Three more or less "proper" book posts this week and I am tuckered out. I think a Friday post calls for something easy and a little mindless.
If you blog or keep some kind of reading journal, do you ever get nostalgic and look back and see what you were reading last year or the year before? 'Tis the season of nostalgia, isn't it? Everyone likes to look back over the year that was. I am almost to that point (still have a few more books to catch up writing about so will try and do that next week), but I am still reading so it is a little too soon to reflect on this year's reading still.
Last year at about this time (I didn't post on December 16 in 2015) I shared the state of my nightstand, which I must say was pretty tame compared to what it is at the moment. I can't see all the books in both piles, but I think I did fairly well in reading what was on hand. I set the Deakin aside, only read part of the Ebershoff (saw the movie twice, though, and loved it). I know I finished the Follett, the Todd and the White. All three were carryovers into this year, but I did finish them at least.
I had good intentions last year at this time, too, when it came to reading more classics. Such a pity that I never managed to read any of the books that seemed to be enticing me at that particular moment. I still feel like reading Ivan Turgenev and John Wyndham. As a matter of fact I have a Wyndham novel on my 'considering reading' pile right now!
Last year I started and finished the year with books by Nell Dunn, both were Viragos (a most pleasant way into and out of a year I think). I would like to kick off the new year (I think I have done this several years running now) with a quick, short novel (or novella as the case usually seems to be) to give me a nice feeling of accomplishment (and the sense that, yes, this is going to be another good reading year). As a matter of fact I have another small pile of potential short reads. Are you curious about them? Would you like me to share them before the fact or would you rather be surprised? There is much to be said for short novels. Of course I have a whole run of Penguin Little Black Classics at my fingertips, too.
You're going to be shocked to hear this and I am not sure how long I can keep it up, but . . . I have finished the first of my last gasp books and will be writing about Maurizio de Giovanni's Blood Curse next week. So that's not really shocking, but the fact that I have only been reading it (with Mary Stewart's Stormy Petrel as a back up) exclusively for the last few days. I don't think I will likely be a convert to the only one book at a time method of reading, but I must say that continuity with (mostly only) one book does make for a very good reading experience. So, now it is Stormy Petrel's turn and I think Dorothy B. Hughes's In a Lonely Place will be the 'backup' and so on, perhaps, until I read my way through the pile? By the way, my sidebar is updated now to show just the books I am trying to read my way through. We'll see if the list grows shorter in the coming days? Hmm.
So now you know what I will be reading this weekend, along with a few short stories as I catch up on my Advent Calendar (I've not written about what I am reading, but some of the stories have been really, really exceptional and I say again this is a real gem of a find and well worth the money!).
I leave you with two links, both lists of books (of sorts) from which I will be tailoring some of my reading next year:
Along with reading I have fallen hard for the movies, and now I go see at least a movie (sometimes two or even three) every week. Here is a list of 2017's Most Anticipated Movie Adaptations. Some I have read already and a few I am not likely to read, but in a few cases I will read the book before seeing the film.
And Caroline who blogs at Beauty is a Sleeping Cat has shared her list of 2017 Literature and War Readalong books. I read three of this year's five books and still want to read at least one of the remaining two (just ran out of time this year). It's a great list for next year and I am excited to read as many as I can manage. First up will be N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn.
It's going to be cold and snowy here this weekend, so a perfect excuse to stay inside and curled up with a book! (I wish I had a train journey to somewhere warmer to look forward to over my winter break, but it will have to be through the pages of my books that I travel).