned a wonderful bookshop in the back streets of Wimbledon apparently piled with second hand classics for a song, I shall be visiting this treasure trove for sure.

Oh, almost forgot, I am also reading Jane Austen in Bath: Walking Tours of the Writer’s City by a wonderful publisher Little Bookroom. Have a look at their website as they have the most amazing and unusual guide books with true insider tips. I have read half of the Bath guide last night, city that I have been meaning to visit for a very long time, and need to plan a short weekend trip very soon given that is it only a couple of hours away. The book is beautifully illustrated and tells stories from Austen’s life while taking the reader through various parts of the city.

Looking back at 2009 I have not read that many books but the ones I’ve read were mostly very good. The favorite ones being:

Generation X by Douglas Coupland

Vonnegut’s stories, re-reading Slaughterhouse 5 and Mother Night- I went through some Vonnegut phase few months ago

The World of Coco Chanel

The Love in Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Tender is The Night and whole lot of Fitzgerald’s stories

High Rise by J.G. Ballard – I couldn’t stop thinking of the Trellick Tower, and a very good biography of Erno Goldfinger

Collected stories by Nikolai Gogol

Now it’s time for some festive fun, been listening to Billie Holiday’s album 40 Hits and it’s about the time to break for Christmas, starting at The Champion with some friends (lucky I didn’t cycle to work today!).

Had such a nice sushi last night, went to So Sushi (nothing to do with Yo, Hi or similar bad sushi places!). The restaurant is in Soho’s Warwick Street and serves one of the best Japanese food I ever had in London. The fish is incredibly fresh, we had a sashimi selection with fish, prawn and amazing scallops, followed by spicy tuna and salad roll and scallop and avocado roll. All to die for. Friendly staff too. I stuck to green tea however the cocktails looked fab. Love the place.

The Observer listed 50 best places to eat and hang out by Erin Wasson, read it here. They all sound pretty good and very unpretentious. Given how cool she is you can only expect the best. What really caught my eye was at no 9 the Brixton Market, I never go there even though it’s probably only 15 minutes away on my bike. Rosie’s Deli Cafe sounds especially good, there is a piece on her in the Observer and her Brixton Market tips here. She seems so lovely. This Saturday she is launching her cook book, more on her blog. This is a Saturday must do.

Moving on, still reading Vonnegut’s stories, Welcome to the Monkeyhouse and The Foster Portfolio are the best ones so far but I am only half way through and have still few stories and Palm Sunday to read. This is my bedside book. The tube book is Celebrity: How Entertainers Took Over the World and Why We Need an Exit Strategy by the witty Marina Hyde whose hilarious column you may know from The Guardian. Highly amusing, brutal truth about world’s obsession with celebrity, their charities, religions, adoptions and political activities.

This week’s sartorial issues:

1.  I made it to the almost newly open Marc by Marc Jacobs shop. As I walked in I felt like in a pound shop, beautiful, expensive clothing packed tight on hangers and the whole space flooded by cheap cheap plastic trinkets, bags and t-shirts. The shop sells a fair amount of books and the Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton DVD - all of it is displayed in a really horrible fashion. Wanted to run away from this chaos however I did grab a pair of wellies and a jolly brolly on my way out. The brolly is useful but the wellies are pretty uncomfortable and might end up on ebay. These look like they could cheer people up on a rainy day with their colorful soles. Another major problem I have with the shop is the banister – horrible brown lacquer. Come on Marc, give it some style!

2. Got a really good pair of peg trousers from H&M, something like Chloe or YSL. But in black.

3. None of the above were from my summer shopping list!

4. Mary Portas is back next week, this time sorting out charity shops.

Picture of Rosie by Antonio Olmos

So far this month…

… I’ve been to Oxford for a day, if you go you must visit the Pitt Rivers Museum – it’s got the craziest collection of ‘souvenirs’

…failed to go to the seaside due to the incorrect tickets/bad weather/ill husband

…Been catching up on movies, finally saw the Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton documentary and Control. Both are very good.

…Watched the whole two discs of Jan Svankmajers’s short films, love love love his animation

…been discovering Spotify, Blondie and David Bowie are on my playlist today

…ordered a veg box from Gregg the Vegman, it arrives tomorrow with some fabulous spring greens and asparagus, cannot wait, hope it’s good

…waiting impatiently for strawberries and peonies

…rediscovering Kurt Vonnegut

…celebrated my birthday at Wolseley, amazing place

…failed going to any exhibitions so MUST go to Tate Britain to see the Van Dyck show which finishes this weekend; will also hopefully catch Baroque (not my favorite period in art but Waldemar Januszczak made me curious) and Hats at V&A thanks to my lovely friend with a membership card

…started all healthy diet and signed up for weekly Pilates classes

…started reading the best Chanel biography ever

That’s all for now.