Last month was a busy reading month, and I was pleased that I managed to read through nearly all the books I had set aside for various readalongs. I am still working on a few Viragos I started, but I hope to finish them soon, and really why the rush as I want to keep reading Viragos all year. Of course I have a very large stack of unread Viragos, so that will have to be my motivation for reading them quickly.
This month, despite the number of books in my photo, is much more laid back. Next up for Caroline's Literature and War readalong is Jennifer Johnston's How Many Miles to Babylon?. I wrote about it briefly here. I knew when I finished it that I wanted to not only own it (I had been reading a library copy) but read it again, and I am now getting an opportunity to do so. It's quite a slim book, so if you might have been tempted to read it before, I do urge you to join in the discussion later this month (February 25).
I'm being very optimistic by including Winifred Holtby's South Riding in my stack. Notice it is a Virago, too? It is Cornflower's February selection for her book group. I absolutely do want to read it, but I suspect I won't be able to finish it by the end of the month, as it weighs in at almost 500 pages. I believe the film adaptation is going to air soon on the BBC (boo to them for not letting me see the film clip--I'm not in the UK--okay, I understand about licensing and copyright, but still). PBS, however, will be showing it in the US in May, so I should have plenty of time to read the book before then. The story is set in Yorkshire in the 1930s and I have heard good things about it.
As a nice follow up to the Virago Reading Week, there is the Persephone Reading Weekend to look forward to from February 25-27 that Verity and Claire are hosting. I conveniently have a Persephone title on my 2011 reading list. I will be reading Noel Streatfeild's Saplings this month and posting on it over that weekend. (As tempted as I am to pick up a few Persephones to read...I think this time around I'll stick with just one!).
I've already mentioned E.M. Delafield's Gay Life that I've started reading and hope to post on mid-month. I'm not very far into the story, but she's very good at writing about interesting characters, and I love the sunny, south of France setting, too.
And on the bottom of the pile you see a "mystery" book. The next round for my postal reading group just started, and I was excited to get my first book in the mail this week. If you want to see what I'm reading, you can take a peek here. I just didn't want to spoil the fun for anyone in the group who may happen by, by giving away the title of a book they'll be reading later. Did you peek? Doesn't it sound good? And just what I was in the mood for, too. I've got plenty of time to read this one as well, as it won't need to be mailed out again until later next month!
Are you reading anything special this month?