The restless reader

I have - so far - been having a pretty good reading year. I've been trucking along nicely, and keeping pace with my goodreads challenge.

I've read some good books, some great books (STATION ELEVEN) and some ... other books.

But, now, I find myself in that unenviable position: What's next? The fuzzy photo on the left is all of the books I have on my bedside table at the moment. One pile of my own books, and one pile of library books.

Misery is on there, for the June readalong, hosted by the ever lovely Care of https://bkclubcare.wordpress.com/ and I had aspirations to start it today. I got about 10 pages in. I've read Misery before, and I do love it, but for today, my brain went "meh." So it's on the shelf, for now. I have a terrible unweildy omnibus which contains Misery so I might see if my library has a more hands-friendly copy and go from there.

My lunchtime ibook reading is Reaper Man by Mr Sir Terry Pratchett, and that's going okay. The book itself is wonderful of course, funny and sharp-witted and all of the best things. I took it with me today when I took spawn to the playground and my brain went .. "meh."

It's not you, lovely books, it's me.

I've had six months of excellent reading, and as I said previously, some excellent books, but I have hit that dreaded thing: The Wall.

Well, okay, I haven't hit it very hard, obviously, as I still have books on the go, it's more like .. I've stubbed my toe on the corner of the wall, and now I'm wary of touching the wall again because the wall means pain.

The wall.

(Sorry).

I want my momentum back, is what I'm saying. I want the wall to bugger off. Or better yet, crumble into dust at my feet. I realise that I haven't hit the other dreaded thing yet: The Slump, but I've been having such a good reading year so far, that I want to avoid that at ALL COSTS.

So. I'm thinking what I can do to dodge the evil slump, where it lurks in the swamps behind the Wall.

Old favourites?
Something entirely new?
Non-fiction?
Something I haven't thought of yet?

Any ideas? :-)

It's Monday ...

... what are you reading?

Hosted by the lovely Sheila at http://bookjourney.net/ or you can jump on the #IMWAYR hashtag on twitter to have a nosy.

Since our last instalment,  I have given up on both books I was reading last time, finished two other books and am digging into Discworld again.

Hurry Up and Wait by Isabel Ashdown has a great premise and I'm sure it's a really good book, but I got to a point with it where it felt like nothing was happening and I troughed (opposite of peaked). The same thing happend with Prince Lestat, which I wanted to like, I really really did but it's so .. random and halfway through it starts going off on very odd tangents, so it, too, is on the Perilous Shelf for now.

After that, I picked up Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi and ... well, I did finish it, because it was super-easy to power through. Did I like it?

Um.

I liked the premise a lot, but some of the prose, which did more than flirt with the colour purple, it let the colour purple fill its whole dance card and scandalise the local matrons was a sugary, sugary, giant sugar pill to swallow. It was a lot.

It had a likeable lead, a nice love-interest and an engaging psycho. I just. Also, I went looking for book two on Goodreads and I see people are now talking Team Nice Love Interest and Team Psycho.

Nothing makes me Seacrest out of a series faster than a love triangle. Especially since, in book one, TEAM PSYCHO HAS HER KIDNAPPED AND HOLDS HER HOSTAGE. Like. I get that he has Daddy issues or whatever, but that doesn't excuse bad behaviour!

Anyway. For my lunchtime reading at work, I'm rolling with Reaper Man by the late, redoubtable Mr Sir Terry Pratchett. I'm working my way through Discworld in chronological order. It's slow going but every time I read a Discworld novel I marvel at my own stupidity in not reading them years ago.

I'm loving it, is what I'm trying to say.

Over the weekend, I devoured A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott. It's about a girl with Big Dreams who comes to Hollywood in the 1930s to try and make it as a screenwriter. She gets tangled up in the lives of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, and also witnesses history in the form of the making of Gone with the Wind.

I really enjoyed it - it reminded me of Longbourn in a way - a cosy, historical read.

Up next, on my workmate's recommendation, is I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes.

What are you reading?

