contents
Library residency
Helen Robinson
The book I'm reading currently
I just started an Arnold Bennett, The Grand Babylon Hotel. I'm only about two or three pages in. I started reading it because I heard something on Radio 4 about Arnold Bennett and the fact that he came from the Potteries. One of his more famous novels was Anna of the five towns. I'm very interested in ceramics so I thought I must read one of his novels about the Potteries.
A book that had a big impact on me
I remember reading as a teenager Rogue Herries by Hugh Walpole and I remember being absolutely massively impressed.
And then there was another book more recently by Graham Swift, Waterland. A really brilliant novel, I liked all the fine intimate details of that area.
My desert island reading
I probably wouldn't be able to concentrate that much, I'd be thinking about an empty stomach! It's very hard to choose. I do love Thomas Hardy, Under the Greenwood tree, Jude the Obscure, almost any of his.
My choice of lifetime magazine subscription
The only subscription I've got is The Week. It's like a précis of the news but also there are people's recommendations for the cinema, books, everything really. What I like about The Week is, they present several viewpoints on a particular subject so it's interesting to hear the different points of view being expressed.
My must-see film
One of the films that really affected me was Rabbit-proof fence.
My guilty-pleasure telly
Probably Strictly come dancing, I love all the frocks.
My radio turn-on and turn-off
I always have my radio on Radio 4. I like most of it, the quizzes as well as the current affairs, The Archers doesn't bother me.
My favourite work of art
I like sculpture, The Thinker by Rodin, I think that's a beautiful one.
The weekend paper I am most likely to pick up
The Observer.
The section of the weekend paper I read first
The general section but then I like the reviews. The reviews are important to me because that way I think I pick up new things.
A piece of music that makes me smile
Something from The Beatles I guess, something like A hard day's night, being a 60s girl.
A piece of music that makes me cry
The music to A death in Venice by Gustav Mahler, and Albinoni's Adagio for strings.
