Welcome to The Midnight Bell (a virtual pub and general discussion thread) (2025)

[G]

I'm in my church choir, so have a something like 9-10 hours of singing between Thursday evening and Sunday noon, plus I'm reading a long passage on Friday, so I'll have only limited time for reading. I've got about 4 books I'd like to finish up. Also, I just finished the audio of Strange Hotel, and a quarter of the way in I realized this is not a book that is easy to follow on audio, especially if one tends to listen while doing other things like driving. I kept up listening because McBride reads it beautifully. But now I need to go back and figure out more of what is going on.

If I get half of this done, I'll be astonished, but this is what's on my list.

[Hester]

what a wonderful singing week you will have G L .

I'm hoping to finish Love in a Fallen City / Eileen Chang , Chapman's Odyssey / Paul Bailey and The Group / Mary McCarthy and to continue The Claverings/ Anthony Trollope , War and Peace and Proust .

I've had a demanding few weeks and am looking forward to a bit of quiet reading . Fingers and toes crossed

[Roman Clodia]

G wrote: "I just finished the audio of Strange Hotel, and a quarter of the way in I realized this is not a book that is easy to follow on audio,"

From my single experience of McBride, I definitely wanted to read the book after listening to The City Changes Its Face but, as you say, she reads so beautifully bringing out the internal rhythms and assonance that it's an experience listening to her.

[Roman Clodia]

That's a lovely handful of books, Hester. I hope you manage to grab some quiet time.

[Alwynne]

G wrote: "I can’t speak to current recommendations, Alwynne, but I can say that when my mother was hospitalized in 2005 for c. diff. (which she got while in in-patient rehab after back surgery, and which alm..."

Thanks, did actually manage to pick something up! I hand sanitised, wore a mask, washed hands but still...Not sure if it's C.diff, the GP says there are a lot of gastrobugs circulating in hospitals right now. So sending off a sample and fingers crossed it's something less dire. Guzzling live yogurt but if anyone can recommend anything other probiotics, I'm all ears.

[Alwynne]

Some nice American news for a change and, bonus, book related:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...

[Blaine]

Nice!

How are you feeling, Alwynne?

[Alwynne]

Ben wrote: "Nice!

How are you feeling, Alwynne?"

Bored with yoghurt, banana and egg diet! But no worse which is good, dropped off my sample for the lab, so should hear next week. It's annoying though because if it's C.diff it's highly contagious and don't want to pass it on to someone who may be vulnerable so stuck indoors for the holiday weekend. I may finally catch up with my Netgalley reviews, so that's something.

Is all well with you?

[Hester]

glad things are settling Alwynne.

[G]

How are you doing, Alwynne?
Also, how are things going with your friend's medical situation?

[Alwynne]

Thanks for asking, stomach still iffy, and still waiting for test results. My friend has a feedback session in a week. The bank hols here have delayed everything.

[Alwynne]

G wrote: "How are you doing, Alwynne?
Also, how are things going with your friend's medical situation?"

Finally got tests results back turns out I do have Cdiff - that's despite two NHS111 docs telling me not possible since I hadn't vomited! And seems I'm the equivalent of typhoid Mary until my symptoms subside. So heavy-duty antibiotics and a lifetime of having to avoid various other antibiotics as can trigger a relapse. Carefully wording a complaint to the hospital that didn't warn me, had sanitisers etc But seems needed gloves, apron and vigorous handwashing after contact to avoid it - and should have sanitised clothes, bags etc once home. So if anyone visits anyone in hospital who has stomach issues be careful!

[Sonia]

So sorry that this has happened to you Alwynne, but thanks for the tips on minimising risks of catching. Hope you feel better soon, and good luck with your letter writing.

[Nigeyb]

Sorry to read your sad news Alwynne - good luck with your recovery

[Alwynne]

Thanks Sonia and Nigey. Feel bad for the environment, have to use heavy-duty laundry sanitiser, bleach crockery etc Wipe down loo, bathroom and kitchen with bleach every time I use them and use paper towels. Otherwise I can re-infect myself! The spores can be active for up to a year on hard surfaces. It's a right pain. Also the antibiotics for it can cause hearing loss so crossing my fingers on that one.

[G]

I'm so sorry, Alwynne. I particularly hope the hearing loss reverses itself. That sounds pretty scary.

