sarahmatthews

sarahmatthews, 5 months ago to Pubtips

this is an interesting read on the struggle new, non-celebrity, authors are facing via The Walrus | “a self-fulfilling prophecy: the authors expected to attract the most attention and resources from consumers are given the most attention and resources by their publishers (which in turn helps them attract the most attention and resources from consumers).” #publishing #bookstodon #books @bookstodon
https://thewalrus.ca/how-do-you-even-sell-a-book-anymore/#content

sarahmatthews, 5 months ago to Pubtips

Dean Street Press is a great independent publisher who are ‘ devoted to producing, uncovering, and revitalizing good books’. Their authors include Stella Gibbons, Brian Flynn and D E Stevenson. This month it’s Dean Street December and I fancy reading a new author to me, Patricia Wentworth, who wrote mystery novels in the mid 20th century. I’ve been having fun looking through their website this morning trying to decide which one to read first #bookstodon #publishing @bookstodon
https://www.deanstreetpress.co.uk/pages/author_page/33

sarahmatthews, 4 months ago to bookstodon

I’ve just finished The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard, 1990, a truly memorable family saga set just before the Second World War and I’m so glad it’s the first of a series of 5 books! Some more thoughts on it here #bookstodon #BookReview #Storygraph #Braille @bookstodon
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/4f0860f2-821a-49e5-8741-38eb3ff6e80c

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to books

My new#audiobook includes music in the background at times and beautiful singing from the narrator which is a new experience for me and it’s taking me a while to get used to! Very atmospheric. I guess I tend to read backlist titles so I’m out of touch with current production techniques or something?! Anyone else read a book on audio that has this style? #fiction #bookstodon #Reading @bookstodon @audiobooks

sarahmatthews, 6 months ago to random

I’ve now got a folder on my phone of image descriptions by Be My AI of photos I’ve taken on our holiday! It’s the first time since becoming blind that I’ve had a photo album like this and I love it 😎
Here’s an example: ‘The picture shows a serene beach scene. The sun is shining brightly in the sky and its rays are reflecting beautifully on the calm water. The beach has golden sand and the water is gently lapping at the shore. There are a few rocks visible in the water near the shore. On the right side of the picture, there is a person standing in the water near the shore. In the background, there is a coastline with some trees and a single tall palm tree is visible. The sky is clear with no clouds, making it a perfect day at the beach.’

sarahmatthews, 6 months ago to random

Updated my JAWS this afternoon and now ‘i can’t get to the Documents folder, grrr! When I do ‘Windows key & E’ like normal nothing happens. Tried turning off and on again but still no luck. Anyone know what’s changed?

sarahmatthews, 4 months ago to Pubtips

Ignore the headline (Keanu isn’t mentioned again) and read this great balanced piece on celebrity authors… I think they’ve always been part of publishing but they’re selling in bigger numbers now - “In 2023, five of the top 20 bestselling paperback fiction books were written by celebrities”. It seems the temptation to tap into a ready-made audience is taking over like it did for the UK children’s book market a few years ago
#publishing #bookstodon #writing #GhostWriters @bookstodon
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/13/keanu-and-co-how-celebrities-became-bestselling-novelists?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to random

Just had confirmation that a #Braille copy of British Vogue is on its way to me, I’m really looking forward to seeing what it is like, so exciting!

sarahmatthews, 10 months ago to Pubtips

I’m loving all the posts for #AltTextCoverDay today so join in if you can!
Here’s a beautiful book I bought earlier this year on a trip to Oxford. We visited the historic Blackwell’s bookshop which is enormous as I wanted to go to the rare books section at the top of the shop to see if they had any first editions of my favourite author, Barbara Pym. She studied at Oxford University and many of her books, which were published in the mid 20th century, are set in the city. I was surprised to find they only had one, Crampton Hodnet, and that it was no more expensive than a standard hardback book. I’m #blind so my husband described the cover and read the blurb for me and even though I’ll only ever read this book in Braille or audio now I had to buy it!
This novel was one she wrote just before WW2 but it was not published in her lifetime. She had a difficult #publishing journey after initial success in the 1950s and was eventually shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Quartet in Autumn in 1977. After her death in 1980 Macmillan finally published this one in 1985.
I’ve read all her books and a recent biography of her, so I love that I get to own this piece of her publishing history which is something she never got to enjoy.
#bookstodon @bookstodon

