Reading - with gusto!

2010 seems to have rekindled my reading mojo. I have been devouring books quicker than ever and have been perusing book blogs to find inspiration for new material. Here's a quick update:

To be read

1. The Angel's Game - Carlos Riuz Zafon
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
3. Brick Lane - Monica Ali
4. Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris
5. The Mist in the Mirror - Susan Hill
6. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
7. A Murder is Announced - Agatha Christie
8. On Beauty - Zadie Smith

Finished

January

1. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
2. The Jewel Garden - Monty and Sarah Don
3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato peel pie society - Mary Ann Scaffer

February

1. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie
2. Divas Don't Knit - Gil McNeil

Currently reading

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle

Reading material for 2010!

With one thing or another I have well and truely let my reading slip. Now I have my very own 'reading room' (picture to follow soon!) I have no excuse and need to get through the piles of books I have accumulated over the last couple of years. Anyway, here is my (very unambitious) list of books for 2010 - I figure that I can always add more in if I should finish this little lot!

1. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
   
2. The Angel's Game - Carlos Riuz Zafon
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
4. Brick Lane - Monica Ali
5. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle
6. The Jewel Garden - Monty and Sarah Don
7. Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris
8. Divas Don't Knit - Gil McNeil
9. The Mist in the Mirror - Susan Hill
10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato peel pie society - Mary Ann Scaffer
11. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
12. A Murder is Announced - Agatha Christie
13. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie
14. On Beauty - Zadie Smith
    

Time to move on

Made a decision to 'park' The Ressurectionist for a while and start The diving bell and the butterfly which I won from the June giveaway on the BookItList. This book is just the antidote I need. It is quick to read and is interesting and thought provoking. I should have it finished by the end of the week and I can move onto something else.

The Ressurectionist still sits on my bedside cabinet with my Harry Potter book mark stuck firmly about a third of the way though. I will finish it...one day....

Struggling with July's bookgroup book

After a promising start The Resurrectionist is proving to be hard going. I love the atmosphere but I am about 100 page in and nothing appears to be happening! I'm never going to finish it by the end of the month...can't decide if I should abandon it (I hate giving up on a book!) or stick with it and acknowledge that it will be hard going.

I have read the August book before (The Timetraveller's wife) so I don't have any pressure to read that.

Thank you!

My giveaway prize from the BookIt list arrived today. I can't wait to get stuck into it. It looks like a book that will be pretty quick to read so I'm going to save it for a precious day when I haven't got anything to do...

What to read next - My Sisters Keeper?

...got a copy of My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult from my friend. Not usually my kind of read but I have heard some really good stuff about it despite the fact I usually steer clear of any book that has been made into a film. Here goes....

50 books to go!

I've been a bit slack on the 101 in 1001 list since I have been studying for my CIM exams (thankfully all exams are completed now and I am just waiting for the results at the end of August). I have tried to keep up with my reading during my studies and have managed about a book per month - largely due to my book group (who I think now have sadly disbanded due to lack of interest and new members) and also the monthly book from the BookitList blog.

I have now clocked up a healthy 14 books and just have 50 to go to reach my 101 target! Still tons I want to read and I keep buying more books from charity shops (they are sooo cheap, how can I resist?).

Also many thanks to the lovely people from the BookitList who have sent me The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (I was randomly selected for the June giveaway) which I have been wanting to read for ages.

As for me, during my many years...

...living abroad, I had been struck every time I had returned to London by how many of my childhood peers seemingly led such socially monochrome lives (segregated drinks with colleagues excluded), despite no Richard Curtis Notting Hill movie being complete without Hugh Grant having a gay, a black, a disabled and a working class friend.

Phew - I was tagged by the Book-It list to:

• Grab the nearest book to you
• Turn to page 56
• Post the text of the 5th sentence as a post title and pass this meme on to who you like

This must be the longest sentence known to man! Feel free to play along with this meme if you are reading this post.

