Saturday, July 27, 2013

Why I really like Why I Really Like This Book

I've recently discovered a blog & a series of podcasts that I love & I think readers of this blog would also love. Kate Macdonald has a blog called Why I Really Like This Book. Kate is a fan of forgotten fiction, as she calls it. The books that used to be well-known, that our grandparents used to read but now, no one does. Every fortnight she records a podcast about her chosen book. You can listen to the podcast from the link on the blog or you can download it to your iPad (& to other devices as well, I'm sure, but I only know about iPads) & listen to it anywhere, anytime.

Kate & I have a lot of authors & books in common. I've listened to about half a dozen of the podcasts & have downloaded a dozen more. You can see from the photo above some of the authors & books Kate has already blogged about. E M Delafield, Angela Thirkell, Stella Gibbons, John Buchan, Barbara Pym. In a way, these authors aren't as forgotten as they used to be. They've all been reprinted in recent years & they're being discovered by a new generation of readers. On the other hand, those of us who love middlebrow fiction are still a small group when you consider the many millions of people reading John Grisham, Janet Evanovich, E L James & now Robert Galbraith. Anything that promotes our favourite authors & keeps the reprints coming is wonderful.

Kate's latest podcast is about When William Came by Saki. I'd already downloaded this book a few months ago when I read Simon's review at Stuck In A Book but, of course, haven't read it. The only Saki I've read is The Unbearable Bassington although I have his Complete Stories on the tbr shelves. Kate recommended four short stories by Saki as an introduction to his style - Tobermory, The Reticence of Lady Anne, Music on the Hill & Esme. They certainly encapsulate Saki's themes of satire & wicked humour. Other books I'm now keen to read are Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill & John Buchan's The Power-House. I'm sure I'll find more as I look back through the archives of Why I Really Like This Book. On the blog there's also a link to an interview with Kate from Pod Academy where she discusses forgotten fiction & her love of browsing in secondhand bookshops (which is where the interview takes place).

10 comments:

  1. Hello Lyn, how lovely that you wrote about this, for I too have been greatly enjoying "Why I Really Like This Book" for a few months too. It is an excellent site and her podcasts are wonderful. I like several of the authors she presents, and then there are the ones I've been interested in but have not actually read yet. She's put me on to several good books to add to the list! I certainly want to read a lot more John Buchan. I didn't know about the interview you mentioned, so must listen to that.
    By the way, Puck of Pook's Hill is very good!

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    1. I'm glad Puck is a good read. I hope to get to it sooner rather than later. Kate's choices are always interesting & quite often, I have the book on the tbr shelves if I haven't read it already.

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  2. I think I'll really like this blog that you really like! (Thanks for telling us about it!)

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    1. I hope you do like it, Audrey. My only problem with it is that I keep adding books to the pile I want to read right now.There are still no more hours in the day!

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  3. I have to admit that I rarely listen to podcasts but I am always excited to see what books Kate picks to talk about. She has such wonderful taste!

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    1. I don't listen to many podcasts either but I do enjoy Kate's very much. I'm always interested to see what's next on her list.

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  4. I enjoy this podcast so much - always so many things to think about. I too have downloaded When William Came!

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    1. At least a lot of the books Kate reviews are available as free e-books which is helpful on the purse & the tbr shelves! At least they're invisible on my e-reader.

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  5. Thank you so much for directing me to this site! I love old books too!

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    1. I hope you enjoy it, Peggy Ann, there are lots of my favourite authors there.

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