Coming Up on Vulpes Libris

Foxes’ tails come in all shapes and sizes, and very few more beautiful than this gorgeous seed-head of Foxtail grass. It has been a week of plant-consciousness, what with the enormous and influential Chelsea Flower Show taking place here in the UK. I’ve been watching the daily TV reports, and have decided that, while some plants have gorgeous colour and opulent form, it is often the graceful, self-effacing grasses that catch my eye. I had hoped to work that into a metaphor for this week’s offering on Vulpes Libris, but no such luck – as is so often the case, there is such a wide variety of interests that no single image will do the job. This week, we scan biography, art history and current fiction.

Monday: Kate reads Frank O’Connor’s two autobiographies about modern Irish history.

Wednesday: Jackie delves into Sebastian Smee’s book of artists who influenced each other,The Art of Rivalry.

Friday: Moira negotiates the currents and quicksands of Jenn Ashworth’s enigmatic Fell.

Today’s photo of Foxtail grass is taken from the Flickr photo stream of Karen Christine Hibbard, and is reproduced here under a Creative Commons licence. Clicking on the image will load the source page.