Mrs M
x

Literary Meme

I spotted this on my newest favourite blog The Book-It list. I think it is WAY too highbrow for my reading exploits but one day I want to say with confidence that I have a favourite poet! So here goes...

1. What author do you own the most books by?
The most prolific author on my book shelves is Daphne Du Maurier closely followed by Agatha Christie.

2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Erm, I only feel the need to own one copy of a book. Is that strange?

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?

Nope - I'm not hung up on getting things grammatically perfect. Language is here to evolve I say! lol!

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?

Ohh, good question! I'm quite partial to Lockhart from Harry Potter...

5. What book have you read the most times in your life?
As a rule I don't read books more than once - life is too short and there are so many great books out there to be read. As a child I read all of Roald Dahl books over and over again.

6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Apart from anything by Roald Dahl, I loved The Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse by Vivian French.

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?

Being a member of a book group makes this question simple! I am torn between Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella and Elleander Morning by Jerry Yulsman (definitely the most bizarre book I have ever read!)

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
The one I have just finished 'Water for Elephants' by Sara Gruen. Again this is a book group book but sadly it was not my choice.

9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
The Shadow of the Wind - I loved that book!

10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
I don't think I'm the right person to ask about that!

11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
See question 9

12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
See question 9 also! Films are never as good as the book and as a rule I try to read the book BEFORE I see the film.

13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
None I remember

14. What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
Plenty but the Shopaholic series must be up there!

15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Difficult because of it's sheer length not because it was difficult to understand - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

16. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
Richard the third - only because I did it for English Literature A-level

17. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I have no preference at all.

18. Roth or Updike?
Ekk - no idea! Should I stop right here?

19. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
As above!

20. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare - he is the only one I have read.

21. Austen or Eliot?
Austen - definitely. And is this the right place to say that I loved the TV programme Lost in Austen??

22. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
A large proportion of the classics. I am more embarrassed and have bigger gaps now I have completed this!

23. Is it better to read broadly—a few books from a country and time period—or deeply?
Definitely broadly - you might just discover something new.

24. What is your favorite novel?
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

25. Play?
Pass

26. Poem?

Pass again - I really need to broaden my horizons!

27. Essay?
?!

28. Short story?
Ahh, here is more comfortable territory. Daphne Du Maurier's short stories are cracking, especially The Birds volume (not at all like the film).

29. Work of nonfiction?
I really love reading gardening and eco books. My favourite recently is A life Stripped Bare by Leo Hickman.

30. Who is your favorite writer?
Daphne Du Maurier

31. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Hmmmmm. I would dare say that anyone is overrated. If they have the guts to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) then they have done something amazing - who are we to comment?

32. What is your desert island book?
Definitely the Lord of the Rings books. My husband is obsessed with them and keeps nagging me to read them. To be honest I don't know when I would ever find the time or the inclination to start such a lengthy book other than if I was on a desert island.

So many books, so little time

Reading is one of my big passions and I have amassed a large number over the years. I am a member of a book group which meets once a month. While I really enjoy reading new authors and things I would have never picked for myself, I do feel it hinders me ploughing through my own stash. This is especially true since I have been studying for my CIM exams.

As a lover of lists I thought I would record all my unread books on here - perhaps it will motivate me to read them all!


Adrian Mole - Weapons of Mass Destruction - Sue Townsend
The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
Talk to the Hand - Lynne Truss
Eats shoots and leaves - Lynn Truss
The Man in the Iron mask - Dumas
Animal Instincts - Alan Titchmarsh
A Briefer History of Time - Stephen Hawking
Bigger then Hitler, Better then Christ - Rik Mayall
Facing the Music - Mary Sheepshanks
Perfume from Provence - Lady Fortescue
Shuttlecock - Graham Swift

