bookgazing (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bookgazing) wrote2010-12-06 03:30 am
bookgazing) wrote2010-12-06 03:30 am
One Foggy Winter's Day
I feel like I spaced out on my theme month this time round. It’s been cold and all I wanted to do after I got back from work was hibernate and watch tv (my dvd box sets of Jump Street came out of the cupboard a few weeks ago and this week I might try my borrowed set of House dvds). Some posts didn’t make it into existence. Sorry about that, hope you all enjoyed what there was. If anyone wants to offer me more suggestions for books on women in sports I’d love to hear them in the comments.
I enjoyed this month’s reading, but I’m not sure if I’ll be doing a theme month again next year, tempting personally but I fear I might be boring others. I’m considering incorporating themes into 2011 by joining the One, Two Theme challenge. It involves reading non-fiction. There’s a big FAIL written next to non-fiction in my brain, so next year is unofficially the year of non-fiction for me, the year I try to read a decent amount of non-fiction (I’m going to call a decent amount one book for every month).
I actually have quite a few posts and reviews pre-written from when I got back off holiday, waiting to be posted after theme month, so this place could be quite busy in December. This month should see:
Reviews of
Speak
The Agency: A Spy in the House
Portrait of the Mother as A Young Woman
In for a Penny
Anila’s Journey
A la Carte
Special Posts
Link catch up post – there have been some fascinating happenings I thought you might like to know about, if you haven’t seen them already
Challenge wrap up 2010 – oh yeah, these all went really well
Challenge schedule for 2011 – attempting to keep it small and achievable
Vampire Diaries, Series 1 - yammerings
Exceptional characters in historical novels – what I think works and what I think doesn’t, with bookish examples
Top Tens (adult and YA fiction) of 2010
Look I made Christmas cards – pictures!
Shiny, shiny presents from my swap partners – pictures
Villians that I lurve (especially when they are evil) – more tv yammerings
Downton Abbey, Series 1 – yammering – this depends on whether you lot want to hear more about this show. I wrote some thoughts at the beginning of the series and I twittered about it a bunch during the program. Now that it’s over I still feel it *right here*, it’s one of those programs you can’t shake, but I might be going on about it too much. If you want more Downton Abbey let me know, otherwise I’ll keep it out of the blog.
I’ve also got an exciting author guest post geared up as part of a creative twist on the author interview tour (all the creation of the a group of authors).
Hopefully I will also be better at commenting at other blogs this month. I am reading my feed reader, but have a lot less time for leaving comments right now and like I said my brain doesn’t work so well in the cold. I feel kind of sad about my lack of commenting and will try to be more commenty in December.
Currently Reading
Right now I’m deep in a chunckster. I haven’t read a lot of big books this year and I’ve missed the experience of giving up all my time to a huge, satisfying stew of a tale. I’m two thirds through ‘Sea of Poppies’ by Amitav Ghosh and love it. It ticks a lot of boxes for my personal interest – it’s a sprawling saga with lots of characters, it’s set in India (my love for this kind of book is equivalent to the love many have for huge Victorian series focused on family drama and politics), it’s set during the lead up to the first opium war (I spent a good part of my third year studying the opium wars and so appreciate someone rationally and patiently showing his readers just how horrible the British reasoning behind pushing opium on China was). It contains a heroine who has no chance of fitting into society and wants to stowaway on a ship and another heroine who has escaped her own death at the hands of evil relatives. All good things.
Reading plans for Dec
I thought I’d plan out the books I fancy having read by the end of this year. I’m not a fast reader and typically I read four or five books in a month, don’t think I’ve ever read more than ten in very, very exceptional circumstances. Here’s what I’ll be wallowing in (when I’m not under the covers asleep):
'Sea of Poppies' – Amitav Ghosh: When I finish this I’ll have completed half my TBR challenge list. I’ll settle for half
'85A' – Kyle Smith: Review copy from the author. Review will be up by the end of 2011
'Under the Poppy' - Kathe Koja: I promised I’d read and talk about lots of adult books in Dec and this one sounds exceedingly seedy (in the best way) and adult. Smog filled, dark Victorian London and a creepy puppet show. Bonus: If I read this by the end of the 2011 it can wing its way to Cass in the New Year
'The Replacement' – Brenna Yovanoff: My brain wants darkness during this cold season it seems. I can’t hold off on this book any more. I’m longing to read it and people keep explaining how good it is by talking about sibling relations and people hiding who they really are
'The Birthday Boys' – Beryl Bainbridge: Remember I was going to read this on holiday, but didn’t get round to it. I think I need novella of polar exploration with the snow all around would provide a little real life nature in sympathy
'Anna Karenina' – Leo Tolstoy: The Bainbridge book is a short one, so I might have time for some bonus reading (especially as I’ve managed to save some holiday for the first time in three years and so won’t have to go into the office at all during the Christmas season – you have no idea how big of a YAY YEHAW that makes me want to yell). I don’t think I’m going to finish Anna by the end of 2011, but I would like to read the sixth section. Then I’ll have two sections left for 2011. How long I may delay the inevitable train scene I’m not sure (but it might be a long time, I still haven’t read the last Harry Potter book) – she doesn’t deserve it Mr Tolstoy, please NO.
