My experiment with choosing a reading pile for January worked very well and I read and enjoyed them all. The only mistake I made was including too many challenge books that need to be reviewed at a time of the year when I should have known I wouldn't have the inclination to do it. Something I'm avoiding this month.
I've chosen older books - I can't seem to get interested in modern fiction at the moment and even after several attempts at The Orchardist which is a book everyone seems to love, it will be returned to the library unread.
Middlemarch by George Eliot ......Book 2 - it took me a while to feel at home with Book 1 ( I think I was expecting another Mill on the Floss) but once I did I loved it and looking forward to more.
Bleak House by Charles Dickens......Fanda @ Classiclit is having a Dickens month so an opportunity to open the pages of the copy of Bleak House I won last year. I very much doubt I will finish it in February - I want to read slowly and savour the magic of Dickens world. I also have a biography , Charles Dickens by Claire Tomalin waiting to picked up from the library.
Considering the size of these I've balanced the pile by choosing some smaller books.
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford......started this on Friday night and will finish it today. Loving it!!
The Shooting Party by Isobel Colegate
Mad Puppetstown by Molly Keane
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
The Virago Book of Such Devoted Sisters ( short stories)
Two on my Kindle..
William, An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton
Bab: a Sub-Deb by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Still room for a few library books that might catch my eye and, of course, my mood may change but for now I'm happy with this collection with the bonus that they will fill a few spots on my Century of Books list.
I am having problems at the moment trying to read too many books too quickly and I think following your example and actually setting myself a finite number of books to read in a specified time might help. I might even pare it down to a weekly commitment, I'm not sure. If you're reading 'Middlemarch' and 'Bleak House' for the first time I really envy you. They are both such wonderful stories.
ReplyDeleteI rather enjoy the process of selection and the anticipation that follows. I've always read on the whim of the moment so this is new and working well so far. First read for Bleak House and Middlemarch it is!
DeleteAh, it's a cold and drear Sunday here and I am currently curled up by the bookcase working out my own February reads... I am not sure I feel up to a Dickens this month with Les Miserables looming on the horizons but I do look forward to seeing your thoughts on the Tomalin biography - I'm reading her books in order and that will be the last one I tackle for my challenge towards the end of the year. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the CT biography very much - this seemed to be the perfect time to read it.
DeleteI really enjoyed The Good Soldier. It completely surprised me.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your thoughts on the Claire Tomalin biography. I bought it over the holidays but haven't yet picked it up.