Bibliophilia and Readings (Part 2)

Books We Read.

Note: This page is a continuation of  'Bibliophilia and Readings (Part 1)'.   

 

 

Dear bibliophile friends, any interesting books you're reading? From my lists below, continued from Bibliophilia and Readings (Part 1), can you identify books you have read, books in your shelves, books you're currently reading, books you want to read, books you're letting go, or...?   

 

My letting go of books continues; rereading old ones in the book shelves to find out which need to stay. 

 

 

1 May 2024  

 

Yesterday I decided to  take a rest from my painting brushes to read Hayley Mills' book, Forever Young A Memoir. What a lovely memoir of a favourite former child actress. Prior becoming a household name as the star of the movie Pollyanna (embedded in one's heart if you're a positivist),  initially, I've greatly admired her in two films: Whistle Down the Wind (as Kathy Bostock, a novel written by her writer-actress mother, Mary Hayley Mills), and Tiger Bay (as Gillie, with her father Sir John Mills and Horst Buchholz in starring roles). If you want to read more about her achievements, accolades, honours, six films with Walt Disney, etc..., simply go to Wikipedia.

 

Through Hayley Mills' memoir, we learn a lot more, and in detail, about her fascinating childhood experiences and her youthful fame, mainly as Walt Disney movie star. Her life interaction with Hollywood celebrities is enormous, and if you love classic movies like I do, aside from being her fan, you will enjoy her memoir tremendously.   

I've wondered though: why Hayley's memoir stopped after the end of her first marriage. She was in her 20s then, after the birth of Crispian, her first son. She only very briefly mentions her second son, but not the father, nor any of her subsequent relationships. She also leaves out her bout with breast cancer. For whatever reason, I'll let it be.

 

Forever Young is fascinating and honest. And so endearing. Read it if you haven't.   

 

31 March 2024

 

Happy Easter to all my book lover friends!  Mea culpa if I haven't any readings to share as I have been busy with my other love: watercolour painting. Soon my friends, soon. As I regularly cull books, it's but natural I re-visit those ones to let go.  Last week, eight went, mainly writing books I no longer need. The book I was reading when my watercolour brush pens interrupted me was Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books, edited by Leah Price. Very interesting. Some of them reminded me of me. Why? Simply because personal libraries of some writers mentioned spotlight the same books I've kept through the years. The editor (or interviewer) muses on the history and future of the bookshelf, asking what books can tell us about their owners. Each writer provides a list of top ten favourite titles, offering  unique personal histories along with suggestions for every bibliophile. Definitely, Unpacking will remain in my shelf.           

 

16 February 2024

 

Apollo's Summer Look by British author Kathleen Conlon. Published by Collins, in London (1968). It is summer in a seaside town. Rose and Sally, down from their second academic year are on a working vacation. Also newly emancipated from the apron strings of their families, both friends are anxious for exciting experiences. Unlike 21 year-old Sally who falls in and out of love as regularly as she changes her hair-style, one-year younger Rose deliberately embarks on an affair, confident that by October she'll be able to return to university emotionally intact. The atmosphere is set when 40-ish Philip arrives from London. Philip, whose marriage is in the doldrums, is not averse to a little light amorous delight with so willing a young partner. When summer ends, Sally escapes emotional entanglements, but both Rose and Philip have realised that passion revolves where "no strings attached" is broken as it was made. The story reminds me of the movie, Interlude, starring Oskar Werner  and Barbara Ferris (older sister of Pam Ferris). It is an old story told many times, but the author puts a pleasant spin.       

 

Interesting Reading: 

 

11 Bookish Words for Book Lovers.  Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Accessed February 16, 2024

 

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