Enjoy receiving emails from besotted biographers about their genius associates?
Then have I got some email bookclubs starting in 2024 for you!
[IMG A cartoon of Holmes and Watson running side by side, dressed in country tweeds. Holmes is pointing. Lettering reads Letters from Watson, the Novels]
Letters from Watson is reading through the Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle throughout 2023.
In 2024 we'll be reading the novels starting January 1st, with A Study in Scarlet. Hold on for more mystery and adventure with the Great Detective and his dashing doctor.
[IMG A cartoon of Raffles and Bunny running side by side, dressed in formal suits and top hats and wearing masks. Raffles is clutching some pearls and has jewels in his pockets. Lettering reads Letters from Bunny]
But perhaps you'd rather take a little trip to the other side of the law?
Letters from Bunny will be reading the Raffles stories by EW Hornung, featuring gentleman thief (and cricketer) AJ Raffles and his burglar companion Bunny Manders, from the Ides of March (March 15th)
[IMG A cartoon of Jeeves and Wooster walking side by side, Wooster dressed in colourful clothes and a boater, Jeeves in a monocrome suit. Lettering reads 'Letters Regarding Jeeves']
For something a little lighter, Letters Regarding Jeeves will be reading the uproarously funny public domain stories featuring chap about town Bertie Wooster and his bulging-brained valet Jeeves, starting February 14th.
Reblogs appreciated to spread the word!
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Book Club - Part 3
Pairing: Grid X Reader, Lance X Reader
Summary: lewis get a new song inspired by one of the book they read that week, a little lance relationship focused as well
a/n: even as an avid reader, i struggle so much choosing books for this 🥲, sorry if this one sucks
requests open 🫶✨ masterlist
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“Alright boys, get ready to swoon!” You pull out copies of your chosen book, The Dead Romantics. After reading classics and adventure, and thrillers, you chose chick-lit. It had been recommended on other book club chatboards, so you deemed it safe for the guys.
“Same time, same place next week,” Daniel grabs a book and walks out. The rest file out of the motor home, books in hand. You follow Fernando to Aston Martin.
“Lance, your girlfriend is here for you,” Fernando calls for him before you can. “Good choice, I enjoyed this one the last time I read it,” Fernando says before walking to his room, leaving you stunned.
“Hello, mon cœur,” Lance kisses you before grabbing your hand and taking you to his room.
“What is the book this week,” He asks once you cuddle up on the couch. Since he found out about the club, he’s been reading the books with you.
“The Dead Romantics, first one to finish gets to choose the next date,” you hand him his copy before starting your own. Lance’s assistant brings in coffees and breakfast for you both while you read.
“When we get married, would you change your last name, combine ours, let me take yours, or leave our names as is,” Lance asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
“Hmm, I like the sound of Y/n Stroll, but maybe I’ll still race under my name,” you decide, paying attention to the books, thinking about the predetermined discussion questions.
“Fuck,” Lance groans after his phone went off, quickly bookmarking his page.
“What’s wrong baby?” you ask, bookmarking yours as well.
“I have a meeting with Dad in a few minutes,”
“Oh, want me to come along? I love your dad,” you run your fingers through his fluffy hair.
“It’s okay, it’ll take a while. You are more than welcome to stay here or go and get ready for the drivers parade. Either way, I will see you after,” he kisses you before gathering a couple things and heading out. You finish another chapter and head to your motorhome, dressing yourself in team gear and redoing your hair. Lance waits for you outside your team garage.
By next week, you both have finished the book and have been raving about it to people, you even sent a copy to George. You won the challenge, although you were sure Lance let you win.
“Have fun at your meeting, you are literally bouncing in excitement,” Lance laughs, kissing the side of your head and leaving you in front of Haas’ hospitality. You quickly find the club, who are equally happy with your pick.
“That was the best romance book I’ve read in a while,” Daniel starts off.
“It was my second time reading it. Much better than the first time,” Fernando agrees.
“And the plot twist!” Nico gasps, all of you nodding along.
“I wrote a song about it,” Lewis says nonchalantly, causing you all to pause.
“Lew… what?” You can’t imagine how one would write a song about it. The book was good, but it wasn’t Shakespeare.
“Yeah, the broken hearts, the forbidden nature of their love, separated by the paranormal, the spiciness of the ending. It inspired me, almost like all those songs for Fifty Shades of Grey,” Lewis explains.
“I don’t know how that would work, but I am sure that you made it work,” Kevin says as Lewis pulls out his phone.
You heard some of his music before, and you knew he could sing and his writing was pretty good. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The singing was great, but the lyrics were a little too… sappy for his style. It wasn’t even sensual, he was just singing about falling in love with someone you shouldn’t.
“That was great, Lewis,” Daniel encourages Lewis,
“If racing doesn’t work out, maybe you will have a career in music,” Valtteri offers, maybe you were the only one who wasn’t a fan.
“He already does, he was featured on a song,” Fernando rushes to pull it up on his phone. You swear he is the proud father of everyone in the room.
“Oh! We should do karaoke!” you gasp, excited at the thought.
“I like the way you think,” Daniel grins at you. It is usually never a good thing when you both get excited about an idea, it tends to end up with alcohol and regret, but never fails to be fun.
“My liver can take that right now, I would participate,” Checo says, leading the group in agreeing.
You and the other drivers rent out a bar the next night and make sure karaoke is set up, Lando DJs in the meantime.
“I’m going to sing my song!” Lewis tells you over your jolly rancher shots.
“Slay!” you cheers the shots, tap the glass to the bar, and take the shot. “I think I’m gonna sing Post Malone,” you reply, and Lewis drags you to sign up. Lance appears beside you, slipping an arm around your waist as he looks at the paper.
“Babe, what song is ‘Why Don’t You Love Me’, I have never seen it on an album,” Lance asks and you tell him its origin. “Oh, that’s funny, I’ll film it,” he writes both of your names down for Total Eclipse of the Heart.
A few shots later and Lewis kicks it off with his song, it is actually a lot better drunk. You follow him up with the meme song, getting everyone laughing, before Lance joins you. The two of you surprisingly sounded very good when you rewatched the video the next day, then posted it to your Instagram story.
“Never. Again.” Kevin groans the next morning as Valtteri walks in, excited to talk with the group.
“That was fun! When are we doing that again?”
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Somewhat ironically, direct contact with Europe had always been important for fomenting revolutionary movements in the Third World. The Indonesian independence movement had early roots in Holland, and it was in Paris that Ho Chi Minh got his political education. When studying or working back in the imperial capitals, colonial subjects often came into contact with ideas that were never allowed to reach their territories. Much of colonialism had relied on the logic of “Do as I say, not as I do.” Or in practice, “Do as white say, not as white do.” So while Europeans themselves were extending education to their entire populations, and their intellectuals were debating the merits of socialism and Marxism, much of this was banned in the colonies. The natives might get ideas. For example, in the Congo, brutally controlled by the Belgians since King Leopold II established the Free Congo State in 1885 (and the United States rushed to be the first country in the world to recognize the colony), authorities banned left-leaning publications and liberal lifestyle magazines that circulated freely back in Europe, and were scared even by the fact that working-class blacks lived together in urban areas. Wouldn’t this lead to subversion, or worse, Bolshevism? Congolese pupils learned about the Belgian royal family, but not the American civil rights movement, and the French Revolution was explained very carefully, so as not to make that whole affair seem too attractive in African editions of textbooks.
The justification given by European authorities in the Congo went like this: “All those in our colony are unanimous in stating that the blacks are still children, both intellectually and morally.”
Vincent Bevins, The Jakarta Method
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