Bits and Pieces

The Manchester Literary Festival is due to kick off next month, from the 8-23 October in various venues around the city. You can join Simon Armitage, Clare Balding or Iain M Banks among many other names, in talks, debates, readings and even walking tours of the city. To view a full calendar of events use the link.

Bookbrowse have compiled a list drawing together all of the movies that are released this autumn that are based on books, with trailers to whet your appetite. Some highlights include Anna Karenina, On The Road, The Hobbit, The Life of Pi and Cloud Atlas. To view the Movies From Books, Autumn 2012 list, use the link.

I ran across a blog called Bardfilm, written by a literary professor celebrating all of Shakespeare in movie form. It also covers plays and other uses of Shakespeare. Recent posts include pieces on the use of Shakespeare quotes in Friends and Star Trek, as well as the Tempest speeches during the London Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, by Kenneth Branagh and Timothy Spall.

Lastly, I am having a dry spell reading wise, and have got behind on my reading. In fact I have read about 9 pages in a month. I am enjoying the book but am finding it difficult to concentrate. I am blaming my lovely holiday in Italy for my distraction and hope to be back on form soon. The last time that this happened was about 3 years ago, when I couldn't lift up a book then either. So bear with me for now, and you will be the first to know when this strange mood has passed.