The last week of November and then December is going to fly by. So, it's probably best to have a plan. I've done this in years past and I think I'm going to try it again this year, though in the past I've started thinking of whittling my current reads pile much earlier in the fall. Now there are only five weeks left in the year and not much time to clear off the reading table in anticipation of a new year. But I can at least try and finish a few 'in progress' books that are already well underway.
I'm going to be optimistic, however. A dozen books to finish off the year. None of these are new books, and I am going to try and limit any new starts to just a very few (and there will be a few new ones, I'm sure). If I set myself the task, perhaps I will stick to it and actually finish a few that have been languishing. In no particular order here are my last books of the year to be read/finished:
1. The Metamorphosis by Kafka
2. Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk (carried over to 2014)
3. The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
4. The Quincunx by Charles Palliser
5. Fenny by Lettice Cooper
6. The Middle Window by Elizabeth Goudge DNF
7. The Death of the Adversary by Hans Keilson DNF
8. The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate (saved for later)
9. The Bridge of Beyond by Simone Schwarz-Bart (saved for later)
10. Perdita by Hilary Scharper (carried over but will I choose a different Canadian book now?)
11. The Lewis Man by Peter May
12. Ruth & Gisela by Elizabeth Wix (will finish in January 2014)
13. A Commonplace Killing by Sian Busby
If nothing else this will help me decide which books go into my bookbag every morning (always an agonizing choice what to take with me to work as silly as that sounds). And now I know what I should be reading over my long weekend, too. I'd say I have my work cut out for me (though keeping in mind I am well into most of these books--even past the midway mark in many of them). Still, wish me luck (and lots of reading time).