Stuck-in-a-Book's Weekend Miscellany

Happy weekend, folks!  Mine is looking chirpier than last week, as I seem to be back on my feet.  A bit of coughing here, a bit of sneezing there, but it no longer feels like my brain has gone on holiday without leaving a forwarding address.  (This isn't what I wanted when I hoped my blog would go viral, ba-duhm-crash.)  For the first time in a while, I'm actually going to be disciplined and stick to a book, a link, and a blog post.

Oh, but first a reminder that it's March!  And thus it is time to read A View of the Harbour, if you're participating in Elizabeth Taylor Centenary Celebrations.  I'll be hosting a discussion later in the month, and will hopefully start reading it myself this weekend (if I don't get distracted by reading In Cold Blood for book group.  I know Polly and Simon love it, but I'm a bit trepidatious...)

1.) The link - comes via my housemate Debs' friend Jo.  It's a response in the Guardian to that list of beautiful bookshops which did the rounds a while ago (did I post them here?  I can't remember - there were some stunning places.)  Basically it's about the most unattractive and haphazard bookshops containing the best 'finds' - and does raise the question: why are so many secondhand bookshop owners grumpy and unpleasant?  Is it just me who has found this?  Is it because I buy cheap books, and they're hoping I've got my eyes on £500 first editions?  (There are notable exceptions, of course - the staff in Slightly Foxed bookshop, for instance, are always lovely.)  Enough waffle from me - the article is here.

2.) The book - Urania, in the Virago Modern Classics LibraryThing group, mentioned a book in passing which really intrigued me: The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am by Kjersti Skomsvold.   All I know about this book is that it's a Norwegian novella - but those are two definite buzz words for me, and I was immediately sold.  Onto the Amazon wishlist it went, for a post-Lent purchase... but I'd love to know if you've come across it already, and what you think?

3.) The blog post - is Tom's very amusing review of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which I saw on Simon S's Twitter feed (yes, Twitter - I'm there occasionally!)  Turns out Tom and I have a mutual friend called Carly from Real Life.  She also blogs, or blogged, here.  And now the indefinite chain of blog-links-to-blog-links-to-blog is in full force...