Nose in a book

The sun has started to show its face; the clocks have changed; our cherry tree is in full blossom. The herb seeds I planted a month ago are varying from just peeking through the surface to recognisable plants on various windowsills around the house. I do like spring.

Health-wise, I’ve been getting out on my bike at least once a week and even started running again. My shoulder isn’t 100% recovered but I’m inching closer.

I joined BlueSky last year and so far my favourite part is the Banned Book Club, which names a different book each month to discuss. This month’s selection was Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and I’m so glad I was pushed to finally read this terrifying modern masterpiece. It’s definite a good candidate for discussion. In fact, I think the discussion prompts really helped me to process this challenging read.

Continue reading “March 2025 reading round-up”

Not such an eventful month as January or nearly as prolific reading-wise. It’s honestly been a bit of a tough one as recovery from surgery is proving much slower than I had expected. But I’m now cycling again, which feels like a big step.

We ended the month with a trip to London to see Brie Larson on stage in Elektra. She was absolutely brilliant in this bare bones, angry, punk staging that uses Anne Carson’s translation of Sophocles. It’s the most experimental play I’ve ever seen in the West End or indeed in any traditional old theatre. If it weren’t for the huge Hollywood and Broadway names (Clytemnestra is played by Stockard Channing) this play would have felt right at home at Bristol’s Tobacco Factory Theatre or South Street Arts Centre in Reading. I loved it, even if I didn’t quite understand a couple of the set details (why is there a zeppelin?).

I’m still not sure I’m quite ready to read the Ancient Greeks, even in modern translation. But this has reignited my interest in these stories enough to queue up the second part of Claire North’s Songs of Penelope series to read soon. The blurb suggests this novel heavily features Elektra and her brother Orestes. (They were minor characters in the first book, Ithaca.)

Continue reading “February 2025 reading round-up”

Well that was a month. I usually don’t mind January as much as other people do. After all, it starts with my birthday and ends with the first spring flowers. Plus I really don’t mind cold weather for walking the dog in crunchy frost and then warming up at home with a hot drink and a book.

But I have to say this year January was tough. It’s been wet. World news is awful. And it turns out that recovering from shoulder surgery is more slow and painful than I anticipated. Plus, I have yet to see a spring flower that’s, you know, flowering (in fairness, I haven’t left the house all that much).

The list below makes it look like I read a lot of books in January. Which technically is true. But the pain and reduced range of movement I’m experiencing, though both are improving week on week, means it is still difficult for me to hold a book that requires both hands to read. So I’ve mostly restricted myself to my ereader (which I can use one-handed) and the set of tiny 50-page Penguin Modern mini classics that Tim bought me a few years ago. Plus a couple of chapbooks of Korean short stories from the University of East Anglia’s Yeoyu project.

Continue reading “January 2025 reading round-up”

Happy New Year! I have recovered enough from shoulder surgery to type one-handed for short periods. Which means it’s time for a slightly belated (and shorter than usual) look at my reading stats for 2024.

Last year I read 88 books or 23,928 pages. I get lovely stats and graphs from Storygraph, as their name suggests. For instance, I spent an average 6 days on each book (with lots of overlaps). I read 79% fiction, 21% non-fiction. The average book length was 275 pages. I read the most in May but I liked the books the most in August.

According to my own records, I read 18 books in translation. As for gender split, I read 64 by women, 23 by men and one by multiple authors of various genders. I’ve come a long way since the days when I strived to read as many women as men! It’s perhaps no surprise then that all 5 of my favourite books this year were written by women.

Continue reading “Top reads of 2024 and some fun stats”

Happy New Year’s Eve folks!

I actually wrote this post a couple of days ago as I will be incapable of blogging on 31 December. I’m scheduled for minor surgery just before the New Year and expect to be on strong painkillers for a few days. Hopefully after a few weeks of convalescence my shoulder will no longer cause me constant pain. That’ll be nice.

Looking back over December, it was a month of two halves. First half was busy with Christmas parties, get-togethers, shopping and planning. Second half was hospital appointments; keeping myself away from crowds so I don’t get sick before having surgery; and a very quiet chill Christmas at home. My brother joined us for a few days and we ate a lot of very good food.

Staying home more than usual means Tim and I powered through our list of Christmas films. We watched a lot of them, old and new, good and bad. I can recommend A Christmas Affair (1949), Desk Set (1957), The Apartment (1960), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and The Ice Harvest (2005). Plus the new Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is great. It’s not set at Christmas but it was premiered on Christmas Day so it’s basically a Christmas film.

I also read a lot this month. I thoroughly enjoyed Butter and Behind You is the Sea, but I absolutely loved This House. It’ll probably be a week or two before I name my top books of 2024, so here’s a hint: This House will be on the list.

Continue reading “December 2024 reading round-up”