Category Archive

A fairly quiet reading week. I was tempted by a combination of the Book God and Silvery Dude to pick up The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters which I’m thoroughly enjoying – one to savour slowly, not just because of the prose style but because I’m reading an enormous hardback with a delicate cover which means I can only really read it safely at home.

Only one book arrived this week, picked up because of a review by dovegreyreader, and a subsequent mention in Lizzy’s Literary Life – Dickens’s London by Peter Clark which looks fascinating and a good companion to some planned wandering around London. I’ve ordered the other book Lizzy has mentioned as well

I had hoped to have a few more additions to the stacks but failed in my attempt to spend my birthday book token yesterday; still something to look forward to though.

A momentous week! I have finished not one but two books and am feeling very pleased with myself indeed. The Hunger Games is done, as is On Monsters, which the Book God bought me for Christmas and which I have been reading steadily since then. Reviews on both to follow shortly (I hope).

No new books made it into the Bride’s home this week, but I still haven’t spent my birthday book token so that situation will change I’m sure.

I have a lot of books (almost too embarrassed to say how many there are in our joint library) which means that I sometimes forget exactly what I have. This leads to an occasional duplicate purchase, but can also result in a very nice surprise. That happened today when I was discussing this article with the Book God and half way through our chat realised that I had one of the books mentioned (At Day’s Close) – now started as my non-fiction read.

But this weekend is all about the Oscars. I have the day off work tomorrow so I can stay up all night and watch the ceremony. I have seen hardly any of the nominated films this year but nevertheless will be cheering on some of my favourite actors (Kenneth Branagh, Christopher Plummer, Gary Oldman) and enjoying the clothes!

So far 2012 has been focussed around my special birthday, and this means that I haven’t yet managed to finish a book, though I have been doing a bit of reading as and when I can.

I have about half a dozen books on the go at the moment and really do want to have a go at finishing a couple before the end of February to break my duck for 2012.

In addition to my birthday presents, which I talked about here, other books have made their way into the Bride’s abode:

• A Card from Angela Carter by Susannah Clapp – a miniature study of the sadly missed author, who left us before her time
• The Hunting Ground by Cliff McNish – “is not for younger readers” – I considered myself warned
• Pure by Andrew Miller – winner of the 2011 Costa Novel Award
• Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – just in case I ever finish The Hunger Games
• Death Walks in Eastrepps by Francis Beeding – and Arcturus Crime Classic – an imprint showcasing “unjustly neglected works by great writers” from the 1930s to the 1970s
• The Twenty-Third Man by Gladys Mitchell – I love Mrs Bradley with a passion
• Mr Briggs’ Hat by Kate Colquhoun – “a sensational account of Britain’s first railway murder”
• The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore – “in the dark she slid back the curtain again and there he was” – ooh, more ghosts
• Pathfinders by Jim Al-Khalili – the golden age of Arabic science

Just need to finish something!

So 2011 ended much as it began, with not a lot of reading getting done, though the holidays were still great fun and of course Santa brought a large number of new books into the house; I wrote about that here.

I failed singularly with the readalong of Wolf Hall, but have enjoyed what I have read so far and fully intend to finish it. I have also made a start on the following, all of which I am reading in fits and starts:

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – feel I should read this series as everyone else has and of course there is a major film version coming out this year
2. On Monsters by Stephen T Asma – one of my Xmas presents and a fascinating look at our worst fears
3. The Great Year by Nicholas Campion – I have had this for absolutely ages, I think I got it as part of a binge on books to do with the end of the world the last time that was a big topic (around Y2K) and having watched an interesting documentary on the alleged Mayan prophesy about the world ending this year last night, thought I would finally pick this up

I also have plans to read some science fiction as part of Carl’s Science Fiction Experience.

And finally two additional books made it chez Bride after the holidays:

• Hell Train by Christopher Fowler – one of my favourite authors and a stand-alone Hammer-themed novel which I have already started
• Spectrum 18 – a collection of the best fantasy and sci-fi art of 2011, a beautiful thing in its own right.

Just need to get cracking with a couple of these to get the year off to a good start!

A slightly better reading week in that I finally finished Look at Me by Jennifer Egan; still pondering my review which will be up on the blog in the next few days I hope.

I am currently reading The Fall (book two of The Strain trilogy) by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. This was on my RIP VI reading list and I’ve decided as part of my reading plan (such as it is) that I’ll finish off the RIP books before I start anything else. The exception to this rule may very well be Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel as Coffee and a Book Chick is hosting a readalong and I am seriously considering signing up for that.

Two new books came into the house this week:

• The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M Valente – can’t remember who recommended this (sorry) but it is all about Prester John and sounds intriguing as well as having beautiful cover art
• Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek – pretty sure I picked up this because of Lizzy, don’t think I’ve read any German crime before (as opposed to crime set in Germany a la Philip Kerr) so looking forward to giving it a try

Other than that it has mostly been all about movies and coming up with a Christmas wish list…..

Have a good reading week!

This was my first week back at work after three weeks on holiday and the impact on my reading pattern was felt immediately; got hardly any reading done at all. This was due to a combination of standing on the train (I still haven’t mastered the art of handling a rucksack, handbag and book while trying not to bump into the lucky people with seats), working at home (I also haven’t mastered the art of taking a reading break at lunch as I am all too likely not to go back to my desk), and an evening at the ballet. However I did have a trip to Manchester and read a little on the way back.

All that means that I am still reading and enjoying Look at Me by Jennifer Egan; I am refusing to guess when I will finish it, I gave a little hostage to fortune in my last TSS post.

But at least I successfully completed Carl’s RIP VI challenge and will be writing a wash-up post later.

No new books this week; probably just as well……..