become a cliché to the point that they seem to have lost much of their ability to scare, I still can’t resist a good vampire story. For every boring, unimaginative Twilight rip-off, there’s a lesser-known gem lurking in the darkness somewhere, waiting to be devoured. Or, perhaps, to devour unsuspecting readers first. One such story is Necroscope by Brian Lumley.
Self-publishing is often frowned upon, seen as a vanity exercise that removes the gatekeeper function of traditional publishers and releases floods of drivel onto an already saturated media landscape. My own opinion is a bit more nuanced. I think publishing and self-publishing can easily exist together. Indie and DIY approaches have long been common in other creative sectors, such as music and film. And with everyone broadcasting themselves on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, I can’t see why self-publishing my thoughts in book form would be a weird or embarrassing thing to do.
I don’t know if it’s typical for Norwich, but the people here tend to leave items they no longer need… Read more Lost and Found: On Reading Books from the Street
With an ongoing lockdown, and libraries shut until further notice, my book supply had all but dried up as of last week. For someone who always carries something to read and only sleeps soundly with a healthy to-read-stack waiting for her in the morning, this was a problem. I suffered withdrawal symptoms, albeit non-physical ones, and longed more for the escapism good books provide than ever before.
With the world still in peril and the library still shut, I’ve recently found myself reconsidering my own book shelves. I only own a handful of books, mostly because my voracious reading habit would otherwise become rather space-consuming and expensive, and I rarely reread books anyway. But since I don’t like to read from screens, which means ebooks are out, and no imminent end to the current lockdown seems likely, it looks like I’ll need to reconsider my principles.
Many institutions and individual enthusiasts have started to share culture online, or had already started to do so long before we had even heard of Covid-19. If you’ve had enough Netflix to last you a lifetime and the thought of a jigsaw puzzle makes you cringe, here are a few places you can access from home to open your mind.
“The truth is stranger than fiction” is a somewhat tired cliché. But in case of Susan Faludi’s book In the Darkroom it is the best possible description of its content.
A review of Armistead Maupin, writer of Tales of the City, visiting Norwich. An evening of queer activism, literature, and… crabs.
The only thing that beats browsing book shops is browsing second hand book shops. Between the dust and decaying paper,… Read more Meeting Benevolent Ghosts: An Encounter through Vintage Postcards
Okay, I’ll be blogging about day one for US Studies Online (coming soon!) but I feel the need to add a… Read more BAAS 2017: Why It Was Ace
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