What's with today, today?

I've been on a bit of a kick lately of reading about pop music and number one singles. I've been finding it fascinating, so I'm sharing some links here here on the off-chance that you do, too. Down the internet rabbit-hole we go... It all started a few years ago when I stumbled across a music column in The Vine by Tim Byron, reviewing the latest Australian number one single. Usually, the column looks at what makes a song so popular- what are it's hooks? Themes? Cultural context? And what makes the song- it's influences and so on. Tim Byron is a music writer but also apparently a psychology lecturer, and he often seems to have interesting things to say about the singles, and treats them with a certain respect. Which is one of the reasons why I was so interested when he mentioned his new podcast... 90 percent hits  is a podcast (and blog- their tumblr is well worth checking out) about all the number one singles in Australia in the 1990s (the period that my gene...

So this blog has been a bit neglected lately, much as I try to at least update it monthly, BUT this time I've written something elsewhere on the Internet. It's for Kate's blog Women on the Shelf , which is a blog about books written by women. There are a whole lot of different things by different contributors, and I've written a review of Luminaries by Eleanor Catton . Spoiler: I loved it.

Just some rambling thoughts on fairy tales and folk ballads today! I recently found some great fairytale related links- so I thought I would share them with the internet. They are all from D.L. Ashliman at the University of Pittsburgh, and you could get lost for ages wandering through them. Among other things you can find in this linked set of pages are a directory of tale types, comparisons of different editions of Grimm (for selected fairy tales) and links to other folk- and fairy-tale sites. Here are the pages: Directory of folktales Links and overview Brothers Grimm  Recently though I've been most interested in the story of Tam Lin, which has gotten me interested in other Scottish ballads (or other British ballads generally as well). There's an online version of the Child Ballads  which is interesting, since Child collected some variants of common ballads as well, and I've had a look at some of the versions of Tam Lin, which is interesting. I love Tam Lin, but I...

It feels like there have been a lot of distractions around lately, so I thought why not share some of these distractions with the world? Firstly, a list of books mentioned or read on the Gilmore Girls! This is a fun reading challenge idea as well. For fellow Gilmore Girls fans- enjoy! I found it through Book Dirt. Secondly, Ronni's boyfriend has started a blog with another medievalist friend about the Anglo-Saxon riddles, called The Riddle Ages . Since uni ended I haven't been reading much Old English at all, and I miss it, so I'm hoping that this blog sticks around. The riddles are largely found in the Exeter Book, a manuscript which also contains most (all?) of the poems known as the elegies- which are my particular favourites- and some riddles have similarities with the elegies. They can be very poetic, and there is the added fun of trying to solve the riddles. I'm looking forward to reading a discussion of the possible solutions. So far there is an introduction...

Today I was struck by a post over at a gallimaufry about reading things set in unfamiliar places- and how to visualise them- I wonder whether we can familiarise ourselves with different cultures by reading about them, or will we always miss something when we read about things we don't already know? Like when we figure out the meaning of words from their contexts, but sometimes find out years later that we've gotten them wrong (at least, I have done that). Then I came across this post on facebook, which is a piece of writing memories of childhood in South India, and I was reminded of that idea again. Because in the piece I can recognise the nostalgia, even if I can't recognise the things the writer is nostalgic for. This feeds into a lot of different ideas I guess, like the concept of the other, or maybe the subjectiveness of language and meaning sometimes, but I just thought maybe it was some interesting food for thought.

Time for a round up of books read in 2012! As always, rereads are not included and I've linked books I've reviewed/mentioned elsewhere to the blog post in which I talked about them. Favourites are marked with a * . I seem to have read a lot of crime fiction again this year, of all different flavours, and one book of crime non-fiction. Usually I dislike true crime, but this was about the Somerton Man mystery, which I find fascinating, so that is an exception. My blogging was mostly dominated by my Century of Books challenge, which provided one of my favourite books of the year- Swann's Way . My other favourites included some fantasy and Northanger Abbey . Anyway, here is my (annotated) list! The Tiger's Wife - Tea Obreht Domestic Violets - Matthew Norman Kind of male chick-lit? I ended up very much disliking this book, the protagonist was infuriating. Starlight - Stella Gibbons Not quite Cold Comfort Farm . Much more strange. A Room with a View - E.M. Forster...

