📚 🚶The February Webcast
A chat about My Ántonia + announcing this month's On Our Reading Radar special guest
Dear walking book clubbers,
How are you getting on with My Ántonia by Willa Cather? I’ve recorded quite a rambling little webcast this month sharing a few thoughts about the book. No problem if you’ve not yet read it, or finished it - it’s 100% spoiler free.
Scroll down to watch the February webcast, find links to book tickets to our events, and also discover our special guest for this month’s On Our Reading Radar on the theme of Us and the land.
Some of you might also like to read my interview HERE with the writer Alan Garner in this week’s Spectator magazine. I absolutely love this illustration they commissioned for it! Those who loved The Dark is Rising should definitely give Garner’s books a go - Treacle Walker is his most recent (and was on the Booker shortlist); The Weirdstone of Brisingamen probably closest to The Dark is Rising; The Owl Service also brilliant; and his memoir, Where Shall We Run To? a delight for all.
The February Webcast
I hope you enjoy this little chat about My Ántonia including a short reading of the most beautiful passage about happiness. I hope it might encourage you to pick it up if you’ve not yet done so, and spark a few ideas if you’re already reading it. Fear not, no spoilers here. And you get to see Alfie!
If you like the webcast, I’d be grateful if you could like or comment on it over on YouTube so the algorithm knows we matter and more people can discover our books and book club. In case you’d like to see more of these little videos, you can find them about all our books from the past few years on my YouTube channel: @emilyrhodeswriter.
Our February My Ántonia events
Emily’s Regent’s Park Walking Book Club: Friday 23rd February, 12-1.45pm, setting off from Daunt Books, 84 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QW, £8-15 N.B. There is an excellent, fully accessible path throughout, good for those who don’t fancy the mud.
Emily’s Hampstead Heath Walking Book Club: Sunday 25th February, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB, £8-15
Emily’s Zoom Book Club: Monday 26th February, 8-8.40pm, £1-10 Feel free to tune in even if you’ve not read the book - our zooms are open to all.
On Our Reading Radar: Us and the Land Friday 1st March, 1.30-2pm, with special guest Ashley Olsen, Executive Director of The Willa Cather Foundation. Hosted here on substack - the link to join will arrive in your inbox. Join this month’s discussion thread to share your cultural highlights from the month, as well as your recommendations on the theme of US AND THE LAND- What have you read or watched that has opened your eyes to our relationship with the land? I’m delighted to welcome Ashley Olsen to this month’s thread, who’ll be sharing the Willa Cather Foundation’s expertise with the group despite the time difference!
And in case you missed it, you can find my introduction to My Ántonia, including some useful links in last week’s newsletter here:
March
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
Jane Graham - 27, unmarried, pregnant and kicked-out-of-home - retreats to a dingy boarding house in West London. In this collection of misfits and outsiders, she discovers friendship, love and happiness; vitally, she finds that self-respect is always worth fighting for. N.B. This was written in 1960 and contains offensive language that reflects the attitudes of the time.
Why did I choose it? This is another hark back to my bookselling days, when a particular colleague loved this book so much she insisted a stack of it remained on the till at all times. It’s in a similar vein to two of our popular previous picks: Margaret Drabble’s The Millstone and Barbara Comyns’ Our Spoons Came from Woolworths, and I’ve been waiting for the right moment to add it to our repertoire.
You can watch the trailer for the award-winning 1962 film adaptation, starring Leslie Caron HERE.
In Regent’s Park with The Daunt Books Festival: Friday 15th March, 10-11.45am, setting off from Daunt Books, 84 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QW, £8 (please note the earlier start time!)
On Hampstead Heath: Sunday 17th March, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB, £8-15
On Zoom: Monday 18th March, 8-8.40pm, £1-10
On Our Reading Radar: Friday 22nd March, 1.30-2pm: London Join this month’s discussion thread to share your cultural highlights from this month, as well as your recommendations on the theme of LONDON - Which books and films do you think capture the spirit of the city?
Buy The L-Shaped Room from Daunt Books HERE and receive 10% off using the code WBC at checkout, or just tell them you’re in the group if you’re buying it in the shop.
Happy reading,
Emily
Margaret Drabble’s The Millstone is one of my favourite books. I will read this one