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Another stressful week interrupted by a  bout of illness which left me unable to read much 😦

Challenges:

No increase in my tally for the TBR Double Dog so still at twelve books (although I have actually read fourteen in total). I didn’t finish anything this week and didn’t really make huge progress on those books I did start.

I read a couple of short stories on Kindle for the King’s March challenge.

In progress

As planned last week, I have made a very very slow start to Vanessa & Her Sister which I would really like to finish this coming week in preparation for the Bloomsbury event on 24 March, and I’m also about a quarter of the way through Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge.

The Jane Eyre Update

Haven’t started it yet because of illness but I have re-worked my reading plan and still think I can finish it in the six weeks before the book club discussions.

New Books

No new books this week, the embargo is holding with only two and a bit weeks to go 😀

This should be the last of the really horrible work weeks coming up and I feel much more inclined to read so hoping to make lots of progress.

A stressful week at work where I really thought I wasn’t going to get anything read (not for relaxation anyway) but which improved immeasurably at the end.

Challenges:

My tally for the TBR Double Dog stands at twelve books (although I have actually read fourteen in total).

I finished Revival by Stephen King (reviewed here) and an excellent book of short stories, Irregularity (review to follow in a few days) and read the newest Goth Girl short novel for World Book Day on Thursday (but doesn’t count towards the dare because I bought it recently).

I’ve also joined a new challenge, King’s March, which only lasts for a month but gave me an excuse to read the King novel and permission (as if I really needed it) to re-read Carrie.

In progress

I have weeded out my reading list and set a few of the non-fiction book aside, clearing out my currently reading widget on the sidebar just to show fiction; that’s because my non-fiction reading tends to be erratic at the best of times and when I’m very tired (as I ave been recently) I just can’t cope with real things. So just about to start Vanessa & Her Sister (as I’m intending to go to a Bloomsbury event with the author later in March) in hard copy and Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge (which is up for the James Herbert award) on Kindle. I’m doing a lot of commuting this week so hopefully will get some proper reading done.

The Jane Eyre Update

Haven’t started it yet, because tired, overworked and stressed, so my Reading Plan is already out of sync, but I have until late April to read this so still hopeful of participation.

New Books

No new books this week, the embargo is more or less holding with only three and a bit weeks to go 😀

The upcoming week is going to be my heaviest for a wee while so hopefully reading will help. Or I may just curl up in a ball and whimper….

So here we are; March and (hopefully) the first signs of Spring. Time for a round-up of February.

Challenges:

My tally for the TBR Double Dog continues to stand at eleven books; I haven’t finished anything since my last Salon post because of Life and most particularly Work.

In progress

This week was dominated by staying up all night to watch the Oscars and subsequently slumping for most of the following day (which I had taken off.) I have been dipping in and out of the books shown on the blog sidebar; I’m hoping to finish a couple soon and have a small pile pulled from Mount TBR to select from next.

Events

I attended another bookish event at my local Waterstones, a reading from her new novel Touch by Claire North (who wrote The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August which is the last book I finished and which I shall review shortly. It was a really fun evening, Claire is very bright and engaging (and young; she published her first book at 14 and writes under three different names); her new book sounds very intriguing (and I got a signed copy!)

The Jane Eyre Update

Now  that Jonathan Strange had been set aside for now (if not for good) I am going to be reading Jane Eyre as mentioned in my last salon post. Haven’t started it yet, but I have A Reading Plan. I’ve promised myself that I will not persevere if I’m not enjoying it. I have a long-standing problem with reading Charlotte (as I do with Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy) but perhaps this will break my duck.

New Books

So the book buying embargo is continuing to hold. More or less. I had pre-ordered The Death House which I reviewed here having read the bound uncorrected proof but I know I will want to read this one again and so downloaded it on publication day. I also bought Touch (as mentioned above) because you really do have to buy the book if you want the author to sign it 😀

BUT – I did break the rules and buy a copy of Goth Girl and the Pirate Queen on Kindle because World Book Day plus I love Chris Riddell and….. just because. But I do intend to persevere into March with the ban for as long as I can….

That of course depends on how awful work is going to get over the next two weeks; the potential for horror is definitely there and book retail therapy may be required!

My reading week started off very slowly but momentum picked up at the end of the week and I have now read two completes novels, The Death House by Sarah Pinborough (reviewed here) and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (which I only finished earlier today so I am still contemplating what I thought of it, apart from it being really excellent of course).

Challenges

My tally for the TBR Double Dog stands at eleven books so far. And I haven’t yet started the Cornflower Book Group’s April read of Jane Eyre, though I’m going to take some time out today to plan my reading so that I don’t get overwhelmed or, just as importantly, left behind.

In progress

My current reads are as always shown on the blog sidebar; I am currently working my way through an anthology of sci-fi short stories called Irregularity, which I am really enjoying.

The Jonathan Strange Update

I have finally taken the decision to set Jonathan Strange aside and will write a DNF post about it in the next few days. I am actually very sad about this and not totally giving up on the possibility that I may actually be able to finish it one day.

