Chiswick Book Festival - how could I have missed it?

September is one of those months where the balance between my work life and my domestic life always teeters on a knife edge. It is something to do with being inundated with post-holiday catch up and returns to school and university, made all the worse this year by it being the Olympic and Paralympic national hangover season. So I am used to missing birthdays and deadlines for special offers in September, but that is no excuse for missing the Chiswick Book Festival. It took place last weekend and I am kicking myself for not going as it is an intensely local and intimate affair (unlike the much larger, longer and geographically more widespread Richmond Literature Festival).

Reports from friends who attended were that it was an excellent affair. A N Wilson spoke engagingly about his book about Wedgwood, The Potter's Hand - and why I weep for Wedgwood. There was a full house and a good Q&A session for military historian Antony Beevor who presented on his mighty book The Second World War. And it was standing room only for our new national treasure and local hero, Clare Balding, who was interviewed by India Knight. I notice that Anne Sebba also took part, speaking about That Woman (see That Woman for the book group's views) and I would have been tempted by a talk by Michael Palin in Chiswick House (one of my all time favourite locations and a real gem of a house).

Clearly, a touch of diary management is needed to make sure I don't miss it next year.

Our late summer meeting

For the first time for ages, every member of the Book Group was able to attend our lively and enjoyable meeting at Sally D's on Monday; it was lovely, if rather noisy, to have a full house. Once we had dealt with holidays, the Olympics, the reopening of Sally J's shop and other topics, we discussed our summer reading which, as ever, was extensive and varied. Mine has already been recorded on the blog: Holiday Reading and edited highlights of others' follow.

We can always rely on Maria to weigh in with a huge tome and she didn't disappoint. Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore is enormous (one of the largest books I can remember seeing - 768 pages!); Maria reported that progress was slow but that she would persist: we await updates. Lucy had already read and enjoyed it but confessed that it took her six months. Not to be outdone in the contest for reading the longest book of the summer, Lucy said she couldn't put down Claire Tomalin's biography Charles Dickens: A Life (a mere 576 pages).

In lighthearted contrast, Ann was addicted to The Hunger Games trilogy (see the blog in May: The Hunger Games) and Catherine had joined The Song of Achilles fan club whilst also enjoying Heartburn by Nora Ephron. 

Sally D had had a depressing time reading Norwegian Wood which she pronounced was better than A Wild Sheep Chase which we had read together last November (A Wild Sheep Chase) however, she thought that Murakami's work contains too many suicides. She wasn't cheered up much by The Art of Fielding. Caroline spoke, as a true fan, about David Mitchell's book The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet and urged us to try it even if we had hated Cloud Atlas.  Alison recommended All That I Am, Anna Funder's first novel (we all enjoyed Stasiland a few years ago).

Primed by an efficient email and Culture Show recommendation from Sally D, we will meet again on 23 October to discuss Ford Maddox Ford's The Good Soldier. This inevitably led to eulogising about Parade's End, its beautiful period interiors, classy acting and wonderful parts for women (oh, and I confessed to an unseemly crush on Rebecca Hall).  It was a good evening no doubt in part due to the fact that Sally always provides us with excellent wine. I was tempted by the tote bag I saw this week with the slogan "My book group only reads wine labels". 

Man Booker shortlist

I'm so pleased to learn today that Hilary Mantel is on the Man Booker shortlist for Bring Up the Bodies which I thought was stupendously brilliant. Of course, she won the prize in 2009 for Wolf Hall so the chances of her doing the double must be about the same as Arsenal's this year. However, with dishy Dan Stevens as one of the judges (how on earth did he find time to read 146 books?) I can only be hopeful of further success for Thomas Cromwell and the court of Henry VIII. It sounds like Will Self will provide serious competition though.

In a weak moment earlier, I thought I should follow Dan on Twitter given his current high profile, obvious taste, intelligence and all round fabulous gorgeousness. I now discover that @thatdanstevens has over 44,000 followers but says nothing remotely interesting and surely must be a spoof. The next best thing is @ManBookerPrize which has been updating me this evening on the shortlist party (of course, there just has to be a party) and which provided me with this photo, although Dan has his serious and rather earnest face on.