The Debt to Pleasure - John Lanchester

The Dead School - Patrick McCabe

Unreliable Memoirs - Clive James

Enigma - Robert Harris

A Perfect Arrangement - Suzanne Bene

Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams

Life, The Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams

The Restaurant at the end of the Universe - Douglas Adams

Company of Liars - Karen Maitland

Fatherland - Robert Harris

Treasure Island - R L Stevenson

Children of Chance - Elisabeth Revsey

Coming through Slaughter - Michael Ondatje

Elegance - Kathleen Tessaro

The Scapegoat - Daphne Du Maurier

How to be good - Nick Hornby

Pompeii - Robert Harris

Blackeyes - Dennis Potter

Finelines - Simon Beckett

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - RL Stevenson

Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

The Time Machine - HG Wells

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

Cat among the pigeons - Agatha Christie

The Secret Adversary - Agatha Christie

Around the World in 80 days - Jules Verne

Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie

5 Children and it - E NEsbitt

Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

The Bird Artist - Howard Norman

The Stars' Tennis Balls - Stephen Fry

C'est la foile - Michael Wright

French Revolution - Tim Moore

Made in America - Bill Bryson

Tales of Narnia - CS Lewis

Alice's adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carol

Through the looking glass - Lewis Carol

Neither here nor there - Bill Bryson

The Lost Continent - Bill Bryson

Consequences of marriage - Isla Dewar

Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith

The Shape of Water - Andrea Camillen

Dracula - Bram Stoker

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolfe

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin

A Thousand Splendid suns - Khaled Hosseini

Saturday night, Sunday Morning - Alan Sillitoe

Narrow Marsh - AR Dance

The Truth about Lorrin Jones - Alison Lorie

Finbar's Hotel - Dermot Bolger

Blackberry Wine - Joanne Harris

Are you Dave Gorman? - Dave Gorman

Emma - Jane Austin

The Last Empress - Anchee Min

Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

Divas don't knit - Gill McNeil

Ghost - Robert Harris

The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

Imperium - Robert Harris

The Complete Father Brown stories - GK Chesterton

A Place in my Country - Ian Walthew

Tales of the Beadle the Bard - JK Rowling

The house on the strand - Daphne Du Maurier

Don't look now - Daphne du Maurier

The Frenchman's Creek - Daphne Du Maurier

The Interpretation of Murder - Jed Rubenfeld

Marley and Me - John Grogan

Down under - Bill Bryson

Life and Times of the Thunderbolt kid - Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

Remember me? - Sophie Kinsella

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

Phew!

Red = in progress

Blue = read!