Looking forward to spending December in blog land!
I enjoyed this month’s reading, but I’m not sure if I’ll be doing a theme month again next year, tempting personally but I fear I might be boring others. I’m considering incorporating themes into 2011 by joining the One, Two Theme challenge. It involves reading non-fiction. There’s a big FAIL written next to non-fiction in my brain, so next year is unofficially the year of non-fiction for me, the year I try to read a decent amount of non-fiction (I’m going to call a decent amount one book for every month).
I actually have quite a few posts and reviews pre-written from when I got back off holiday, waiting to be posted after theme month, so this place could be quite busy in December. This month should see:
Reviews of
Speak
The Agency: A Spy in the House
Portrait of the Mother as A Young Woman
In for a Penny
Anila’s Journey
A la Carte
Special Posts
Link catch up post – there have been some fascinating happenings I thought you might like to know about, if you haven’t seen them already
Challenge wrap up 2010 – oh yeah, these all went really well
Challenge schedule for 2011 – attempting to keep it small and achievable
Vampire Diaries, Series 1 - yammerings
Exceptional characters in historical novels – what I think works and what I think doesn’t, with bookish examples
Top Tens (adult and YA fiction) of 2010
Look I made Christmas cards – pictures!
Shiny, shiny presents from my swap partners – pictures
Villians that I lurve (especially when they are evil) – more tv yammerings
Downton Abbey, Series 1 – yammering – this depends on whether you lot want to hear more about this show. I wrote some thoughts at the beginning of the series and I twittered about it a bunch during the program. Now that it’s over I still feel it *right here*, it’s one of those programs you can’t shake, but I might be going on about it too much. If you want more Downton Abbey let me know, otherwise I’ll keep it out of the blog.
I’ve also got an exciting author guest post geared up as part of a creative twist on the author interview tour (all the creation of the a group of authors).
Hopefully I will also be better at commenting at other blogs this month. I am reading my feed reader, but have a lot less time for leaving comments right now and like I said my brain doesn’t work so well in the cold. I feel kind of sad about my lack of commenting and will try to be more commenty in December.
Currently Reading
Right now I’m deep in a chunckster. I haven’t read a lot of big books this year and I’ve missed the experience of giving up all my time to a huge, satisfying stew of a tale. I’m two thirds through ‘Sea of Poppies’ by Amitav Ghosh and love it. It ticks a lot of boxes for my personal interest – it’s a sprawling saga with lots of characters, it’s set in India (my love for this kind of book is equivalent to the love many have for huge Victorian series focused on family drama and politics), it’s set during the lead up to the first opium war (I spent a good part of my third year studying the opium wars and so appreciate someone rationally and patiently showing his readers just how horrible the British reasoning behind pushing opium on China was). It contains a heroine who has no chance of fitting into society and wants to stowaway on a ship and another heroine who has escaped her own death at the hands of evil relatives. All good things.
Reading plans for Dec
I thought I’d plan out the books I fancy having read by the end of this year. I’m not a fast reader and typically I read four or five books in a month, don’t think I’ve ever read more than ten in very, very exceptional circumstances. Here’s what I’ll be wallowing in (when I’m not under the covers asleep):
'Sea of Poppies' – Amitav Ghosh: When I finish this I’ll have completed half my TBR challenge list. I’ll settle for half
'85A' – Kyle Smith: Review copy from the author. Review will be up by the end of 2011
'Under the Poppy' - Kathe Koja: I promised I’d read and talk about lots of adult books in Dec and this one sounds exceedingly seedy (in the best way) and adult. Smog filled, dark Victorian London and a creepy puppet show. Bonus: If I read this by the end of the 2011 it can wing its way to Cass in the New Year
'The Replacement' – Brenna Yovanoff: My brain wants darkness during this cold season it seems. I can’t hold off on this book any more. I’m longing to read it and people keep explaining how good it is by talking about sibling relations and people hiding who they really are
'The Birthday Boys' – Beryl Bainbridge: Remember I was going to read this on holiday, but didn’t get round to it. I think I need novella of polar exploration with the snow all around would provide a little real life nature in sympathy
'Anna Karenina' – Leo Tolstoy: The Bainbridge book is a short one, so I might have time for some bonus reading (especially as I’ve managed to save some holiday for the first time in three years and so won’t have to go into the office at all during the Christmas season – you have no idea how big of a YAY YEHAW that makes me want to yell). I don’t think I’m going to finish Anna by the end of 2011, but I would like to read the sixth section. Then I’ll have two sections left for 2011. How long I may delay the inevitable train scene I’m not sure (but it might be a long time, I still haven’t read the last Harry Potter book) – she doesn’t deserve it Mr Tolstoy, please NO.
Looking forward to spending December in blog land!