Noted Poet Andrew McMillan enjoys the pleasure of regret
“it’s great”, he tweeted
Author: scottmanleyhadley
I like to read but little else. I have bad mental health and a dog. And a baby. And no hair. And a blog.
Some Fragments of Incomplete Lockdown Blogs
Richard Wright in Franco’s Spain and other fragments
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
well, it’s a “classic” and now i’ve read it
Blood on the Forge by William Attaway
phenomenal, wise, novel about the great migration and the manipulation of white working class resentment
The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin
i eavesdrop on some people planning a big party night then go home and read nerdy fiction; bored
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
a blog from when the [first?] lockdown eased
Surrender by Joanna Pocock
big post on privilege, re-wilding, ageing; a phenomenal read
In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
i read a great Toronto novel and recall summer 2019 when I worked at lux events
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
accidentally read a right-wing novel; thoughts about returning to work mid-pandemic
Movements in European History by DH Lawrence
a mediocre history text then a pro-UBI, anti-“the Arts is special” rant
solid bald – father figure
another year older, another year bald, eugh.
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
yes it is good and i got to read it slightly early and for free
Hello Friend We Missed You by Richard Owain Roberts
disjointed blog post on a very affecting new novel
Poo Become One
wacky promo video for still-in-production TRUTHER PRESS poo anthology
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
very little on the book, lots of rage at the slow quietening of June’s global protest movement
Washington Square by Henry James
a mediocre short novel
Passing Ceremony by Helen Weinzweig
flawless 1970s fiction exploring dementia; plus shirtless pic
Ian Fleming’s James Bond in Role of Honor [sic] by John Gardner
a comfort: Gardner’s ignorance of affluence shows he never got rich from these terrible books
The Proust Screenplay by Harold Pinter
to adapt is not to survive
the mirror and the light by hilary mantel
Written June 15th and actually it was this one, not Things Fall Apart that caused me to pause blogging, forContinue Reading
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
a blog post that fell apart so much i paused the blog for six weeks
The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
hide the dfw; notes on craft & posthumous novels
the story of the lost child by elena ferrante
two and a half months ago i read an incredible novel
This Is Where I Get Off by KIRBY
great poetry, i whinge about lockdown innit
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
a lovely lockdown trip down the middle of the road
Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin
another ripping escapist yarn
The break-up of the Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe by Ghita Ionescu
like a newspaper but a book… from 1965
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
truly one of the greatest recent works of fiction
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
reading the best of books in the worst of times
After the Fall by Arthur Miller
thoughts on avoiding the canon
Jazz by Toni Morrison
redressing a gap in my reading
the underwater welder by jeff lemire
spooky graphic novel
Tender Omnibus
exceptional omnibus from NY publisher Tender Buttons
Cane by Jean Toomer
ok toomer
Cygnet by Season Butler
a solid contemporary novel
Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher
without a call to violence, this is fantasy
Boys in Zinc by Svetlana Alexievich
fell orf my bike boohoo
this is how you lose the time war by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
more mediocre writing slash “lauded genre writing”
Selected Poems by Marianne Moore
the building i live in got on fire in lockdown
The Broken Spears by Miguel León-Portilla (ed.)
historical documents on colonisation of Mexico translated from Nahuatl
Two Lives by Janet Malcolm
great literary biography but not AS GREAT as other malcolm i’ve read
My Word Is My Bond by Roger Moore (with Gareth Owen)
a pointless read, wasting time
the governesses by anne serre
parkdale in the pandemic
Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer
distracting the self with heady genre fiction
the cléo reader: 2013-2019
commencing unemployment and panicking about expertise
If All The World and Love Were Young by Stephen Sexton
top prize-winning poetry and emotional toll of lockdown ekes in
We Are Made of Diamond Stuff by Isabel Waidner
it’s the pandemic and it’s now
The Triple Echo by H. E. Bates
a surprisingly great short novel that might be hateful
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
i read escapist fiction and attempt escapist walking
Triumph Of The Now 