November is going to be a busy reading month for me. As usual I have lots of plans, which I am probably being far too optimistic about, but optimism is good when it comes to books, right? I'm unlikely to read all the books I have in mind, but I do hope to read a fair few of them.
For Caroline and Lizzy's German Literature Month I have this lovely stack of books to choose from (I had to narrow this list down). I opted for shorter books so I can hopefully read two or three over the course of the month. I've already started reading Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest, which I am reading along with a group. The book is split into three parts so I will be writing about the first part this coming weekend, I hope. I also have Stefan Zweig's Journey Into the Past, Ingrid Noll's Head Count, Andrea Maria Schenkel's The Murder Farm, and Michael Wallner's April in Paris. We'll see where whimsy carries me as I am not sure which book I'll pick up next.
The Silent Angel by Heinrich Böll is the next book up for Caroline's Literature and War Readalong (as I try hurriedly to finish last month's book). It also ties in nicely with the German Literature month.
The Slaves are reading Molly Gloss's Wild Life, which looks really intriguing. It appears to be both a historical novel (set in the early 1900s) as well as a science fiction story (or speculative fiction?--this seems like a genre-defying novel).
I'd really like to read The Secret History by Donna Tartt that Cornflower chose for her book group. I've owned the book for years and this would give me the perfect excuse to pick it up. It has been sitting on my reading pile for most of the month of October, but it's quite chunky. Is it one that is hard to put down when you get into the story?
And then I have started reading already and think I am going to thoroughly enjoy Susanna Kearsley's The Rose Garden. It is another time slip story, but this time set in Cornwall. I've loved the other two books I've read by her.
There has been talk in an online reading group I belong to to read Rose Macaulay's Told By an Idiot, which I would love to read as well. And Ms Buried in Print and I have discussed reading The City and the House by Natalia Ginzburg together, too (now that I finally have my copy).
And then there is the little matter of the books on my sidebar/night stand that are already in progress. I'll be working on those as well. I'm going to be in need of a few more reading hours, don't you think? Luckily there is the Thanksgiving weekend (which I am making a day longer) to look forward to later in the month. Maybe I can squeeze in another vacation day as well--devoted to nothing but reading. Isn't that a pleasant thought?
What are you reading this month?