At the end of the previous post, I mentioned how the official title of the Italian translation of Agatha Christie's "Cat among the pigeons" is "Gruesome Quiz". themis-athena wondered in the comment what could have pushed the translator to pick a title like that, given how there really aren't quizzes in the story. The answer itself isn't anything too criptic (marketing, basically, more on that later), but while googling for pictures of covers to explain myself better, I found a few fun images I just wanted to share.

Two stars only, despite the fact that the subject is London and I would really like to go there this summer but with Corona, it is unsure whether this will be possible!

To me, this felt like John Gay wanted to write an epic tale about, walking through London. There is loads of references to Greek Mythology and a lot of places in London are mentioned, but it is all rather random. Besides, the rhyming scheme felt forced, and although I am sure it is not easy to do, it did not feel right.

Not my style.

~Little Black Classics #107~

Well, that was fun and enlightening. I love etiquette books, and am neutral on advice columnists in general except for Daniel Ortberg's Dear Prudence. But then there's that whole other aspect: the how-to-do-anything-better field is one I appreciate. Paradoxically, I have never been a fan of the Self-Help book genre. Yes, I think there is a great deal we can all learn from the billions of other people in the world, many of whom have struggled with the same issues and also, at the same time, skeptical of the idea that reading a book is ever going to really turn anyone's life around. Mari Kondo has much to teach me about how to best put things away, for example, but neither her book nor show is going to convince me to spend a month finding every book in the house and putting it into one big pile in order to hold each one and wait for the spirit to move me in a joy spark or not way.

Much of the historical stuff was completely unknown to me. I had heard of Poor Richard's Almanack, but knew next to nothing about Franklin or his publishing. I knew of Graham, but Alcott was a surprise. Etcetera.
Clever and also entertaining.

Library copy

Well, hello Halloween. Are you ready to welcome all the spookiness and scariness? If not, here are several gadgets that will help you survive the upcoming night. 

1. Candles 

To bright your way on the spooky night. You can always add "K" at the end and use them all year long!

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2. A sweet amulet.

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If you expect a horde of scary kids, prepare a feast just like this mum. Or pretend you're not home and eat all by yourself -- it looks sooo yummy!

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3. Socks

It's shivers time and it's getting really really cold - you definitely need some warm socks! And in case of an emergency runaway, make sure to have more than one to spare. 

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4. Garlic perfumes will keep the vampires away!

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5. Make up set

If you decide to join a party, you need to look good, here are some suggestions:

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If you're not going anywhere, you can always use the paints to decorate your house. 

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6. Pumpkins

You have all night long. Let your artistic soul speak for you - crave the pumpkins as you wish. 

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7. Books

You have plenty of candles and glowing pumpkins. There's no better setting to read some spooky stories:

Check out more horror recommendations from our bloggers ->

Happy Halloween!

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