New books

The book buying embargo is still holding but several books came into the house this week, still technically not breaking the terms but ooh, probably stretching it a bit. One is the new Mary Russell novel by Laurie King, Dreaming Spies, which looks really good but in honouring the terms of the TBR dare as well as breaking with years of tradition I have not only set aside but actually let the Book God read before me. I am stunned by the extent of my own magnanimity 🙂

And on a trip to Manchester I was given a gift by my friend’s husband; a copy of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists which to my shame I have never read.

I also went to a bookish event on Saturday night to see/hear Den Patrick and Jen Williams talk about their new novels, The Boy Who Wept Blood and The Iron Ghost respectively. A really enjoyable discussion but of course if you want signed books you have to buy them, and as they are both second novels in their sequences then you have to buy the first volumes too, so we walked out four books the heavier. I’m not calling that an embargo breach because The Book God paid for them. Rationalisations, don’t you just love them?

Climbing up the TBR pile

A few of books we already have in the stacks came to my attention this week and have made their way to the top of Mount TBR:

• Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly, because vampires;
• Inventing the Victorians by Matthew Sweet, because I came across it when looking for something else, dipped in and was hooked; and
• Time and Again by Jack Finney, because time travel

Odds and Sods

One of the things I’m trying to do this year is sort out my study which is so cluttered with books and papers that I would be ashamed to share a photograph of it with anyone. In moving books around to make space for other books I came across a couple which I have apparently had for ages  but have no memory of whatsoever:

• Encyclopaedia of Snow by Sarah Emily Miano – apparently I read  this in 2004 and thought it was OK but it isn’t triggering anything in my brain at all
• The Murder Room by PD James, which it looks like I’ve had for years but don’t seem to have read. I can’t possibly have had a James novel for that long without reading it, surely? I shall have to investigate.

Hope everyone has a great reading week!

I did actually manage to finish a book this week although it was another very busy time at work and I’ve ended most days in a bit of a heap on the sofa. But I was enticed into finishing The Ninth Life of Louis Drax and have already published my review so yay for me!

This afternoon I also read a standalone short story, The Kiss by Kim Curran with whom (full disclosure) I have occasional Twitter interactions. It’s a lovely story and you should check it out (written especially for a previous Valentine’s day I believe).

Challenges

My tally for the TBR Double Dog stands at nine books so far. And although it’s not actually a challenge I am taking part in the Cornflower Book Group’s April read which is Jane Eyre, a novel which *gasp* I have never read, always preferring Anne and Emily over Charlotte. But it’s about time I gave it a go, I think, I just need to plan the reading out carefully so I don’t get overwhelmed and/or bored and/or left behind by everyone else (I have previous form in this regard, see my first attempt to read Wolf Hall).

In progress

My current reads are as always shown on the blog sidebar; I am currently immersed (and hoping to finish this weekend) The Death House by Sarah Pinborough in uncorrected proof as it doesn’t actually get published until 26 February. It is very good indeed.

The Jonathan Strange Update

The least said about this the better…..

New books

The book buying embargo is still holding but two books came into the house this week, technically not breaking the terms. One is Jane Eyre which I already own in physical form but have been entirely unable to locate so I bought an inexpensive e-book version for ease of reading. The other is Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar which I got as part of the ticket package for attending the Bloomsbury Institute conversation with her about the book in March. My conscience is clear 🙂

Climbing up the TBR pile

A couple of books we already have in the stacks came to my attention this week and have made their way to the top of Mount TBR:

• The Invisible Circus by Jennifer Egan, because the author EJ Swift (her blog is here and I had the pleasure of meeting her recently) was recommending it on Twitter and it’s one of the few of Egan’s work I haven’t read – previous reviews are here, here and here;
• Again on Twitter I saw a reference to the Internet of Things which mentioned that the inevitable outcome had already been identified by Philip K Dick in 1969 in his novel Ubik, so of course that had to come off the shelves as well; and
• the Book God has been encouraging me to read the books by Max Allan Collins, and suggested I might start with Bye Bye, Baby which is all about the death of Marilyn Monroe (I have a soft spot for her) – not sure about this, I need to be in the right mood for hardboiled…..

Hope everyone has a great reading week!

It’s been a very quiet reading week due to social stuff (mostly a very boozy chat with London and New York friends about books in a swish hotel on the South Bank) and lots and lots of work, plus quite a bit of movie watching.

Challenges:

I’m currently involved in two challenges:

• the TBR Double Dog – finished my eighth (and first physical) book of the year today, and took delivery of the new Neil Gaiman (pre-ordered last year so technically OK) – feeling virtuous
• the 2015 Horror Reading Challenge – nothing new this week but a couple of interesting things on the horizon.

In progress

My current reads are shown on the blog sidebar; pleased to have finished my first book of the month and I am definitely in a short story mood.

Events

Nothing literary this week (apart from boozy night out mentioned previously, where two of us ganged up on a third to make them see they MUST read Wolf Hall) though I have things of interest coming up in the next few weeks.