It's Monday ....

Hosted by Sheila here: http://bookjourney.net/ or track the #IMWAYR hashtag on twitter, to add to your TBR :-)

I hit a mini-wall for the first time this year a couple of weekends ago. I looked around and went "huh", because for the first time I didn't know what I wanted to read next.

So, of course, I went to the library. I picked up a few graphic novels, and some sundry other books.

I read Hawkeye Vol 1: My Life as a Weapon, and absolutely loved it.  This is the Hawkeye that should be in EVERYTHING Avengers - damaged, introspective, impulsive ... did I mention damaged?

Other than that, I started Hurry Up and Wait by Isabel Ashdown. I'm only a few pages in because I started it today, but it's promising so far.

Yesterday, I asked spawn to go and get me a book from my room, figuring he couldn't do worse than I have been lately in choosing reading material. He came back with Prince Lestat by Anne Rice because he thought the writing on the cover looked 'cool'.

Good enough.

What are you reading?

It's Monday ...

... what are you reading?

Your meme is hosted by Sheila, here: http://bookjourney.net/

I finished Pet Sematary on Saturday, after making a pretty big push to get through the bulk of it. Yay for #gangstercats!

I'm trying to get back into a habit of reviewing books, so will post one up later in the week. Ultimately, though, I found it creepy and sad over out-and-out scary.

I've also dived into The Half-blood Prince for Sheila's Harry Potter readalong, and I'm hoping to have that series finished - if not by Sunday, then by next Wednesday, which is about when the readalong itself finishes.

I haven't reviewed the books or done any posts - I thought I might do a vlog right at the end, though, so ... stay tuned.

My lunchtime reading is Written in Red, by Anne Bishop. I remember inhaling the first three books of her Black Jewels series in one weekend several years ago (there are other books in that series but I haven't picked them up) and I loved it. Written in Red - while a very different book, is written in the same engaging way and all I want to do is sit down somehwere and consume it all in one go.

Coming up, of course, is The Deathly Hallows. Other than that I have The Miniaturist and Bel Canto out of the library. So possibly one of those, or maybe Keeper of the Keys, book two of the Cycle of Fire by Janny Wurts, a trilogy I somehow failed to finish many years ago but Ms Wurts is a favourite author from way back, so I'm excited to get back to that again.

What are you reading?

It's Monday

Your meme is hosted by Sheila here: http://bookjourney.net/

I've slowed down a bit on my reading, which always seems to happen a bit after the initial head-rush of January. I'm going to try to maintain at about one or two books a week, see how I go.

I finished Bird Box by Josh Malerman yesterday, and liked it quite a lot. It's a fast read, but somewhat sad and very spooky at the same time. Malorie - the only woman left from a household of adults who had gathered together after mysterious events led to people committing horrific acts - has finally gathered her courage to find a better life for herself and her two children. She just has to get down the river without being seen - or, without sight. Good stuff.

I'm about halfway through On the Beach, which is good but is about as uplifting as standing at a bus stop in the rain and the next bus is half an hour away. And it's windy. And there's no shelter. This is getting away from me.

Up next is Order of the Phoenix for Sheila's readalong, which I am well behind on but I persist.

What are you reading?

It's Monday

Your meme is hosted by Sheila here: http://bookjourney.net/

It's been nearly a month since I did one of these - or blogged at all. I was haing an existential blogging crisis, then I decided to stop that.

Anyway. What am I reading?

I had a pretty decent reading January; getting through about 10 books. The standout read for that month was, I think, Graceling, which I liked very much of a lot.

For this month, so far, I've finished Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel and honestly I think it's going to be my favourite read this year. It's so, so, so very good and I wish I had many copies so that I could hand it out to people on the street and earnestly explain why they should read it.

You. You should read it, if you haven't. It's great.

Um. Anyway. I'm still pottering away at Sister Carrie, although I fell well behind on Care's readalong. However, it's a decent lunchtime read and I'm enjoying it, so I persist. Other than that I've picked up On the Beach by Neville Shute. I've never read him, but several of his books came to me via my mother, a few years ago, and this one has been on my radar for a while.