[Kathleen]

This is awful, Alwynne. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I appreciate you sharing this important information, and hope the antibiotics work quickly.

[Roman Clodia]

So sorry to hear this, Alwynne - fingers crossed for a smooth recovery.

[Sam]

Wish you a quick recovery.

[Hester]

Gosh, that's tough, Alwynne . Typhoid Mary for the modern world . sounds like the idea for a novel ... seriously , a whole year of bleach and rigorous self sanitising sounds punishing !

[Blaine]

So sorry you're stuck with this, Alwynne. You had your concerns from the very beginning. I suspect I had the same antibiotic a few years ago (intravenously) and it was successful. I had a temporary mild tinnitus but it didn't last. Wishing you the best.

[Alwynne]

Thanks everyone, don't think I have to scrub all year, just need to get rid of any spores dumped before I was diagnosed and while I still have symptoms - I hope! Have already cleaned all the doors, windows, floors etc

[Alwynne]

Ben wrote: "So sorry you're stuck with this, Alwynne. You had your concerns from the very beginning. I suspect I had the same antibiotic a few years ago (intravenously) and it was successful. I had a temporary..."

Was it Vancomycin?

[Jan C]

Alwynne wrote: "Thanks Sonia and Nigey. Feel bad for the environment, have to use heavy-duty laundry sanitiser, bleach crockery etc Wipe down loo, bathroom and kitchen with bleach every time I use them and use pap..."

So sorry. Sounds rotten. Hope it doesn't last too long. Lousy to always have to be scrubbing down on everything. I thought it was bad enough last week cleaning up for my sister's brief visit. She didn't think I cleaned up enough. Anyway, hope you're feeling better soon.

[G]

Vancomycin is completely nasty. I changed my mother’s sense of taste so much she stopped eating. So is Flagyl, another antibiotic commonly prescribed for c.diff (though I understand that Flagyl is used less now because of drug resistance).

Really sorry you have to deal with any of
This, Alwynne.

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne, if you're looking for switch-off reading, I'm currently on the third Fourth Wing book and am obsessed! It's been morphing from Divergence vibes in the first book to something more like Lord of the Rings in the third with complicated hidden histories and a mythology of magic that is being gradually drip-fed making it more complex and intriguing than I expected.

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Alwynne, if you're looking for switch-off reading, I'm currently on the third Fourth Wing book and am obsessed! It's been morphing from Divergence vibes in the first book to something more like Lor..."

That sounds perfect, I've been wondering about those! And def at a loose end, contagious until symptoms go BUT side-effects of the antibiotics overlap the symptoms so a bit unfathomable.

[Roman Clodia]

Yes, I thought you'd be stuck at home for a bit. The only downside is Onyx Storm is the third of a projected five and I don't know how I'm going to wait at least a year to find out what happens next!

[Blaine]

Alwynne wrote: "Was it Vancomycin?"

No, it was Gentamicin.

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne wrote: "That sounds perfect, I've been wondering about those!"

The other thing I'd say is that Yarros is expert at dropping things in casually that we don't realise till much later are crucial bits of information to the wider story that starts to emerge. I'm going to have to re-read at some point.

Oh, and I've only just realised that the images on the covers are runes - an increasingly important form of magic by book three as it's not associated with dragons and has its origins in a southern province that has been made part of the Continent, even though it tried in the past to secede.

[Ruth]

Just caught up with this thread, as like many others my notifications are very patchy at the moment. Sorry to hear of your troubles Alwynne and I hope things improve for you very soon.

Good tip for the discussions link, thanks Nigeyb, I've bookmarked it for future use.

[Roman Clodia]

Just a quick reminder to everyone that the poll is now live for voting on our July group read - it's a tight race, so pick your choice!

[Nigeyb]

Only 24 hours to go

[Nigeyb]

Interesting article….


Is Dua Lipa the best literary interviewer?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

[Alwynne]

I'm a Dua Lipa fan so probably biased.

[Nigeyb]

I’m a fan too though was unaware of this aspect of her personality until now

[Susan]

I have no idea who that is.

[Hester]

I recently read Lincoln in the Bardo and watched her interview with George Saunders on YouTube . Saunders was definitely star struck .

[Nigeyb]

Susan wrote:


"I have no idea who that is."


Dua Lipa is primarily known as a popular and successful singer...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dua_Lipa

[Nigeyb]

Susan wrote:


"I have no idea who that is."


Dua Lipa is primarily known as a popular and successful singer...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dua_Lipa



I watched her interview with Patti Smith about Just Kids. Mainly because I love Patti, and I loved that book, and wanted to see one for myself. She really is a great interviewer. I love her enthusiasm and she is ridiculously charismatic. Very compelling....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_RG8...

Dua Lipa in Conversation With Patti Smith, Author of Just Kids

[Blaine]

Just spent a wonderful evening at Swallow Hill (https://swallowhillmusic.org/), a Denver roots music venue, listening to The Sweet Lillies (https://www.sweetlillies.com/home), an electric, bluegrass, rapping, genre bending, woman-led band.

A sweet reminder, along with the trails and landscape here, of what America can be.

[Nigeyb]

Good to hear there's still evidence of the "other" America


That venue looks amazing

[Roman Clodia]

Nigeyb wrote: "Good to hear there's still evidence of the "other" America"

Exactly what I was thinking.

[Nigeyb]

I always enjoy the Strong Words Sunday email


Here's a couple of exerpts...


Authors know everything:

In a week in which Italian scientists announced that they have created a chocolate biscuit that may have the same waist-reducing properties as the “weight management” product Ozempic ...

“The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet books – how not to eat what you've just learned how to cook.”

... said American broadcaster Andy Rooney, reminding consumers that the goal of such products is not to benefit the consumer, but enrich the supplier.

While Frida Kahlo (not strictly speaking an author, although she did write a diary and no end of love letters) came at chocolate treats from a more voracious perspective...

“Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are a bourbon biscuit.”

*

This week saw the Oscars of the British book industry, the wretchedly nicknamed “Nibbies”, handed out.

The overall book of the year went to the late Alexei Navalny for his memoir Patriot (a book I haven't read, because it came out shortly after John Sweeney's Navalny book, Murder in the Gulag), but will now make sure I do.

Two other books that featured prominently in Strong Words' annual books of the year list did do well though: Asako Yuzuki won the Debut Fiction prize for Butter, about a journalist who tries to befriend a manipulative female foodie on Tokyo's death row for murder; and Percival Everett won the Author of the Year prize for James, his “reimagining” of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the slave Jim.

Neither of these decisions will encounter any sort of objection from me.

I thought they were both tremendous.

But given that the publishing industry has a habit of stampeding off at top speed like crazed gold prospectors whenever news of a successful new format reaches town, how long will it be before the glut of “reimaginings” of great novels through another character's eyes pours onto the market?

Please let me know as soon as the first opportunistic title is sighted.

*

Read the whole thing here...

https://berrima.eomail4.com/web-versi...


Sign up here...

https://www.strong-words.co.uk/

*

It's a great mag too

Worth £40 a year for six issues

Go support them if you feel inspired

[Blaine]

Great find Nigeyb

[Vesna]

When I followed up on Nigey mentioning Conversation as his favorite film with my huge nod of approval, I commented on Heckman's brilliant performance in another film only to realize it was under the John le Carré topic so I deleted it as it didn't seem the right place for me to do it (sorry for the long sentence, momentarily reading Proust :-)).

Just wondering, do we already have a separate topic for discussing films?

[Nigeyb]

Here you go Vesna….


https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Vesna]

Thanks, Nigey! I see the thread has not been active since 2019, but maybe there are enough film enthusiasts by now for occasional discussions... I'll go over there.

[G]

Hardly 20C, but I expect some in this group may have input.
This year being the semiquincentenniel of Jane Austen's birth. I'm planning to reread all the novels--the completed ones, at least. Probably in audio.
I'm polling everyone I can think of:
In what order would you read them?
Do you have favorite audiobook narrators for Austen? (Because we all know that not every narrator is good, and not all good ones are good with all books).

[Alwynne]

G wrote: "Hardly 20C, but I expect some in this group may have input.
This year being the semiquincentenniel of Jane Austen's birth. I'm planning to reread all the novels--the completed ones, at least. Proba..."

That's a headscratcher, I know it's tantamount to heresy but not that keen on P&P, but adore Emma and Persuasion. Northanger Abbey is a nice leisure read but works better - I think - as a chaser to The Mysteries of Udolpho. Maybe start with ones you haven't read, if any, then the ones not that keen on so have the best to look forward to?