First, many thanks for the comments on my last post--I appreciate them all and next on my to-do list is to get back to chatting again.
Here we are in October, nearing the end of yet another very strange year. It has been such a throwaway kind of year for me. In respect to reading--pretty much all and any plans I made or thought about have gone down the drain. That's okay. I think this year is more about being kind to oneself, which I am heartily "trying" to do.
In the past, and I would like to attempt it again now, I have tried to tidy up my "in progress" reading pile. I am notoriously bad (bad?) about picking up books on a whim and starting them even as my reading pile is a healthy size. You know how it goes--you buy a new book, all your library requests come in at once, someone talks up a book that appeals. For me, I am a mood reader and my mood changes very quickly sometimes.
I have been whittling away quietly behind the scenes already, but the list is long. Shall I share it? Here are my current "in progress" books that I would like to either finish or send back to the shelves (or maybe just send off to a new home?) before the end of the year. In no particular order--other than the ones I am actively reading being at the top (and a few of these are either for book clubs--more about those later--or new books I allowed myself as a reward for finishing a book):
- White Ivy by Susie Yang
- The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman (back to the TBR--wrong book for my current mood)
- The Confessions of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert (pure escapism)
- Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley (YA Book Club)
- Know My Name by Chanel Miller (Kind of stressful so picked up something else for my NF read...)
And some of these are longtime languishers--others more recent--but you can only put so many books in your work tote bag at once:
- Blue Monday by Nicci French
- The Janes by Louisa Luna
- The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish
- The Strange Files of Fremont Jones by Diane Day (a reread--I just felt a desire for a story set in San Francisco!)
- The Long, Long Trail by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
- The Ballroom by Anna Hope
- On Bittersweet Place by Ronna Wineberg
- King Solomon's Carpet by Ruth Rendell
- Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
- Kate Remembered by Scott Berg
Some of the languishers are books from my earlier monthly prompts, some I simply started reading and was enjoying but I need to learn how to finish a couple of books before picking a new one to read (rather than vice versa--finish one and start two--my own math, right?).
If I could clear off those nine books (since they have been sitting for a long time in some cases) I would feel quite an accomplishment.