Quote
Finnegans...Awake?
“If you think I’m going to review it, you’re crazy. But I am going to swim in it.” * Oh, Lester, you great demon of the dirty noise; you critic of the cringe. How far ahead could one man be who died when I was child and yet seems to haunt me in my old age? I read this many a day ago, and it comes from the anger and disappointment that anyone would feel watching one of their favourite bands slip from a great high into a lethargic trough of clichés and uninspired poses. The Rolling Stones had finished an incredible run with “Exile on Main Street” and “Sticky Fingers” , and then…they lost their way. “Goat’s Head Soup” was the first sign that maybe the boys from South London were a little tired and could not possibly live up to the anti-establishment stance they were believed to hold. Money, fame, drugs, sex and the general malaise of the seventies got to them and every other band that survived the rollback at the end of the sixties, and they threw their hands up and said, “We are done…but we still are who we are.” The Rolling Stones had to go on, and Mick and Keith, those notorious Glimmering Twins, had to keep the ball rolling and the money pumping in.
By Kendall Defoe 2 days ago in BookClub
Notes On A Nervous Planet
Introduction One of the first Matt Haig books was this I am covering this book on my blog, but I have a feeling that I will soon finish it. It is a small book with large print and lots of white space, making it very easy to read, and I needed something less taxing after Simon Singh's "The Code Book" (which is excellent and you can check out here:
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 days ago in BookClub
So, You've Just Published a Book. Top Story - October 2026.
It’s actually been about four months since I published my first book, The Gragon. I originally planned on writing this article three months ago, but work got in the way. That’s actually a recurring theme in my life for the last few years. Too much work, not enough time to write. But I do my best to strike when the iron’s hot. Or at least lukewarm.
By Atomic Historian5 days ago in BookClub
One Idiom a Day: Chinese Wisdom in Stories
塞翁失马，焉知非福（Sàiwēng shī mǎ, yān zhī fēi fú） “Sai Weng lost his horse. Who knows if it may not turn out to be a good thing?” During the Warring States period, an old man lived near the northern border of China. People called him Sai Weng .
By Frances Gaoabout a month ago in BookClub
“Deadheaded” Newly Released!
Disclaimer: book reviews are not my forte… this only the second I’ve attempted. Apologies to Poppy in advance! I freely admit that I was pleasantly surprised by this book… which is definitely no reflection on Poppy’s writing skills.
By Angie the Archivist 📚🪶3 months ago in BookClub
Why Andy Serkis Is Wrong: The Shire, Middle-earth, and the Myth of Whiteness in Tolkien's World
Andy Serkis said, when asked by the BBC why the announced cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is, so far, entirely white, that the cast so far is Jamie Dornan, Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate Winslet, Lee Pace and Leo Woodall, alongside Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen returning, to the question, the film’s director gave this answer:
By Josh Clements3 months ago in BookClub
Mary Oliver's Tips For Writing Poetry
When I walked into my local bookstore and stumbled across this thin, tangerine and cream-colored guide, I was immediately compelled to buy it. I didn’t bother flipping through the pages. I knew Oliver’s name from her poetry collections Upstream and Dream Work .
By Kera Hollow3 months ago in BookClub