Up next is Order of the Phoenix, because I realised I"m also falling behind on Sheila's readalong, but I shall persist, if not prevail.

What are you reading?

It's Monday

Your meme is hosted by Sheila here: http://bookjourney.net/

I had a reasonably productive week, I think. Well. Weekend, anyway. I read Cold Feet by Jay Northcote, a sweet gay romance story about best friends trapped in a Welsh cottage over Christmas. I WONDER WHAT THEY GET UP TO THEN. It was lovely, a nice slice of escapism.

I also finished Parasite by Mira Grant, which I also liked a lot. There was a twist right at the end that made me keen to seek out book two.

Of course, I have Goblet of Fire on the go, and I’m about 100 pages in to that for Sheila’s readalong.

And the lovely Care at https://bkclubcare.wordpress.com/ is hosting a readalong of a novel called Sister Carrie, which I had never heard of but barged in on anyway. It’s my lunchtime reading on my ipad, and so far, so good.

What are you reading?

It's Monday

Your meme is hosted by Sheila here: http://bookjourney.net/

Let’s see … I had a reasonably productive reading week last week. It helped that I only worked Monday and Tuesday. Back to “normal” this week.

On Wednesday I went to see The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies and thought it was the best of the three. I still have issues with a 300 page children’s book being turned into three overly long movies, as much as I love The Lord of the Rings movies but THAT ASIDE …. Battle of the Five Armies was pretty good. I also accidentally started shipping Bard and Thranduil, so that was entertaining.

The week before that, I took spawn to see Big Hero 6 on Boxing Day and absolutely recommend it, it was great. Spawn loved it too, and I think it’s the first movie he’s been to that he hasn’t complained about being overly long.

Uh, anyway. Last week, I finished The Miseducation of Cameron Post on iBooks, and it was great. It’s a coming-of-age YA novel about  young girl who’s just lost her parents, and she’s starting to explore her sexuality. When she’s outed, her born-again aunt sends her to a conversion therapy school.

That’s a terrible summary but it’s a great, great read.

I also, finally, finished The Two Towers in the world’s slowest LOTR re-read. I’ve got a bookmark in Return of the King but haven’t cracked it open yet.

Right now, I have  Parasite by Mira Grant on the go, and I’m really enjoying it. I just need to pick something on my iBooks to read at work.

What are you reading?

Happy new year and all that

Goodness, it's 2015. That's come around rather quickly, hasn't it?

I didn't do very much to ring in the New Year - just beetled on with my annual LOTR re-watch and a new cross-stitch project, which is always my very own end of the old year/start of the new year ritual.

Of course, I start thinking about all of the things I could do in the new year, all of the possibilites ... it does feel like turning to a fresh page, doesn't it? There's nothing on there yet, but by the end of the year it will be packed with memories - photos and movie tickets, memorable quotes, lists of books and films and TV shows and Stuff that Spawn Says. Well, mine will be. Also, cats. Always cats.

The photo today is of my optimistic TBR bookcase. There are 85 books on it, and of course I won't get to them all this year, but I'm hoping to make a reasonable dent at least. I'm also going to try and not buy books if I can. Well - not NEW books anyway because they are so very expensive. Bargain, secondhand and withdrawn library books are fair game, however.

My goodreads goal for 2014 year was 75 books. I managed 62 - https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/1100497 - which isn't a bad effort. I did fall behind but I'm not losing sleep over it. So I'm going to aim for 75 books again, with a hopeful tilt at reading more diversely.

Which means I'll be going in for the More Diverse Universe challenge later in the year, assuming it's all go again - I hope so. :-)

Other than that I'm not signing up for anything right now. That's part of the trouble with the new year - you feel all earnest and energised and like your cape/hair are blowing gently in the breeze but then you remember things like Real Life and distractions and you kind of go, wait, hang on, I have some VERY IMPORTANT nothing to do right now and .. uh, anyway.

