Stuck-in-a-Book's Weekend Miscellany

By the time this comes up on Blogger... well, hopefully I'll be tucked up in bed, but chances are I'll be on the way back from a birthday dinner in London. That's right, the Big City three times within a week - I'm quite literally hip and happening. But not too hip for a book, a blog post, and a link...

Before I do that - please note that you can now search my reviews by decade of first publication! It took ages, so I hope *someone* uses it...(!) Have a look in the left hand column, and there's a drop-down menu for it... also for publisher, but there I've only included a select few of favourites whose names are synonymous with certain types of book - i.e. not the big publishers, who are also wonderful but publish many different sorts of thing...

1.) The book - arrived through the letter box this morning, to my happy surprise. It's a new OUP edition of Cousin Phillis and other stories by Elizabeth Gaskell, which is rather lovely - thanks OUP! I reviewed Cousin Phyllis (sans other stories) back here, during I Love Hesperus Week - and I assume the 'y' instead of an 'i' doesn't denote a different book? Gaskell is a really good short story writer, as well as novelist, so I encourage you to go and explore...

2.) The link - came courtesy of my very good friend Lorna, who saw it and thought of me... Here it is. It's not book-related, but it does concern the other burning passion in my life... (and, no, I don't mean Neighbours. Or even, unfortunately, Jesus. It's cake I'm talking about.)


3.) The blog post - is from the rather lovely Rachel at Book Snob, and her rather lovely thoughts brought about by her first blog birthday. If you're not feeling warm and fuzzy after reading that, then you must be lying in a bath of ice, drinking iced tea, and wearing a penguin for a bonnet.