Happy Sunday, everyone!
As I'm writing this, I'm listening to music that I've compiled in this playlist to share with you.
It’s been a busy week, book-wise! There were a few EIBF events on that were soul-soothing, and we had our very own book club discussion for August, where we dissected Educated by Tara Westover. A book we all loved and hated for what it did to us individually.
We finally tested out the Book Club Kit in real life, and I’d like to think the number of times all the girls said that they watched interviews, etc. it was thanks to the kit.
I have a few regrets related to the discussion, the main one being that we never touched on the music, after all. She sings, there are songs mentioned in the book, and we had links to her performing various hymns, yet we never talked about it. I mean, it’s music, it’s there to be listened to, but I would have liked to discuss that with you; it just emphasises what was already irking us, that Tara really appears to be a multitalented genius!
Another topic I feel some regret for, because I don't feel we answered it, and it’s been haunting me since, was the autobiography question: why do people publish them? It’s as if I never wondered because I was just happy that they did, whoever it was because I get to benefit from it. When something brings you joy, you don’t question why!
But since Ella raised this question during the Obama book discussion (for which the answer came a lot easier), I ponder it a lot in the context of autobiographies.
Just a few nights ago, as I was reading the new Stephen King, I came across the following passages that I thought were there to answer all my questions:
“…he now understands there was a deeper, truer reason: he wants to be read. By anyone, even a couple of Vegas hardballs like Nick Majarian and Giorgio Piglielli. Now he understands – he never did before, never even considered it – that any writer who goes public with his work is courting danger. It’s part of the allure. Look at me. I’m showing you what I am. My clothes are off. I’m exposing myself.”
And a few paragraphs later:
“He hasn’t written anything beyond that first episode, but the rest is right there. Waiting. He wants to get to it. It means something to him. It’s not like journaling, it’s not an effort to make peace with a life that has in many ways been unhappy and traumatic, it’s not confessional even though it may amount to a confession. It’s about power.”
King, Stephen. Billy Summers (p. 79-80). Hodder & Stoughton. Kindle Edition.
I’ll keep asking myself the question, and maybe the answer will be different with every autobiography. Until then, I’ll be picking titles among the 20 most popular autobiographies of all time (although I am very sceptical of this top).
I can already tell you I’ll be avoiding Marley & Me by John Grogan (Owen Wilson, for those who saw the movie). Because doesthedogdie.com? I’ll let you guess. Like Ella said in one of our Bookclubz messages:
Here’s another top 7 autobiographies and memoirs that I am more tempted to accept because it is meant to remind us about the messiness of memory.
And to address that underlying question, here’s what bookriot.com have compiled to show the differences between autobiographies and memoirs:
Is it right to call Educated an autobiography?🤔
The Edinburgh Book Festival continues
Elif Shafak was on at the Book Festival this week. You can watch her here and hear my own question read aloud and answered at minute 45m:45s 😌.
She talks about The Island of Missing Trees, and I think you’re safe to watch it for a taste of the book without getting too much spoilt. If anything, it’s meant to intrigue you enough to want to read it.
Another event from an author we all know was on this Friday. Matt Haig talked about his new book called simply The Comfort Book. And first of all, let me admit that I bought this book last week because I love the cover!
The event is available here. I had a few surprises, and I love it when this happens. I had absolutely zero knowledge of this guy, apart from a few of his titles and his name. I didn’t know he was British, and I imagined him with more hair than he actually has. No reason whatsoever for me to assume things, but I feel I need to say these things.
No surprise will ever match the one I had when I saw Markus Zusak because not for one second did I suspect he was Australian. So when he started talking in a heavy Aussie accent, I almost burst out laughing!
Salman Rushdie joined the EIBF remotely, but it didn’t make the conversation any less enjoyable! He has a new essay collection that I accidentally bought. How do you accidentally buy a book? You notice it, read the title and go, “hmm, how come I never knew he wrote this?” and buy it. And then you find out the book was actually published that week. I guess it’s a different approach than counting the days until the book is published and then patiently wait until it’s available for order and delivery in your country 🥲
The brilliant Jeanette Winterson was also on, but unfortunately, the event was accessible online only a couple of days afterwards. Her new book is called 12 Bytes: How We Got Here, Where We Might Go Next. She’s been into tech a lot lately. I remember during the event I saw her at two years ago, then for her book called Frankisstein, which we can simplistically conclude is about sex robots, she was urging everyone to do what she did and learn Python and other programming languages, because they open your mind to possibilities you can’t even anticipate.
You can watch that event here:
Her mind fascinates me, and I find her voice so soothing and optimistic. I could listen to her talk for hours!
Maggie O’Farrell is an author I haven’t yet tried. I know Mădălina loved Hamnet, and this event is kind of about the book. I love her energy, and her life story is fascinating, which made this event very entertaining.
One event I attended that was new both for myself and the festival was a Masterclass on cover designs. A few designers showcased their creations and walked the audience through the creative and marketing process.
The designer of the newer version of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments was there, as well as the designer of Klara and The Sun, who talked about the Marketing that revolves around a book cover.
The event was on Zoom, but they promised they would make it available on YouTube afterwards. As soon as I find out where, I will share it, as I truly felt it was an excellent insight into a part of the business of books that I had very little to do with.
Dana’s Book Club Podcasts
I have decided to break up our sessions into four parts that I will publish every week. I know chunks of three hours plus are just not going to entice you to sit through them.
Some of the sessions we’ve had over the years have been so fun and inspiring that I went around thinking about them for days. If I had a way to go back and relisten to them, I would.
It was Alex who gave me the idea for the podcast (although I realise the label is quite pretentious, but who’s going to judge us?), and I’m glad we can now revisit some of our glory moments. I plan to compile a “best of” once a year, but I might be getting ahead of myself.
For our next book discussion about Dracula, we might be joined by Andrey, our old book club friend. So we might have to have our first English speaking podcast! No pressure, everyone, and no guilt trips, Andrey!
My book order for Libristo.ro arrived
I had started to lose hope, especially after reading reviews online from people complaining that they’re slow, that they never deliver when they say, that their customer support is not great. When I first found their website, the delivery times were 3-5 days. I was very close to emailing them after two weeks and ask for a refund when I checked the confirmation email they sent me, and to be fair to them, they did specify about three weeks for delivery in it.
The order arrived after three weeks. By then, I saw the two books everywhere in bookstores, as if to spite me!
It was all for the best because I am in love with this cover for Billy Summers! The alternative in physical stores looks like this:
The most translated books from every country in the world
I say this repeatedly with every chance I get: if you can read a book in the author's original words, do that! Sometimes that is not possible, because we can’t speak all the languages of the world (I’m sorry you had to find out this way, Mădălina!😄🤗).
Some widely known classics have become famous and celebrated thanks to their translated versions. But if I were to ask you what you think is the most translated book in the world, would you be able to guess?
I know, I was tempted to say the Bible, too, but the people who did the research disregarded religious texts that couldn’t be attributed to a single author or country.
The answer is The Little Prince, which was translated into 380 languages!
I don’t think I can venture any other guesses for countries whose literature I studied over the years. I couldn’t guess the Romanian one, either.
Let’s see you have some fun with this.
For ease of access, here is a breakdown:
Events, reminders and other fun things: