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Britain by the Book
Britain by the Book: A Curious Tour of Our Literary Landscape | Oliver Tearle
4 posts | 1 read | 8 to read
What caused Dickens to leap out of bed one night and walk 30 miles from London to Kent? How did a small town on the Welsh borders become the second-hand bookshop capital of the world? Why did a jellyfish persuade Evelyn Waugh to abandon his suicide attempt in North Wales? A multitude of curious questions are answered in Britain by the Book, a fascinating travelogue with a literary theme, taking in unusual writers' haunts and the surprising places that inspired some of our favourite fictional locations. We'll learn why Thomas Hardy was buried twice, how a librarian in Manchester invented the thesaurus as a means of coping with depression, and why Agatha Christie was investigated by MI5 during the Second World War. The map of Britain that emerges is one dotted with interesting literary stories and bookish curiosities.
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TheEllieMo
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This book is an absolute must for any British bibliophile, or indeed and Anglophile bibliophile, full as it is of interesting little literary facts about various parts of Britain, as the book itself says “from Jan de Groot‘s octagonal table at John O‘Groats to King Arthur‘s Round Table in Cornwall.”

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TheEllieMo
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“‘Holy Moses! Take a look!
Flesh decayed in every nook!
Some rare bits of brain lie here,
Mortal loads of beef and beer.‘

If that doesn‘t make you want to throw your rucksack over your shoulder and head to [Westminster] Abbey for a day out, then frankly I‘m not sure what it‘ll take to get you there.”

I‘m loving the tagged book, full of interesting little gems, like the author‘s thoughts on the poetry of Amanda McKittrick Ros.

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WanderingBookaneer
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My purchases today. All but bottom 3 are from The Baltic Bookshop

Sarah83 You will need an extra suitcase for all the books you buy. 😍🤩 5y
WanderingBookaneer @Sarah83 : We already determined that. We are going to buy one when we return to London. (edited) 5y
Sarah83 @WanderingBookaneer Sounds great. Hope you don't have to pay much extra for the suitcase on your flight back. 😍 5y
LeahBergen I have Britain By the Book. It‘s a fun one! 5y
99 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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Emilymdxn
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https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/15/fewer-than-2-of-british-childrens-...

Sad but not unexpected findings in the Guardian today. I‘m trying to be hopeful for British children‘s books catching up with the US in terms of shifting towards better representation in the last few years, but diversity is having a hard time here right now.

RidgewayGirl Representation matters, and never so much as a child transitions to reading on their own! We know how important it is for children to become readers to see themselves it what they are reading. (edited) 5y
56 likes1 comment