Happy Fourth of July to all of you who care! To those who don’t, I hope you are having a nice Saturday. I spent much of the day helping out at a big library event and working on my suntan. When I say I was working on my suntan, I mean I was making some of my funny fan lines worse and some of them better. Because I spend most of my outdoor time on my bike, I have suntanned arms and white hands, with a pretty distinct line on my wrist and some lines on my fingers you can see if you look closely. Today my hands finally got some sun and now they don’t look quite so ridiculous, although I did develop a new watch line. The line at the bottom of my neck and on my upper arms is now worse, though. I’m afraid I won’t look normal in the summer as long as I continue to ride my bike. Oh, well.
The library event — a big party for the library’s 100th birthday — went well, although it was windy and one of our tents flipped over on us. Mostly I sold coffee and bagels to hungry people, and I also helped kids make cat puppets. They had fun.
The other thing I’ve been doing is finishing Mary Brunton’s novel Discipline, and I also recently finished Benjamin Black’s Christine Falls, which means I get to choose a new novel and maybe a new nonfiction as well. Yay! I’m not sure what I’ll read, but I’ve considered picking up Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories and also Michael Frayn’s The Trick of It. And I’ll probably consider others before deciding on something.
One other thing I did today: I spent some time checking out these two posts from Fernham about books she might teach in her Transatlantic Women Modernists grad class this fall. There are a bunch of authors I’d never heard of in those lists, including Betty Miller, Gertrude Bell, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, and Jessie Fauset, as well as other authors I’ve heard of but know next to nothing about. The class looks fascinating, and my wishlist just got longer.
Enjoy your weekend everybody!
Of Books and Bicycles 
Happy Fourth, Dorothy! It’s nice you had a chance to even out some tan lines and help your library at the same time! I don’t spend much time in the sun except when I’m walking home from work but I always have a white spot in the crook of my right arm because of how I carry my bookbag. Have fun choosing new books to read–it’s always fun to start a new book! Now I must check out those links (and maybe add a few more titles to my wishlist as well!).
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Happy 4th July, Dorothy! It sounds like you had a wonderful day.And I do love the moment when I can choose a couple of new books to start – hope you find just what you’re after.
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Danielle — it’s funny how those odd tan lines develop! I ended up starting the Michael Frayn book last night and am enjoying it a lot so far. I think you’ll be interested in Fernham’s reading list. There’s lots of good stuff there.
Litlove — I think I may well have found what I wanted — thank you! There’s nothing like the pleasure to be found in contemplating all those possible books I might read!
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Sounds like you had a lovely 4th of July. the library clebration sounds like it was lots of fun. I have weird tan lines too and I don’t even have the excuse of long hours on the bike like you do. I am afraid to look at Fernham’s lists but I am not going to be able to resist.
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So did you get to take any books home from the library celebration? 🙂
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Thanks for the link to Fernham’s posts, such interesting books. I’m a big fan of modernist fiction, and many of these authors are new to me as well.
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I’m glad for your sake the library’s anniversary day is over, and I’m glad to hear that everyone had a good time. Looking forward to the reviews on the books you finished, and also hearing about what new books you’ve chosen to read. I’m finally back to Rather Lovely Inheritance, and it’s finally picking up. 🙂
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A bike tan just says that you love your bike. A lot. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Show it off!
(I have the dark dots on the backs of my hands from my crocheted gloves tan…)
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Happy belated 7/4! I loved Christine Falls, I hope you’ll enjoy it, although it’s rather dark and cold for a Summer read (or perhaps it will make it cooler…)
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Stefanie — no, it’s hard to resist a good list, isn’t it? I find it’s particularly hard when someone is revealing their syllabus — I think it’s fascinating to learn about the process of how teachers put their reading lists together. And I’m glad to have some company with the funny tan lines!
Iliana — well, no, but that’s because it wasn’t that kind of event. It was more like a party with lots of activities for kids. But if there were books involved, I would definitely have brought some home!
Verbivore — I’m glad you found some new things. I really enjoy the time period as well, and it’s nice to learn more about some non-canonical writers.
Debby — I’m glad your book is picking up a bit, and I hope you find lots of time to read it! The novel I picked up is short, and I’m about to finish it — it’s nice to read short things now and then for the satisfaction of finishing them quickly.
Bardiac — that’s definitely the best way to think about it — let’s show off our tans proudly!
Smithereens — thank you! I did enjoy Christine Falls, although with some reservations. I didn’t read it under ideal conditions. But I thought it worked well in the summer weather!
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