sarahmatthews, 9 months ago to random

Our 11 year old has his first mobile phone and is away at his grandparents this week, and I can’t see it ever getting old hearing ‘hello Mummy’ being read out by voiceover when I get a text! Too cute 💖

sarahmatthews, 4 months ago to tea

My @tea today is a Christmas gift and it’s delicious, i’m enjoying it brewed in a glass teapot and a proper tea cup and saucer cos it’s the weekend and I love the ceremony of making it 🫖
~ "Darvilles of Windsor have been blending fine tea since 1860, and remain an established family business.

EARL GREY

The classic oriental blend, light and fragrant with the distinctive flavour of the Oil of Bergamot.” #DailyTea

sarahmatthews, 6 months ago to bookstodon

#BookReview A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr
Read in Braille
Penguin
Pub. 1980, 104pp

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This is a novella I’ve been meaning to read for years and it’s delightful.

Tom Birkin’s a Londoner who’s returned from war with shellshock and he takes a commission to restore a medieval church wall painting in a Yorkshire village. The warm summer days are glorious as he gets to work, with high hopes for the project:
“I willed it to be something good, really splendid, truly astonishing… something to wring a mention from The Times and a detailed account (with pictures) in the Illustrated London News.”

To his relief he’s quickly welcomed into the community:
“In the first few minutes of my first morning, I felt that this alien northern countryside - friendly, that I’d turned a corner and that this summer of 1920, was to smoulder on until the first leaves fell, was to be a propitious season of living”

For a book of just over 100 pages it’s full of fully realised characters; from his neighbour Moon (a fellow veteran who’s also on a contract from the vicarage) to the stationmaster’s daughter Kathy and the vicar’s wife Alice - they all visit him often, interested in him and his work. The vicar’s a miserly character and there’re some very uncomfortable conversations between him and Birkin.

And the description of landscape is evocative throughout:
“For me that will always be the summer day of summer days – a cloudless sky, ditches and roadside deep in grass, poppies, cuckoo pint, trees heavy with leaf, orchards bulging over hedge briars.”
This is a beautifully written story of someone looking back fondly on a restorative period in their youth, with the gradual unveiling of the painting mirroring his own feelings of rediscovering himself. The conversational tone, a hint of romance and poignant moments of reflection on religion and war make it easy to relate to this character from another time.

Thanks to #NovNov23 for nudging me to read it!
#Bookstodon @bookstodon

sarahmatthews, 8 months ago to random

Morning, happy weekend! I’ve just been showing our son the cool things Be My AI can do and he was very impressed by the detail in this description of the book he’s reading: “The picture you've shared is of a book cover titled "Star Wars: Tales from Vader's Castle". The cover is predominantly black and red. The top of the cover features the title in bold red letters. Below the title, there is a large illustration of Darth Vader's helmet and face, which is black with red and purple highlights. Below Darth Vader's face, there is an illustration of a dark castle with a tall tower in the center. The background is red with a black silhouette of a TIE fighter flying. At the bottom left corner, there is the Disney logo in white. The cover has a dark and ominous feel to it, which is typical for something related to Darth Vader”
It’s so fun to play around with taking photos again! 😄

sarahmatthews, 5 months ago to bookstodon

Just finished reading Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, 1961, and I absolutely loved it! For a book with a slow pace I found it perfectly plotted with characters who were so rounded. None of them are wholly good or bad and none of them are particularly likeable which appealed to me. I thought I’d seen the film years ago but from the beginning it didn’t feel familiar so I guess it could’ve been one of those Netflix DVDs back in the day that arrived, sat around for a bit and got sent back unwatched! 🤣 So glad about that as I thought the writing was beautiful and devastating and I’m so relieved I didn’t know anything about it before going in, other than it’s considered a modern American classic #bookstodon @bookstodon

sarahmatthews, 5 months ago to random

I’m off to bed with my Braille book and a cuppa so I’ll have enough energy for a meal out with friends later 🥱

sarahmatthews, 5 months ago to bookstodon

The winner of The Booker Prize will be announced this evening… I enjoy following it and this year only Western Lane really tempted me.i did look for it on audio but couldn’t find it. Anyway, here’s a good summary of the shortlist:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67518323?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
#bookstodon @bookstodon.