Later on I'll likely sign up for Carl's OUAT and RIP because I always do that and then I forget I've done that and  fail anyway, but I love the IDEA of the challenges so much, so there's that.

And I'm in for another readalong with Trish's readalong gang, although I've consistently failed out of the last two but never mind. Also next up is Goblet of Fire, for Sheila's Harry Potter readalong. Goblet of Fire is my favourite of the Harry Potter books, so I'm looking forward to that.

I am going to try, if I can manage it, to make 2015 The Year of the Series. I'm terrible with series - I'll read one book and then not pick up the next one for months and years and wonder what on earth is going on. THIS year, all going to plan, I'm going to read Stephen King's The Wasteland and also Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. I'm also going to search for two series by writers of colour, to balance out the white dude-ness.

My plan, such as it is, is to read one series book, another book, second series book, another book .... you get the idea.

So for 2015, I'm hoping to read more widely and diversely, actually make my goodreads goal, FINISH at least, say, four? series, read more graphic novels and uh...

Oh. Non-reading. I want to finish two cross-stitch projects. One for myself that I've been working on on and off for about 10 years, and one for a friend, that I started this week.

And, I don't know, save a puppy from a burning building maybe

What do you want your 2015 to look like?

It's Monday

Your meme is hosted by Sheila here: http://bookjourney.net/

I missed last week because I forgot to put the post up. I had it written early and efficiently and then I forgot. Oop.

Anyway. I finished Prisoner of Azkaban yesterday for Sheila’s readalong, so I’m going to dig into Bag of Bones over Christmas for Trish’s readalong. Festive, no?

I also have Hogfather by Mr Sir Terry Pratchett to read, and it’s out of order for my Discworld read all of the books, but it’s Christmas, so that might showup as well.

The week before,  I read Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein - it’s a sort of sequel to Code Name Verity and is just as heartbreaking in its own way.

I also read The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami. It’s not a very long book at all - really a very well illustrated short story - but it’s chilling and odd and heartbreaking.

I was picking at Throne of Glass on iBooks but I sensed the presence of a love triangle looming, and some of the plot points were puzzling, so it’s gone on to the metaphorical perilous shelf for now.

Instead, at lunchtime, I’ve picked up The Miseducation of Cameron Post, which is so far, so good.

What are you reading?

BOBalong!

I failed out of Trish's Drood readalong pretty hard, but I promised myself I'd be back for this one, so here I am - ready for some Stephen King.

I just finished Revival, which I liked a lot and I'm eyeing the Dark Tower series for January maybe, so I'm definitely in a King place.

I read Bag of Bones many years ago and remember enjoying it very much, so this is a very timely readalong because I have been meaning to re-read it for some time.

If you want in on the fun, the link is here: http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/2014/12/bag-of-bones-readalong.html

It's Monday

Your meme is hosted here: http://bookjourney.net/

I finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for Sheila’s readalong/re-read. I’m going to do a big post at the end. Actually I think that I might even do a vlog, and just ramble for a bit - lol.

Other than that I still have Stephen King’s Revival on the go, and I’m hoping to finish it this week. We’ll see.

My lunchtime read on iBooks is Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I like the premise, and the writing is decent, so, so far so good.

After that, of course, is Prisoner of Azkaban for the readalong, and then … I’m not sure.

I went to the library on Saturday and I’ve got a bit of a stack going on there. I also bought The Miseducation of Cameron Porter on ibooks on the recommendation of a friend.

There are a few others on the horizon, but I can’t think of any right now.

Oh!!  Trish’s readalong for December - more Stephen King! I’m definitely joining in for this one. We’re reading Bag of Bones. It’s been many years since I picked it up but I’m definitely looking forward to it.

What are you reading?

It's Monday

Your meme is hosted by Sheila here: http://bookjourney.net/

I had to stop and think for a minute - what AM I reading?

