Closing the lid of April

Where are they?

Yay, May! It was already 10 degrees outside yesterday, and we took a nice walk. Felt good to wear a spring jacket for a change.

 

Reading wise, it was an odd month. I struggled with some slumps, which usually doesn't happen. As a result, I have several books now that I have started but have put aside for time being - "A Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens and "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel. I have been struggling with classics, I only read one Classics Club book in April and that is not good. My main steam has all gone on books from Women's Prize longlist - three of those last month.

 

What I read in April 2013:

 

* E. Zola "Germinal" (for Zoladdiction event and the Classics Club)

* K. Atkinson "Life After Life" (Women's Prize shortlist)

* K. Garcia and M. Stohl "Beautiful Creatures"

* G. Willow Wilson "Alif the Unseen" (Women's Prize longlist)

* F. Segal "The Innocents" (Women's Prize longlist)

 

524 + 473 + 563 + 426 + 436 = 2522 pages (why can't I sometimes pick, like, really short books?)

 

Plans for May:

 

• I want to read more classics. Currently I am half-way through Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin", which I added to my CC list, and I would also like to proceed with "A Tale of Two Cities".
• I decided to take part in my first readalong - we will be reading "The Hound of Baskervilles" by Arthur Conan Doyle (hosted by Unputdownables). It won't enable me to tick off a CC book, as I have added the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes stories there, but it will be progress.
• I am also fairly sure I will try to take part in the week long readathon Bout of Books 7.0. It's going to be interesting choosing books for that week.

Brain Food, VI



I haven't written about books I've bought/received for a long while, so there is... horror! two piles to show at once now. Some of those I have even finished already, hehe.

From top to bottom:

 

* Hilary Mantel, "Wolf Hall" - was an impulse buy, but since I'm going through the longlist of this year's Women's Prize, and Mantel is in it with the sequel to the "Wolf Hall", the purchase has worked itself out quite fine.

* Sinclair Lewis, "Arrowsmith" - a Classics Club book that I got to read for the Spin event in March. Finished it, liked it. Might try out some more Lewis in future.

* Scott Addams, "God's Debris" - something that can be called "a mind exercise" by the author of Dilbert. The premise of this slim book seems very intriguing, I love literary mind games. Won it a while back from a giveaway.

* Ken Follett "The Pillars of the Earth" - another brick, which I can't wait to start! It's something about building a cathedral in 12th century and I have faith it's going to be a-we-some.

* B. N. Peacock "A Tainted Dawn" - another piece of historical fiction (I really do intend to make my grand foray into the genre). Travelling by the sea and military conflicts. I won this book.

* Susan Wise Bauer "The Well-Educated Mind" - it's a book that is supposed to help us read and interpret classics. If it will manage to make me ask more questions about books, and seek more answers - good.

Women's Prize 2013 books:

 

* Gillian Flynn "Gone Girl" - read it in a few days, had some issues, but I think it's a good book for people who are after fast-paced writing and story twists. I personally am more focused on the depth and style of writing, which is why plot-based novels ain't quite my thing, but I'm glad I read it (bought it before I knew it was longlisted for WP). But, I don't expect I will try other of Flynn's works any time soon, if at all.

* Elif Shafak "Honour" - set in London, Istanbul and a Kurdish village, I'm looking forward to this one, but I will probably read the other books from this pile first.

* Francesca Segal "The Innocents" - I see family drama. Expecting this one to be a hit or a miss.

* Barbara Kingsolver "Flight Behavior" - I haven't read any Kingsolver and I want to love her, so I am very, very apprehensive towards this book.

* Kate Atkinson "Life After Life" - reading this one now, and loving it so much. Almost don't even want it to end. Fascinatingly structured novel.

* Maria Semple "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" - read it, loved it, need to write about it. The humour! But then again it is no wonder considering that Semple has written for Arrested Development, one of the funniest TV-shows there is :)

Closing the lid of March

We can has some of that? Please???

*punches the writing slump in the face* there...

 

March is almost over, and spring is nowhere to be seen. What gives? I'm so tired all the time that it's not even funny anymore.

 

Just out of curiosity (and possibly in masochistic desire to shock myself) I went through all the Brain Food posts since the beginning of January (added the books I have gotten in the past weeks and have not put into a post yet) to make a little calculation of how many books I have acquired and how many of them I have read.

 

 

Books hoarded - 35 (of which 3 I received for free, 1 is a lent book, and the rest I [or my boyfriend] have paid for).

Books read - 13.

 

I think it could be worse. My Classics Club project includes many of the books that come from my already-earlier-existing library, so I am not reading only the new books. Most books I have bought are classics, plus I am also going through some of the novels longlisted for this year's Women's Prize. It is also noteworthy that the classics I buy are not necessarily meant for reading right away, but they are more like long-time investment.

 

Anyway, back to March.

 

It was surprisingly good reading month, mainly because I managed to balance nicely between the classics and other stuff. I read six books - three classics and three "others":

 

* J. Austen "Persuasion" (for Classics Club)

* G. Flynn "Gone Girl" (from Women's Prize longlist; however, I read it before I knew that it was longlisted)

* E. Hemingway "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (for Classics Club; for Modern March event)

* S. Lewis "Arrowsmith" (for Classics Club; for Classics Spin event)

* J. Picoult "My Sister's Keeper"

* M. Semple "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" (from Women's Prize longlist)

 

Page count - 236+466+490+450+500+321=2463.

 

In April, I will participate in Zoladdiction event. Although I initially planned to go for two Zolas, I have changed my mind by now and will be reading only "Germinal". I would like to dedicate more time to Women's Prize books - I have Kingsolver's "Flight Behavior" and Segal's "The Innocents" at home, plus this week the boyfriend ordered me Atkinson's "Life After Life" (can't wait to stick my claws into that one!) and Shafak's "Honour". I also can't wait to start Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall".