{"id":242217,"date":"2025-05-14T22:41:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T22:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/a-snapshot-of-my-reading-4\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T22:41:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T22:41:13","slug":"a-snapshot-of-my-reading-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217","title":{"rendered":"A Snapshot of My Reading #4"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"text\">\n<p>This month\u2019s snapshot includes a novel which disappointed several bloggers whose opinions I trust, a short story collection by an International Booker Prize <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-35531\" src=\"https:\/\/t9z6e6y4.delivery.rocketcdn.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"Cover image for Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/t9z6e6y4.delivery.rocketcdn.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/t9z6e6y4.delivery.rocketcdn.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\"\/>longlisted author and a memoir by a museum guard.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The novel I\u2019m reading<\/strong> is Francis Spufford\u2019s <em>Light Perpetual<\/em> which I started yesterday so it\u2019s early days. It begins with a devastating event \u2013 a bomb which fell on South London\u2019s New Cross Road branch of Woolworth\u2019s in 1944. In memory of the fifteen children who died that day, Spufford imagines the lives of five fictional children murdered in the blast through vignettes over the following years,\u00a0 It\u2019s a great premise and I\u2019m quite enjoying it so far although the style is a tad overwritten for me.<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-35532\" src=\"https:\/\/t9z6e6y4.delivery.rocketcdn.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Dark-Satellites-196x300.webp\" alt=\"Cover image for Dark Satellites by Clemens Meyer\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/t9z6e6y4.delivery.rocketcdn.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Dark-Satellites-196x300.webp 196w, https:\/\/t9z6e6y4.delivery.rocketcdn.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Dark-Satellites.webp 327w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>The short story collection<\/strong> is Clemens Meyer\u2019s <em>Dark Satellites<\/em> (translated by Kate Derbyshire) which begins with a dramatic and affecting short piece about a child, poisoned by eating crocuses. Meyer\u2019s characters often live in society\u2019s margins. My favourite, so far, sees a lonely railway shift worker who makes friends with a hairdresser at the railway bar and has her hair done in the deserted salon one night. His writing is quite striking and sometimes unsettling.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-35533\" src=\"https:\/\/t9z6e6y4.delivery.rocketcdn.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/All-the-Beauty-of-the-World-196x300.webp\" alt=\"Cover image for All the Beauty of the World by Patrick Bringley\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/t9z6e6y4.delivery.rocketcdn.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/All-the-Beauty-of-the-World-196x300.webp 196w, https:\/\/t9z6e6y4.delivery.rocketcdn.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/All-the-Beauty-of-the-World.webp 326w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\"\/>The non-fiction book I\u2019m reading<\/strong> is Patrick Bringley\u2019s account of his decade as a guard at New York\u2019s Metropolitan Museum, <em>All the Beauty of the World<\/em>, which I picked up having often wondered about the work of the attendants at the many museums and galleries I\u2019ve visited. Brinkley took the job after losing his beloved brother when they were both in their twenties, unable to concentrate on his work at the <em>New Yorker<\/em>. He writes beautifully about grief, camaraderie, art and the occasional joy of watching visitors\u2019 amazement at what they see. I\u2019m almost at the end of his book which I\u2019ve loved.<\/p>\n<p>What about you? What are you reading?<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded\" id=\"like-post-wrapper-52859811-35529-6824f06abf54c\" data-src=\"https:\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/?ver=14.6#blog_id=52859811&amp;post_id=35529&amp;origin=alifeinbooks.co.uk&amp;obj_id=52859811-35529-6824f06abf54c\" data-name=\"like-post-frame-52859811-35529-6824f06abf54c\" data-title=\"Like or Reblog\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Like this:<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"button\"><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sd-text-color\"\/><a class=\"sd-link-color\"\/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month\u2019s snapshot includes a novel which disappointed several bloggers whose opinions I trust, a short story collection by an International Booker Prize longlisted author and a memoir by a museum guard. The novel I\u2019m reading is Francis Spufford\u2019s Light Perpetual which I started yesterday so it\u2019s early days. It begins with a devastating event [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":242218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[89049,89050,89051,89052,89053,89054,3646,5388,79175],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-242217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-all-the-beauty-of-the-world","tag-clemens-meyer","tag-dark-satellites","tag-francis-spufford","tag-light-perpetual","tag-patrick-bringley","tag-reading","tag-snapshot","tag-snapshot-of-my-reading"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Snapshot of My Reading #4 - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Snapshot of My Reading #4 - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This month\u2019s snapshot includes a novel which disappointed several bloggers whose opinions I trust, a short story collection by an International Booker Prize longlisted author and a memoir by a museum guard. The novel I\u2019m reading is Francis Spufford\u2019s Light Perpetual which I started yesterday so it\u2019s early days. It begins with a devastating event [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-14T22:41:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"326\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"A Snapshot of My Reading #4\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T22:41:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217\"},\"wordCount\":330,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"All the Beauty of the World\",\"Clemens Meyer\",\"Dark Satellites\",\"Francis Spufford\",\"Light Perpetual\",\"Patrick Bringley\",\"Reading\",\"Snapshot\",\"Snapshot of My Reading\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217\",\"name\":\"A Snapshot of My Reading #4 - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T22:41:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg\",\"width\":326,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Snapshot of My Reading #4\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Snapshot of My Reading #4 - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Snapshot of My Reading #4 - Som2ny Network","og_description":"This month\u2019s snapshot includes a novel which disappointed several bloggers whose opinions I trust, a short story collection by an International Booker Prize longlisted author and a memoir by a museum guard. The novel I\u2019m reading is Francis Spufford\u2019s Light Perpetual which I started yesterday so it\u2019s early days. It begins with a devastating event [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-05-14T22:41:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":326,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"A Snapshot of My Reading #4","datePublished":"2025-05-14T22:41:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217"},"wordCount":330,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg","keywords":["All the Beauty of the World","Clemens Meyer","Dark Satellites","Francis Spufford","Light Perpetual","Patrick Bringley","Reading","Snapshot","Snapshot of My Reading"],"articleSection":["Books"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217","name":"A Snapshot of My Reading #4 - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-14T22:41:13+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Light-Perpetual.jpg","width":326,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=242217#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Snapshot of My Reading #4"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=242217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/242218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=242217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=242217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=242217"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=242217"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=242217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}