First piece of yours I’ve found, and subscribing! Women who run bookshops are some of my favourite writers here! (Katie Clapham and I can’t off the top of my head remember the name of the other lady, but she’s great!)
I vividly recall being made to stand in the corner of the classroom with my hands on head, back to the class, because I had taken two turns at reading aloud to the headteacher instead of one. Far too precocious!
Whoa! That’s a harsh punishment. No wonder it stuck with you. Is the other writer Jess Pan, by any chance? If yes, I agree, she’s great, as is Katie Clapham!
Oh, I love this, Rosalynn! It's one of my favourites of your essays yet! I so get where you are coming from here; we could literally be twins :) I, too, learned to read very early and used to read the road signs and posters on the billboards as my parents drove me around, to much amusement and surprise. I also indulged in the Sweet Valley High (ashamedly, secretly) and so studying English lit felt like an obvious choice, as reading and writing were really the only things I was ever good at (unless you count sprinting & netball, which I didn't). When I finished my studies, I found it really difficult to find books that were just fun to read anymore. It always felt like the 'popular' genres were a bit...silly. But then the literary 'Classics' felt like study. Over the years, I've also had to lean into reading a variety of books and letting go of prejudice.
Funnily enough, I have also just this past week finished reading Penelope Fitzgerald's 'The Bookshop', which I picked up at a local secondhand bookstore for £1! Have you read it? I'm thinking you probably have.
Yes to allll of this! I also didn’t have many other praiseworthy talents. Hopeless at math, even worse at athletics. On The Bookshop - my copy also came from our store, and I have read it twice since I found it, as well as a biography of Penelope Fitzgerald. Did you know the book is semi-autobiographical, even the bit with the ghost?!? I am currently untangling all my feelings about the story, and how eerily it resembles my current life, so that I can write about it. So excited to hear what you think of it!
Oh, wow! No, I didn’t know that! Penelope Fitzgerald has actually been on my to-research-and-write-about list for a while now, but I haven’t yet got round to it. I found the book funny but so sad also!
Yes, it is definitely both funny and sad. Devastating, even. And so short! I think it’s about 250 pages, but with the detail and emotional heft of 500. So of course I adore it!
First piece of yours I’ve found, and subscribing! Women who run bookshops are some of my favourite writers here! (Katie Clapham and I can’t off the top of my head remember the name of the other lady, but she’s great!)
I vividly recall being made to stand in the corner of the classroom with my hands on head, back to the class, because I had taken two turns at reading aloud to the headteacher instead of one. Far too precocious!
Whoa! That’s a harsh punishment. No wonder it stuck with you. Is the other writer Jess Pan, by any chance? If yes, I agree, she’s great, as is Katie Clapham!
Yes, Jess Pan, of course! I thought you would know.
And yes, a bizarre thing to punish a six-year old for, wanting to read aloud!
Oh, I love this, Rosalynn! It's one of my favourites of your essays yet! I so get where you are coming from here; we could literally be twins :) I, too, learned to read very early and used to read the road signs and posters on the billboards as my parents drove me around, to much amusement and surprise. I also indulged in the Sweet Valley High (ashamedly, secretly) and so studying English lit felt like an obvious choice, as reading and writing were really the only things I was ever good at (unless you count sprinting & netball, which I didn't). When I finished my studies, I found it really difficult to find books that were just fun to read anymore. It always felt like the 'popular' genres were a bit...silly. But then the literary 'Classics' felt like study. Over the years, I've also had to lean into reading a variety of books and letting go of prejudice.
Funnily enough, I have also just this past week finished reading Penelope Fitzgerald's 'The Bookshop', which I picked up at a local secondhand bookstore for £1! Have you read it? I'm thinking you probably have.
Yes to allll of this! I also didn’t have many other praiseworthy talents. Hopeless at math, even worse at athletics. On The Bookshop - my copy also came from our store, and I have read it twice since I found it, as well as a biography of Penelope Fitzgerald. Did you know the book is semi-autobiographical, even the bit with the ghost?!? I am currently untangling all my feelings about the story, and how eerily it resembles my current life, so that I can write about it. So excited to hear what you think of it!
I can't wait to read your piece once you get through untangling it! :)
Oh, wow! No, I didn’t know that! Penelope Fitzgerald has actually been on my to-research-and-write-about list for a while now, but I haven’t yet got round to it. I found the book funny but so sad also!
Yes, it is definitely both funny and sad. Devastating, even. And so short! I think it’s about 250 pages, but with the detail and emotional heft of 500. So of course I adore it!