The Jonathan Strange Update

Shock horror! I have read a bit more of this and am now on *gasp* page 148 so nothing to get too excited about but it is progress, people, and not to be sniffed at!

Abandoned

Nothing abandoned since my last post.

So let’s see what this week brings…..

So here we are; one month out of the way already. Where does the time go? Anyway, time for a round-up I think.

Challenges:

A couple of challenges finished on 31 January

• the Sci-Fi experience – over the two months the challenge ran I managed 1 x novel, 3 x standalone (i.e. not in a collection) short stories and 2 x movies. Not bad, but would have liked to read more, just couldn’t find the right thing. But I’m sure there will be more sci-fi throughout the year….
• the Clear Your Reader challenge – all seven books I’ve finished this month have been on my Kindle app so yay me!
• the TBR Double Dog – the seven books read this month all count towards this; the buying embargo is firmly holding under extreme provocation. A couple of pre-orders downloaded this week and I got two books as part of my birthday presents yesterday, but all tucked firm away until the beginning of April.
• I haven’t previously mentioned the 2015 Horror Reading Challenge which runs throughout the year. I’m doing particularly well with this one – 2 x short story collections and 2 x novels so far; suits my taste at the moment. Which probably says something, I’m just not sure what!

In progress

Most of my current reads are shown on the blog sidebar; after a good reading month in January I’m dithering a bit, jumping from book to book before I (hopefully) settle on something.

Events

I attended my first Super Relaxed Fantasy Club meeting in London last week. Particularly pleased to meet EJ Swift (whose short story The Spiders of Stockholm is up for an award) and who is now firmly on my wish-list, and Sarah Pinborough. I was very lucky to be given directly from her own hand an uncorrected proof of her next novel  The Death House which is out in February. I think the rules of the TBR Dare will allow me to include this one; at least that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it 🙂

The Jonathan Strange Update

I’m still where I was on Christmas Eve, page 134, mostly because I just haven’t been reading much. But I had an interesting conversation with a couple of people I met at the SRFC and it seems that Jonathan Strange is one of those books people are glad to have read in retrospect but struggled with a bit while they were actually reading it. Glad I’m not alone!

Abandoned

Nothing abandoned since my last post.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

I didn’t write a Sunday Salon post last week because I was recovering from illness; being unwell helped with my reading a little bit though I have slowed down since then.

Challenges:

My participation is going fairly well

• the Sci-Fi experience – I have completed one book, yet to be reviewed, and as the experience covers more than just books the movie I’m going to see later today will also be included in my stats for this challenge
• the Clear Your Reader challenge – all six books I’ve finished this month so far have been on the Kindle app, and I hope to complete at least one more before the challenge finishes next week
• the TBR Double Dog – the six books read this month all count towards this; the buying embargo is firmly holding except for a couple of e-books I pre-ordered before the end of last year (and which will remain firmly unread). I’m also expecting/hoping that I might get one or two books for my birthday next week 😀

In progress

All my current reads are shown on the blog sidebar; I’m dipping in and out of five at the moment, three non-fiction, one book of short stories and a the fourth in Charles Stross’ Laundry Files series, which I’m not quite halfway through.

The Jonathan Strange Update

I’m still where I was on Christmas Eve, page 134. I am going to give myself until the end of February and if I haven’t made much (or indeed any) progress I’m going to add this to DNF

Abandoned

Nothing abandoned since my last post.

So well ahead with my goals for January.

This week has seen me getting into gear after the New Year break and the shock of my return to work.

Challenges:

My participation is going fairly well

• the Sci-Fi experience – I haven’t read anything for this challenge in the last week, though I’m still happily working through a book of sci-fi short stories
• the Clear Your Reader challenge – all three books I’ve finished this week have been on the Kindle app, including The Bone Clocks which I loved and will be reviewing soon
• the TBR Double Dog – nothing new has come into the house so the three books read all count towards this; the embargo is firmly holding largely because I’ve promised myself a bit of a spree in April 😀

In progress

All my current reads are shown on the blog sidebar; I’m dipping in and out of four at the moment, two non-fiction, one book of short stories and a novel by Louise Welsh, Naming the Bones, which I’ve just started.

The Jonathan Strange Update

I’m still where I was on Christmas Eve, page 134. Still struggling to understand what my block is here. I enjoy it while I’m reading it but once I put it down I have to make myself pick it up again, but I’m working on a plan….

Abandoned

I’ve been doing some more sorting out of books and added a couple more to the abandoned pile:

• Effendi by Jon Courtenay Grimwood – I got about 10% of the way in when I realised it was so long since I had read the first volume in the Arabesk Trilogy that I couldn’t make any sense of what was happening so I have set it aside
• A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd – more than a quarter of the way through but having read so many Maisie Dobbs books in August I realised that my taste for historical crime novels featuring WWI nurses had been satisfied for the moment, but I may come back to this one

So quite pleased with where I am as we head towards the middle of January.