✐What's been capturing your stray attention?

A subscriber thread

Hello,

This week, I’ve mainly been writing, but I’ve made time for a bit of reading too.

I’m still thinking about the cherry blossom, and so I read Naoko Abe’s Cherry Ingram: The Englishman Who Saved Japan’s Blossoms (I think it’s called The Sakura Obsession in the US). It’s wonderful and so informative on the dark side of the sakura ideology, which indoctrinated young men to sacrifice their lives in military campaigns. I also read Simon Armitage’s Blossomise, a new collection of poetry to celebrate the UK’s own blossom season. It’s as light and inviting as the blossom itself.

I was sent a proof of Tom Newlands’ debut novel, Only Here, Only Now, which is the story of a young Scottish girl growing up with undiangosed ADHD in the 90s. It’s exceptional, capturing the voice of a bewildered teenager with so much warmth, humour and truth. It put me in mind of Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha. Pre-orders are open; get in early on this one because everyone will be talking about it.

Apart from that, I’ve been very distracted by all your short story recommendations from last week. There are just the most incredible things in this thread. Do please add to it if you haven’t already!

And finally, I went to see The Phantom Menace to mark its 25th birthday on Friday. I didn’t love it the first time around, and… yeah. This time, I noticed how hard Liam Neeson was trying to inject some of his twinkling humanity into the leaden script. That’s maybe the best thing I can say? I found this instagram post from Ben Johncock - about the vital role that Marcia Lucas played in editing the original trilogy - very illuminating.

So, what about you? What’s been capturing your stray attention lately? Please tell us about your wonderful cultural experiences and your top tips to top our our reserves of delight.

Take care,

Katherine

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