#1 - Read 64 Books

#1 - The Outcast by Sadie Jones.
The book was brilliant, if not a little sinister. Our book group book for September and I'm hoping the other members of the group liked it as much as I did!
#2 - 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
A charming real life story of an American writer who strikes up a long lasting friendship with the members of an English bookshop.
#3 - The Island by Victoria Hislop
This was the Book Group book for October. I have finished this one by the skin of my teeth for the meeting this week. It was very readable but not something I would have chosen to read myself. It is the story of the island of Spinalonga in Crete where a Lepers were sent and the relationship of the inhabitants with the mainland.
#4 - Elleander Morning by Jerry Yulsman
November book for the book group. This book is out of print so some of the group struggled to get copies that weren't too pricey. The concept of the book is that the Second World War didn't happen. It was an interesting concept but I don't think the author went far enough with it.
#5 - Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell
The book group takes a break in December so I decided to use this spare time to tackle the longest unread book on my book shelves. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it a cross between Harry Potter and a Jane Austin novel. A little slow to get going but once you are familiar with the characters (and reading the numerous footnotes) then it is a cracking read!
#6 - Tales of Beedle the Bard
A little book in the style of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Thoroughly enjoyable and I found the commentary by Dumbledore my favourite bit of the book. JK Rowling couldn't resist a few HP references!
#7 - The Reader - Bernhard Schlink
Book group book for January and picked primarily because it was short so we could get back into the swing of things after the Christmas break. An interesting and alternative look at the Holocaust. I want to see the film now but will it be the usual story that the film is never as good as the book?
#8 -The house on the strand - Daphne Du Maurier
Book group book for February chosen by me! Daphne Du Maurier is one of my favourite authors and she did not disappoint with this book. My only criticism is the number of characters introduced in the time travel section of the book. I spent more time referring to the family tree at the beginning of the book trying to figure out who everyone was than reading the book!
#9 - Remember me? - Sophie Kinsella
Book group book for March and to be honest I wasn't looking forward to it one bit, chick lit is not really my thing. It only took me a couple of days to read and I found it was a nice change to read something quick and not particularly taxing on the brain. I enjoyed it a bit more than I thought I would (and probably more than I would want to admit to other people!)
#10 - Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
I found this book incredibly hard to read at first and thought I would struggle to finish it. However, when Charlie's IQ begins to increase the story starts getting good. I would have been put off this book by its science fiction classification had it not been a book group choice and once again I am glad I tried it!
#11 - Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
This is a beautifully written book about a circus during prohibition. The underlying theme of the book is a love story but there are lots of historical references and subplots to keep everyone interested.
#12 - A Place in my Country - Ian Walthew
I thought this book would be much more twee than it was. I was expecting the usual tale about a couple moving from the big city to the countryside and the 'hilarious' stories that evolve as they get used to rural life. This was quite the opposite and the couple fit in to the community almost straight away but their finances and lack of jobs in the area mean that they have to make a heartbreaking decision.
#13 - Behind the Scenes at the museum - Kate Atkinson
I was vaguely aware of this book but had never got round to reading it. Prompted by the book of the month on the Book It List I got myself a copy and lapped it up! I enjoyed this book immensely and think it might be my favorite book of the year (although it is hotly contested with Water for Elephants).
#14 - Pompeii - Robert Harris
After honeymooning in Italy last year and visiting Pompeii we were recommended this book by virtually everyone who went on the trip. I thought the book would bring to life the everyday life in Pompeii but it was little more than a glorified love story. I didn't connect with the main character and didn't care if he lived or died during the eruption. I know lots of people love Robert Harris but I'm afraid for me he is just another Dan Brown (I can hear the tuts from here!!). I have a couple of his other books but I wont be rushing to read them after this disappointment.
#15 - My Sisters Keeper - Jodi Picoult
After posting a few days ago about starting this book I got some very positive responses from other people about it. I decided to go for it and ended up ploughing through it in 4 days - pretty quick for me! This book wasn't as twee and soppy as I thought it would be (I didn't cry once!) and on the whole the story was good. I really liked the way the each chapter was written from a different characters point of view. I'm not sure I will be watching the film but I enjoyed the book for what it was.
#16 - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby
After winning this book on the BookIt list blog I put aside The Ressurectionist that I had been struggling with for a couple of weeks and got stuck into this. It only took a couple of evenings to read and it was very thought provoking. Bauby talks of his loneliness in the hospital but it is far from being a sad story. It was much more uplifting than I could ever imagine...
#17 - Elegance - Kathleen Tessaro
I picked this book up from our accommodation when we were in Italy last year (don't worry, I replaced it with one of my own!). This book was just what I needed - a quick bit of chick lit to get me back into the swing of reading again. I read it in less than a week and the story was enjoyable if not a little predictable at times.
#18 - Saturday Night Sunday Morning - Alan Sillitoe
Have wanted to read this for ages as it is set in Nottingham where I live. The book is about working all week and blowing all your money in the pub at the weekend...very little has changed there then...
#20 - Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
To put it bluntly, this book was hard work. In places it was brilliant but unfortunately in others it was slow going and a bit difficult. I really wanted to enjoy this as it won the Booker of Booker prizes.
#21 - The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - Kate Summerscale
I really enjoyed the first part of this book about the murder and the detective elements of the novel. However, I lost interest a little bit when the book started going into great detail about other crime novels - I thought it ruined the flow of the novel. Overall, I did enjoy this book.
#21 - The House at Riverton - Kate Morton
Enjoyable mystery with a twist at the end. Reminded me a bit of Romeo and Juliet?