eptivity

The five best books I read this year:

Bess of Hardwick by Mary S. Lovell
Biography of the matriarch of the Cavendish family (today the dukes of Devonshire). A fascinating, shrewd, and incredibly wealthy Elizabethan woman (second only to Elizabeth herself), Bess was involved in all the political intrigue of the day: she and her fourth husband “hosted” Mary, Queen of Scots, in their assorted country homes before her execution, and even attempted to position a willful granddaughter to ascend the throne. We happen to live right in the middle of her vast property, about halfway between her two primary residences, Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth House. We’re practically related!

Kingsblood Royal by Sinclair Lewis
Fictional account of the repercussions of a mid-century Midwestern man accidentally discovering that he has an African-American ancestor.

Lady Into Fox by David Garnett
Fictional account of the repercussions of a new bride turning into a fox.

Independent People by Halldór Laxness
Fictional account of an early 20th-century rural Icelandic family struggling to survive against totally surmountable odds. All the dude ever wanted was his independence.

Great Tales From English History by Robert Lacey
Bite-size historical niblets of the events that shaped England’s history, now in one handy volume.

54: Number of books I read.
5: Number of books I’m currently reading.
1: Number of books I abandoned midway.

Bonus

The one best book Stephan read this year:

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick.
Non-fiction accounts of the ordinary lives of six North Korean defectors.

1: Number of books Stephan read.

You may be wondering why you suddenly got four posts of mainly pictures in quick succession, just in time for August 1. This is because:

Things Are Happening, People.

First, I started a brand new shiny job today! An actual one, where I have to go to an office five days a week. And also do things like get out of bed at six a.m. and regularly brush my hair.

I’m probably not going to tell you much about it because, well, that’s not a thing that I do. But I will tell you that it’s proposal graphic design at a UK-based consultancy focusing primarily on socioeconomic development in developing and transitioning countries. Oh, and that it’s on the outskirts of Nottingham and just up the street from a bit of what’s left of Sherwood Forest!

So after clearing out the backlog of two-month-old posts left unposted, I’m officially diverting my writing energies away from blogging and toward finishing the first draft of the book I’ve been working on for months now. This may or may not result in fewer blog posts, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you!

And in the meantime, I (perhaps counterintuitively) started a tumblr, which is more my (micro)blogging speed these days. It’s over here, but I should warn you that it’s for my own entertainment only—just bits and bobs I’ve been magpieing (you know—collecting shiny things like a magpie!). I can’t promise that you will like it at all (for instance: I would not rule out the possibility of swears), but I’ma be honest: I don’t really care. All for me!