Kategori: Aardvark – on books in general, booklinks, bookmemes and such

A Christmas Calendar: December 8th

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Weird Things People Say in Bookshops, the book, will have to be a gift idea for Christmas 2012, as it is not published until April. However, many stories may be found on This is not the six word novel, the blog the book originates in. And just now Jen has a Christmas edition up, containing such gems as this:

a customer reading a book about the nativity.
Customer *to her friend*: Don’t you ever get the feeling that Baby Jesus is somehow related to Herod? I always think that he’s going to go: ‘JESUS. I AM YOUR FATHER.’

A Christmas Calendar: December 6th

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Today I will make the suggestion that you consider not buying a gift for that person who «has everything». Seriously, if you’re looking through the helpful lists in the media and the catalogues for an idea – ANY IDEA – for a gift for Uncle Oswald or Aunt Jean or Cousin Francis:

Stop!

I know Christmas is all about giving and shit, but, really, if a person falls into the category «has everything»:

THIS is what you get them.

Or something from HERE.

Or, you know, go with the charity of your choice. Almost every charity provide something in this vein nowadays.

And I know it’s not easy. I keep thinking «but what if this person is really offended and there’s an awkward silence and I ruin Christmas for everyone?» Well, ok, maybe not quite as bad as that, but I do tend to think of worst case scenarios. But this year? This year, fuck it, I am going to go with it. If I can’t think of a meaningful gift that conforms to William Morris’ maxim (which is, actually, quite a good rule): Have nothing in your house that you do not either know to be useful or believe to be beautiful (quoted from memory), well, then.

And, yes, absolutely: If you feel like you ought to buy me a gift because you expect I’ll get you one, or even if you just want to buy me a gift because I’m a swell person and all, then go ahead and follow my advice. Because I’d so much rather have 10 square meters of mine-free soil in Afghanistan than another thingamabob that I have to keep because Aunt Sally gave it to me. REALLY.

Smakebit på Søndag: Alma Mater

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Girton College, image from Cornell University Library
Girton College, image from Cornell University Library

I’m reading Alma Mater by Gwendolen Freeman, a book whose existence I discovered through Jane Robinsons’s Bluestockings. I had no problems locating a copy through ABEBooks, but I can’t find a cover image online, hence the pretty picture of Girton above, the book’s subtitle being Memoirs of Girton College, 1926-1929. So the taster this Sunday is a little bit of Cambridge nostalgia:

That week we began to learn the college jargon, including ‘jug’ for the numerous parties round college fires. I was nervous of making mistakes; of saying ‘dinner’ instead of lunch or ‘coming down’ instead of ‘up’ to Cambridge. The maids were ‘gyps’, and the chocolate cakes sold at Matthew’s, the Cambridge patisserie, were ‘deadlies’. At first I did not understand when somebody asked me, ‘What is your shop?’ It meant, what was my branch of study?

More tasters at Flukten fra virkeligheten.

A Christmas Calendar: December 3rd

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If you are looking for a gift for the booklover in your life, this ought to hit the mark:

calendarI had one of these once, and it’s a treasure trove of book tips. You wouldn’t want one every year, I think, because that would make Mt TBR insurmountable, but you can’t go too far wrong with it. (Clicking the image will take you to amazon.co.uk, but I’m sure it’s available elsewhere as well.)