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In praise of the loo book

World Toilet Day 2016

The parlor may have its charms, but the Japanese toilet truly is a place of spiritual repose.

In the Praise of Shadows, Junichiro Tanizaki

It seems every country has a sort of skewed and hallowed reverence for the quietest room in the house. I’ve recently discovered, however, that the ‘library in the loo’ is primarily an English occupation (sorry I can’t speak for the rest of Britain), but my Scandinavian and European friends looked at me in puzzled amusement when I recommended a book for the loo.

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Venice, An Interior

A Sliver of Venice

A heavenly combination of one of my favourite authors writing about one of my favourite cities: Javier Marías’ little essay on Venice. For reasons unknown (a failed love affair?), Marías spent a great deal of time in Venice in the 1980s. His reflections on how history and geography have shaped Venice and Venetians are captivating. ‘Venetians see life from “the view point of eternity” ‘, not surprising perhaps when you grow up in place that’s hardly changed for 500 years? The decay, the dark back alleys, the smells, the sense of doom, the colours of the water (‘blood red, yellow, white’ by day, ‘like ink’ by night) combined with dazzling beauty, Marías perfectly evokes the city’s atmosphere and hands you a delicious sliver of Venice.

Venice, An Interior is translated by Margaret Juul Costa and published by Hamish Hamilton, 64 pages.

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From book to film – without disappointment

Often we despair when a film version is made of our favourite book.  The images we’ve created in our heads don’t match up with what the film director had in mind. The locations look wrong, the casting doesn’t work. BUT occasionally, they do get it right. And what a thrill that is! Here is a list of some fabulous films that will inspire you to read these equally great books on which they were based. Do you have any to add? Let us know.

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Best audiobooks 2016

As many of will know, we here at Bookstoker are big consumers of audiobooks and we know that many of our followers are as well. There’s nothing like a good audiobook for killing time stuck in traffic, while out walking or doing housework. And with Amazon’s great invention Whispersync for Voice, you can switch seamlessly between reading on your Kindle and listening on Audible. Your Kindle or Audible will automatically pick up where you left off. Genius!

From old classics to popular new publications we’ve enjoyed these audiobooks for being brilliant books, perfectly narrated.

Our top 10 this year are…

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The Tobacconist

A lukewarm follow-up to A Whole Life

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David Szalay – one to watch

Now here’s an author we think you should know about. English/Canadian David Szalay’s name keeps coming up these days, and for good reasons. Forty-two year old Szalay has four novels to his name, the last of which, All That Man Is, won him a place on this year’s Man Booker Prize short-list. He won the Betty Trask Award in 2008 for his curiously named novel London and the South-East and in 2013 he made it onto Granta magazine’s list of Best of Young British novelists. But most importantly, Szalay writes really, really well.

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A Heart So White

Taking a thought for a walk

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I want this!

I know I won’t be able to resist Taschen’s fabulously illustrated cookbook Les Diners de Gala by artist Salvador Dali and his wife, Gala. Reissued for the first time in 40 years, the book comes with suitably wacky recipes, and a stark warning to its readers…

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