Lists seem to be an ever-popular feature of the book world, from Awards shortlists to lists of books read through the year (yep, both of those have appeared on my blog). There are an infinite variety of lists to choose from, such as lists that tell you a bit about a person (like Simon at Stuck-in-a-book's 'My Life in Books' series ) or books are about topics (like this Christmas-gift version at Booksellers NZ ), but the most controversial are the 'Best-of' lists. Some people hate the idea of imposing a ranking on books, some people like to use them as a jumping off post for thinking about their own favourites (see Book Snob's take on Stylists list of must read's ) and sometimes they are just good for inspiring reading choices (or Christmas shopping). So for your enjoyment, I found a list of all the best of lists of the year (i.e. I think someone posted it on Twitter but I forget who): Largehearted Boy's 'Online 'Best of 2012' book lists O...

Since I wrote my blog post about first lines, I seem to notice people talking about them everywhere. So have some links that celebrate the first line! Firstly: The Guardian's short editorial piece in praise of first lines  and its slightly longer discussion of favourite first lines . Secondly, Kit Whitfield's blog (thanks for the link, Ronni! ) has a series deconstructing the first lines of novels, and what they say about the novel as a whole. Really good for some longer discussion of opening lines. So, another first line: from the book I just finished reading, The Pastor's Wife  by Elizabeth von Arnim "On that April afternoon all the wallflowers of the world seemed to her released body to have been piled up at the top of Regent Stree so that she should walk in fragrance."

In my wanderings around the blogosphere I have come across two(!) memes that involve filling in the blanks with books you've read this year. I couldn't decide which one to do, so naturally I have done both. The downside is that you start to run out of good titles, but it was fun nonetheless. First, from Regular Ruminations ( here ): In high school I was:   Under a Glass Bell  (Anais Nin) People might be surprised I’m:   The Fire in the Blood   (Irene Nemirovsky) I will never be:   Jude the Obscure   (Thomas Hardy) My fantasy job is:   Unseen Academicals  (Terry Pratchett) At the end of a long day I need:   Love in a Cold Climate  (Nancy Mitford) I hate it when:   Housekeeping  (Marilynne Robinson)  Wish I had:   A Study in Scarlet  (Arthur Conan Doyle) My family reunions are:   Exploits of Moominpappa  (Tove Jansson) At a party you’d find me:   Looking for Alibrandi  (Melina Marchetta) ...

A while ago I wrote a blog post on memorable first lines in novels, today I found out that American Book Review has compiled a list of the top 100! From a quick glance at the beginning a couple of the ones we talked about are in there, but there are many, many more.  I'll leave you with one that wasn't in that blog post, but is on the list, and well worthy of it too: "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. —Gabriel García Márquez,  One Hundred Years of Solitude  (1967; trans. Gregory Rabassa)" Check it out here .

Assignments are finished, summer is icumen in, and I can almost believe I'm on holidays... Time for some more reading, blog-updating and miscellaneous adventures. Oh, and work of course. Difficult to forget that one. So here's an October update, with links! The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry - a food blog about Sydney restaurants, with a great name. Something from xkcd to put this whole blogging thing in perspective...

So often it is that it is when you have a million other things you should be doing that you find a bunch of good things on the internet. And so 'tis that amid assignments, busy work days etc. I have some links for you! Firstly- Sarah Rees Brennan on murder mysteries . I found myself saying yes! That! And that! Her description of the type of novels that do not appeal, yes! Her impression of Dorothy Sayers talking to her editor about the character of Harriet Vane- yes again! All the way up to when she starts talking about the Ice House, and other books I haven't read. But maybe should, now. And a great post on Evening All Afternoon (first I've ever read of this blog, but will read more now) about A.S. Byatt's Possession and the various voices therein. Yes I do think I am displaying my biases in my choice of links today, but any talk about why Possession is great is fine by me. And lastly something very light-hearted: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books ran a competition ...

A while ago I wrote about looking for book review blogs- I love reading blogs, I love reading books, and a blog that helps me find new books has got to be a good thing. I've done a bit of wandering in the blogosphere, which has been good, and I has been reflected in my last trip to the library. Here's what I borrowed: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson . I found this here , and was immediately intrigued. Tove Jansson! Writer of Moomintroll! Writing something completely different! It took me a couple of library visits to find it, but I was not disappointed. What a beautiful book. Set on a Finnish island it tells the story of Grandmother and Sophia with a style that is in fact similar to the Moomintroll books, but without the outlandish adventures and therefore allowing the characters more room to shine.  Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson. Having been reminded of Tove Jansson I couldn't resist borrowing a Moomin book, especially as I'm not sure I've read this o...