sarahmatthews, 10 months ago to random

I read Sally Rooney’s first two books on audio (excellently narrated by Aoife McMahon) but I’m now reading her next one, Beautiful world, where Are You, in Braille and was interested to see what the reading experience would be like because when it came out there was a fair amount of moaning about the fact she doesn’t use speech marks. I have to say that reading it in Braille has been a breeze so far and I’ve not found this style to be confusing or annoying in any way! Perhaps it’s a very different experience reading it with working eyeballs? #bookstodon #AmReading #CurrentlyReading

sarahmatthews, 4 months ago to audiobooks

#BookReview The Ballad of Peckham Rye by Muriel Spark
Read on audio
Narrator: Elizabeth Proud
Published 1960, 143pp

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This is a story which really starts at the end; a young woman, Dixie, is jilted at the altar and the narrative then rewinds several months to explore the run up to that day, in Spark’s quirky and unique style. We find out that many locals blame a newcomer, Dougal Douglas, for stirring up trouble and a few believe him to be the Devil himself!
Dougal’s a Scottish arts graduate who’s moved to London to be near his girl, Ginny, taking a room in lodgings (with Humphrey, the groom from the wedding) in Peckham. He’s got a ghost-writing commission for a retired actress, but also takes a job (in fact he sneakily takes two!) at the local textiles factories who’re following the current trend to employ an “arts man” to modernise the business and increase productivity.
Dougal is a brilliant creation, someone who knows how to influence and charm others. His interviews are very entertaining as his youthful confidence and self assurance allow him to take charge:
“Dougal put Mr Druce through the process of his smile which was wide and full of white young teeth…Mr Druce couldn’t take his eyes off Dougal, as Dougal perceived. ‘I feel I’m your man” dougal said ‘something told me so when I woke first thing this morning’ …Mr Douglas leaned forward and became a television interviewer. Mr Druce stopped walking and looked at him in wonder.”
He’s told to make the job his own and proceeds to charm the factory workers into sharing personal experiences in the name of ‘human research’. he takes notes for his reports and to embellish his book for Mrs Cheeseman which is meant to be largely autobiographical, resulting in some funny conversations when she tells him off for making too much up!
Everyone around him is caught up in this chaos as he advises people to take Mondays off, allows the local gang to believe he’s working for the police and shows people the scars where he’s had his ‘Devil’s horns’ removed.
I loved the depiction of South East London, including pubs and dancehalls, the old English garden and bowling green at Peckham Rye, and One Tree Hill. At one point Dougal and Merle Coverdale, the head of the typing pool, walk through Camberwell Old Cemetery and pass through the ornate tombs:
“He posed as an angel Devil, with his humped shoulder and gleaming smile and his fingers of each hand wide spread against the sky”
There are references to the Devil throughout but it’s never clear if he’s meant to be the literal Devil or not and I liked this ambiguity.
There were also some great scenes of scuffles on the Rye, indicating the simmering violence that continually threatens to erupt in this darkly funny novella. I recommend going back and reading the first chapter again when you finish, so clever!
#Bookstodon @bookstodon @audiobooks

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to random

The brilliant author Elle McNicoll has set up The Adrien Prize to champion the writing of authors who include positive depictions of #Disability and #ChronicIllness in their children's books following the closure of The Blue Peter Children’s Book Award earlier this year. The shortlist has just been announced, as follows:
The Secret of Haven Point by Lisette Auton, Puffin Books
Wilder Than Midnight by Cerrie Burnell, Puffin Books
A Flash of Fireflies by Aisha Bushby, Farshore Books
This is a brand-new prize to get behind and it’s great to see that The Book Trust have recently given away copies of the longlist to schools in a competition.
This article has a little more information about the prize > https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/blog/elle-mcnicoll-launches-new-childrens-book-prize-the-adrien-prize-6408

