I’ve been communing a lot with my TBR shelves recently and as I whittle away the long-languishing books the communing is taking longer and longer, but this morning the shelves spoke quickly and loudly: Miss Benson’s Beetle and it felt right and good.
Miss Benson's Beetleby Rachel Joyce isbn: 0857521993 Publication Date: June 11, 2020 Pages: 389 Genre: Fiction Publisher: DoubledayMargery Benson's life ended the day her father walked out of his study and never came back. Forty years later, abandoning a dull job, she advertises for an assistant. The successful candidate is to accompany Margery on an expedition to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist. Enid Pretty is not who she had in mind. But together they will find themselves drawn into an adventure that exceeds all Margery's expectations, eventually finding new life at the top of a red mountain.
This is a story that is less about what can be found than the belief it might be found; it is an intoxicating adventure story and it is also a tender exploration of a friendship between two unforgettable women that defies all boundaries.
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I also continue to whittle away at Histories of the Unexpected and I’m about half-way through. Maybe, maybe, maybe I can get through the rest of it this weekend. If I push. It’s killing my average days to read curve.
Histories of the Unexpectedby James Daybell, Sam Willis isbn: 9781786494122 Publication Date: October 1, 2018 Pages: 467 Genre: History, Non-fiction Publisher: Atlantic BooksIn this fascinating and original new book, Sam Willis and James Daybell lead us on a journey of historical discovery that tackles some of the greatest historical themes - from the Tudors to the Second World War, from the Roman Empire to the Victorians - but via entirely unexpected subjects.
You will find out here how the history of the beard is connected to the Crimean War; how the history of paperclips is all about the Stasi; how the history of bubbles is all about the French Revolution. And who knew that Heinrich Himmler, Tutankhamun and the history of needlework are linked to napalm and Victorian orphans?
Taking the reader on an enthralling and extraordinary journey through thirty different topics that are ingeniously linked together, Histories of the Unexpected not only presents a new way of thinking about the past, but also reveals the everyday world around us as never before.
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I’ll leave you with a little Pikacu action, as she quietly reminds me of reading that needs to be done:
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She’s lovely!
On her behalf, I thank you. 🙂