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.