I'm afraid this is going to be a very short post, because while I have a couple of blog post ideas turning over in my head (French provincial women in 'Madame Bovary' and 'Fire in the Blood', 'memento mori' and celebrity) they are as yet only half-formed.  But I just read a blog post on reading books in translation that struck me as particularly true, and reading through this blog so far I am really liking her observations on many book-related things. So you might like to check out  Book Snob . And I will write a proper blog post of my own soon, honest.

Having just had a few crazy weeks of assignment writing, conference preparation at work and general hectic-ness, I'm now ready to write another blog post! Woo!  I mentioned a while ago I was interested in writing a blog post about why I love Sydney, and Ronni recently posted a link to a blog project photographing the suburbs of Sydney, which inspired me to do something about it. Incidentally, that blog posted a link to the Dictionary of Sydney , which looks like an interesting place for information on all things related to Sydney. I can't cover all of Sydney in one blog post, I just can't. And my photos are no match for those in 52 suburbs . But here are some things I love: - Festivals in Summer! When the whole city comes into one space and the streets are full of people instead of cars and everything is free. - The coffee! It looks great, it tastes great... It means we have heaps and heaps of little cafes. Everyone I know who travels overseas misses i...

I know there is a lot happening in the world right now: elections, recessions, budgets, not to mention floods and volcanoes and so on. But I am sorry to say I am unable to comment on any of them. I have not really been following the news at all. Last week work was hectic and this week has been very different. This week has been full of libraries!  From Tuesday to today I've been on a study visit for my library course (it's like a school excursion all over again) visiting libraries all over Sydney. Such a variety there were too! There was Ultimo TAFE, doing so much innovative work on a tiny budget, and UTS doing so much innovative work on a much bigger budget. There was the NSW Parliamentary library, which was AMAZING and where the librarians are like researchers, and the Society of Australian Genealogists, where the researchers were like librarians. The Botanical Gardens library had a signed first edition of the Origin of the Species, and the Australian Film, Television and Ra...

I feel that after ranting it is good to add some balance to the blog by posting about cheerful things. What the world needs is more colour and cuteness and kindness. These things make me smile: Definitely check it out at Colour Me Katie And Bakerella always appeals to my sweet tooth. Hope all is well with you, readers!

I came across this meme at The Captive Reader (my exploration of the world of book blogging continues!) which apparently originated with MizB at Should Be Reading , it goes like this:          Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page.  Share with us two (2) “teaser”             sentences from that page. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given! So here goes:     There was another thing she said, my wife, sympathetically, referring to the way I regarded life on the one hand and film on the other. "Why is it so hard to be serious, so easy to be too serious?" Don DeLillo, Point Omega p. 55

Finding a new blog is usually a fairly haphazard process- it occurs through one of the three following ways: someone I know starts a blog and I find out about it, someone I know recommends a blog/blog post OR I stumble upon it through a trail of links. For that reason the blogs I read represent a fairly diverse (and unrepresentative of me) range of interests, here are some I probably haven't mentioned before: Ronni's blog from Cambridge, which I have just added a link to in my sidebar. Style Bubble - A fashion blog from the UK Pioneer Woman - A blog about life in rural America + cooking + homeschooling Smart Bitches Trashy Books - A blog about Romance novels I enjoy these blogs, I really do, different as they are. Though they don't have much in common, I guess I could say that a good blog has personality, and these do. But I feel there is something missing in my life, and that something is book reviews. I can't seem to find them on online newspaper sites (or even i...

One thing I love, if you haven't noticed, is words! The English language in general (and other languages as well, to a lesser extent) is fascinating. I love to read, and write, and I really like etymology. I am maybe a little bit obsessed. Anyway, my friend Sam posted up a link to a word-related-site that I absolutely have to share with you: podictionary . It contains word-trivia in written and podcast form. Fabulous. And through that I found another site: Wordnik . It has words, definitions, etymology, quotes, and graphs showing usage over time. That's pretty cool. The information seems incomplete for a bunch of words, but I really like the idea and the way its executed. Check it out!