I finished The Enchanted, by Rene Denfeld, a short but very powerful novel, narrated by an inmate on death row. It's infused with a lot of magic realism, I think, and it's also very hard to describe. It's well worth a read, though.

Stephen King's new book, Revival, came out last week, so I have that on the go as well.

My lunchtime reading is a novel for $2 that I found on iBooks called UnEnchanted by Chanda Hahn.  It's not the best book ever, but it's readable and nice and easy for workday lunches.

I did start Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, which I was liking a lot but I realised it's a spinoff from The Vampire Academy novels, so I want to go back to the start on those.

And, of course, up next is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for Sheila's readalong.

I've decided, I think, not to do a post for every book, but to do a wrap-up post at the end. I'll see how I go.

What are you reading?

Challenging times

I love reading challenges. I mean, I think I love the IDEA of reading challenges more than the challenges themselves, though that never stops me from rampantly signing up.

Patrick is out at a birthday party, so I'm using this small, unexpected window of peace to do an update post.


I definitely failed out of the 2014 TBR challenge hosted here: http://roofbeamreader.com/ - I think I read four or five of the books I'd  pulled off my shelves, but I'm going to re-do my TBR shelf and sign up again, because hope springs eternal and all that.

I have, however, managed to do reasonably well on the women writer's challenge, hosted here: http://www.peekabook.it/2013/12/2014-women-challenge.html

I signed up to read at least 20 books by women writers, and so far I've read 31, out of the 54 books I've read this year. I still need to work on diversifying my reading, but it's a decent start, I think.

If that's on offer again next year, I'll definitely sign up again, with a focus on diversity. And, of course, I'll try and dovetail it with the More Diverse Universe challenge: http://www.aartichapati.com/

Two challenges I consistently fail out of are Once Upon a Time and RIP, and I don't know why because sci fi and fantasy and horror/suspense are some of my favourite genres. Perhaps 2015 will be my year.

Who knows, right?

It's Monday ...

Sheila hosts the meme here: http://bookjourney.net/

I'm eleven books behind on my goodreads challenge, apparently. Hrm.

Anyway. I had a reasonably productive week last week, I think. I read Fox Forever, which is the last book in the Jenna Fox Chronicles and it was a satisfying end to the series. I highly, highly recommend The Adoration of Jenna Fox, and while I didn't like the two sequels quite as much, I did enjoy them.

I also read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for Sheila's Harry Potter readalong. I just finished watching the movies, and intended to re-read the books after, so the readalong was very timely.

I also read The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison and by "read" I mean "inhaled it in two days and then made whale noises into a cushion." It's so so SO GOOD.

Right now, I'm reading The Enchanted, by Rene Denfeld, which is good so far, and also short, which is what I need at the moment.

Up next, of course, is The Chamber of Secrets.

What are you reading?

It's Monday, what are you reading?

Your meme is hosted by Sheila here: http://bookjourney.net/

I have to admit, I’ve had a reasonably productive weekend. By which I mean I finally finished two of the books I talked about in my readathon vlog. *Ahem.*

I finished Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie on Saturday, and it’s always a pleasure for me to revisit Dame Christie. I love a good mystery.

Yesterday I finished Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson - a re-telling of Peter Pan of sorts. It focuses on the character of Tiger Lily, who was a relatively minor presence in the original novel. It’s narrated by Tinker Bell, and fleshes out Neverland in some very interesting and unexpected ways. I did enjoy it rather a lot and it made me unexpectedly melancholy at the end, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I’ve had to rather shamefully bail on Trish’s readalong of Drood by Dan Simmons. I started it, and immediately found it incomprehensible. So. Onward.

I am a massive, massive idiot and it took me absolutely forever to realise that I could use my iPad mini as an e-reader. I had an e-reader - a Sony - that I basically never used so I gave it to J. THEN I saw a promo on facebook for like, iBooks where you could get the first of a series for free.

AND LO, I SAW THE LIGHT. AND THAT LIGHT SAID “YOU COULD BUY BOOKS ON IBOOKS AND READ THEM IN THE CAF AT WORK AT LUNCHTIME.”

