Great books are like gold, but unlike what usually happens with gold, great books should be shared.
With that in mind, here are some books that have inspired us at the beginning of 2020, and we'd love for you to share your book treasures with us below.
What're you reading that's so good you gotta tell?
Do tell!
Lindy Cameron (Clan Destine Press' publisher)
I’m reading a book on boxing to learn more about the topic, and I really wanted one from the point of view of someone who does it and who writes.
That's why I'm excited I found The Sweetest Thing, by Mischa Merz.
An Australian journalist, Merz is also an Australian amateur women’s boxer who now runs a gym in Footscray. I'm really enjoying this memoir of her boxing career, and learning why she loves the sport. Since I’m writing a crime novel which includes a woman who takes up boxing, this book is just what I wanted.
I highly recommend!
K. Caine (Writer)
I’m just getting started on The Victorian Male Body (edited by Joanne Ella Parsons and Ruth Heholt), which is a series of essays coming out of the Edinburgh Critical Studies in Victorian Culture.
The eleven essays cover everything from emotions and suffering to illness and prosthetics, so I’m really excited to dig into this and get a broader understanding of the Victorian mentality in terms of bodies.
The book appears to be mostly focused on white male Victorians, so the scope is narrowed in that sense, but I’m hopeful that it’ll be a good starting point for further exploration.
Atlin Merrick (Improbable Press' editor)
I'm writing the text of a book inspired by Lee Harper's dioramas and, since the book will have at least two dozen topics, I'm reading up on all of them.
Right now though, the one I'm most passionate about is The True History of the Elephant Man, by Michael Howell and Peter Ford, because I've long revered the memory of Joseph Merrick (hence my writing name).
Just for fun (and because I've recently moved to Dublin), I've been enjoying the artwork in Mythical Irish Beasts, written and illustrated by Mark Joyce. While the writing leaves a fair bit to be desired, Mr Joyce's artwork is a delight and heads up this blog entry.
Thanks Blair
I also read On the Chin a boxing book by another Aussie, Alex McClintock who writes about how using boxing to lose weight and get fit led to a boxing obsession – of the best kind – and brief amateur career.
It’s amazing how beautifully many boxers write about the sport the love.
Interesting you’re reading a boxing book, Lindy.
A couple of months ago I grabbed a copy of Norman Mailer’s “The Fight” at the local library.
Totally amazing insight into the minds of Ali and Foreman preparing for the Rumble in the Jungle.
Plus all the colour of Kinshasa, the people in the boxers’ coteries, the promoters, the fans.
Worth a look.