A committee of young judges will now decide on a winner and I look forward to the announcement in early 2023!
#KidLit #ChildrensBooks #AdrienPrize #inclusion

sarahmatthews, 3 months ago to Pubtips

🙌Great to see the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction longlist announcement! The one I’m most likely to read is Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein, Here’s the full list #bookstodon #publishing @bookstodon | “From gripping memoirs and polemic narratives, to groundbreaking investigative journalism and revisionist history, these 16 titles will change the way you view the non-fiction section of the bookshop.
Whether you are a seasoned non-fiction reader or considering trying for the first time, with this list you have at your fingertips a breadth of titles that reflects the quality and ambition of non-fiction writing by women around the globe that spark curiosity and might just change the world.”

https://womensprize.com/announcing-the-2024-womens-prize-for-non-fiction-longlist/

sarahmatthews, 2 months ago to books

One of my favourite book bloggers is Moira of Clothes in Books who writes mostly about classic crime. She’s writing about every Agatha Christie novel but hit on a dodgy one recently, Elephants Can Remember (1972), which she struggled to find much positive to say about. Anyone read it?! #bookstodon #reading @bookstodon

https://clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2024/03/elephants-can-remember-by-agatha.html?m=1

sarahmatthews, 29 days ago to bookstodon

The #WomensPrize shortlist for 2024 has just been announced! I’ve not read any of them yet but a couple are tempting - The Wren, The Wren and Restless Dolly Maunder. Shame Western Lane didn’t make it #bookstodon @bookstodon Announcing the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist! - Women's Prize : Women's Prize https://womensprize.com/announcing-the-2024-womens-prize-for-fiction-shortlist/

sarahmatthews, 4 months ago to random

Waking up before 7am wasn’t my plan for Sunday morning, but I have to admit there’s something special about reading in bed before everyone’s awake! #bookstodon

sarahmatthews, 3 months ago to audiobooks

#BookReview The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Read on audio
Narrators: Alma Cuervo, Julia Whelan and Robin Miles
Simon & Schuster
Pub. 2017, 385pp

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I adored Daisy Jones and the Six by this author a few years ago and have been meaning to read another of her books since, so when I was ill and needed something to get engrossed in I got it on audio. I’d seen the press around the TV version of Daisy Jones winning at the Emmy’s (which I’ve not seen yet) and that reminded me of her novels.
This was the perfect choice for me as the story follows the life of a 50s movie star, Evelyn Hugo, told in flashbacks to a journalist, Monique Grant.
I knew there was going to be a twist at the end because it’s alluded to as you go along, and I did find myself trying to figure out what it would be, but mostly I was loving the gossipy nature of the story of an actress trying to force her way into Hollywood using any underhand methods she can think of, and her beauty of course.sometimes you just need a decade spanning saga to take you away from the present and this book did that so well. Definitely a case of the right book at the right time.
i very much enjoyed all the references to fashion, popular culture, the depiction of celebrity scandals and the character of Evelyn herself. Glamourous, selfish and ruthless, she’s got that indefinable star quality.
You can tell that the author had the time of her life researching this book and I enjoyed all the fictitious news articles that popped up at intervals.
My hunch about the ending proved to be pretty much what I suspected but I didn’t mind a bit! Overall a great plot-driven read about the artificiality of fame.
This book was published a couple of years before Daisy Jones and the Six and it’s fascinating to see how her writing developed. The latter is, for me, a much more successful book but this one is a great read too.
#bookstodon @bookstodon @audiobooks

sarahmatthews, 2 months ago to books

I wonder if this book, Julia by Sandra Newman, will make it onto the Women’s Prize longlist next week? It sounds like a really intriguing idea - a retelling of Orwell’s 1984 from the perspective of Julia! I reread the original about 10 years ago now so am very tempted to read it again then read this novel #bookstodon #books #AmReading @bookstodon
https://shows.acast.com/sara-cariads-weirdos-bookclub/episodes/julia-by-sandra-newman-with-daniel-rigby