So that’s what I did. Which is a very roundabout way of saying that one of the books I have on the go is The  Maze Runner. it was cheap on iBooks and so it’s my lunchtime book. It’s not bad but  I’m finding it a little bit … YOU KNOW NOTHING JON SNOW which is irritating.

I’m also reading Fox Forever, book three of the Jenna Fox series. I only started it today, but so far, so good.

What are you reading?

The Sparrow review

I barged in on the readalong for this which was held by Trish at http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/

We're Drood-ing this month, with Drood by Dan Simmons aka the book that is bigger than one of my cats: http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/2014/10/drood-readalong-beginning.html I actually ended up buying it on iBooks because holy crap. You could take out an orc with that thing.

Anyway. The Sparrow. 

In 2060, Father Emilio Sandoz has returned from a disastrous mission to the planet of Rakhat.

The planet had been discovered some 40 years before, and the Jesuits had hastily pulled together a disparate group of people - including Father Sandoz - to travel to the planet.

The mission doesn’t go how anyone envisioned it.

Forty years on, Father Sandoz is back as the only survivor of the mission, nearly broken in body, mind and spirit.

The Sparrow goes back and forth in time, from 2060 back to 2019, where it explores the background of Emilio and the other people drawn in for the mission to Rakhat.

It’s clear from the start that the mission ended in tragedy and chaos, and it’s up to Father Sandoz’s Jesuit order to try and piece together exactly what happened.

This is my second reading of The Sparrow and somehow I’d forgotten what an emotional whumpage of a book it is.

I remember loving it, but somehow forgot the bit where it tore my heart out and ate it in front of me.

It tackles some very, very big themes - the nature and existence of God, faith, love, life … all filtered through the eyes of Father Sandoz, the crew who first travel to Rakhat, and the Jesuits charged with Father Sandoz’s care after he’s brought back to earth.

It’s like. This book broke my heart and then stomped on the fragile fragments, grinding them to dust.

Here, read it.

It's Monday ...

Your meme is hosted here by Sheila: http://bookjourney.net/

It’s been a few weeks for me, because I had a bit of a slow-down. I have no idea whether I’m back on track or not, but at least I won’t be repeating myself with what I’m reading.

I finished The Giver by Lois Lowry and If I Stay by Gayle Foreman in reasonably quick succession, and liked both of them a lot, although I liked The Giver more.

Then I troughed for a bit before picking up Moving Pictures by Mr Sir Terry Pratchett. I’ve been trying - off and on, and more off than on lately - to read all of the Discworld novels in publishing order. When I started, I hadn’t read any and wondered - upon reading The Colour of Magic - what on earth I had been doing with my life up till that point.

I finished Moving Pictures on Saturday and hopefully will get on to the next one in relatively short order.

I’m also re-reading The Sparrow for Trish’s readalong: http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/2014/09/sparrow-readalong-beginning.html I forgot how much I LOVE The Sparrow.

At work, my lunchtime reading at the moment is Sand by Hugh Howey. I acutally liked Wool a lot better, but Sand is still pretty readable.

What are you reading?

It's Monday

Your meme is hosted here: bookjourney.net

I finished A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold and goodness me, that was quite a ride between weddings and people dying and dragons and all sorts. I loved it.

I'm halfway through The Long Earth, but I've struck a bit of a dry patch with it, so I've put it on what my workmates and I call the perilous shelf for now.

I also started Innocence by Dean Koontz which isn't bad so far, and I have a non-fiction book on Nefertiti on the to-read pile as well.

What are you reading?

It's Monday

The meme is hosted here: http://bookjourney.net/

Most recently I've finished V for Vendetta, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Wool by Hugh Howey and Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber.

That looks like quite the list, but I haven't done this meme in about a month - lol.

As for what I'm reading now, I'm deep in book three part two of A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold. I'm also still picking at The Two Towers and I have The Long Earth on my radar as well.

What are you reading?