This month has felt full and busy yet I’m not sure I could tell you what I filled it with. I definitely seem to be over my reading hump, though I’ve still not finished that book of Orhan Pamuk essays I started back in September. I did finish the Little House series, which was surprisingly emotional for me. I certainly got sucked into that world by the end!

I also started thinking about my 2014 reading goals (it’s the Christmas planning that did for me, I think), which I’ll post more about soon. But mostly everything seems to be about Christmas already. There’s presents to buy, travel to arrange, outfits to plan and goodness knows what else I’ve forgotten. I was going to say I remember when Christmas was just about the one special day, but I don’t think that’s true. When I was little there was the school nativity play, the church nativity play, the Christingle service, the church carol service, the school carol service, Santa coming to switch on the lights in our town, Santa coming to switch on the lights in the next town over (where my Dad’s from), the day we put up the tree and other Christmas decorations, and last but not least Boxing Day at my grandparents’, which was like a second Christmas Day. So maybe these days I get off lightly!

But 2013 isn’t over yet. I have one month left to work on this year’s reading goals. Now I just need to figure which books to save for that week off work over Christmas…

Books read
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (review here)

A Handful of Sand by Marinko Koščec (review here)

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (review here)

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (review here)

Stone in a Landslide by Maria Barbal

The Most Remarkable Woman in England by John Carter Wood

These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Short stories read
“Cathedral” by Raymond Carver (Selected Shorts podcast)

“Dating Jane Austen” by T C Boyle (Selected Shorts podcast)

“You were perfectly fine” by Dorothy Parker (Selected Shorts podcast)

“Unprotected” by Simon Rich (Selected Shorts podcast)

“The day the dam broke” by James Thurber (Selected Shorts podcast)

“Center of the universe” by Simon Rich (Selected Shorts podcast)

“The Tablecloth of Turin,” by Ron Carlson (Selected Shorts podcast)

“The lesson” by Emma Newman (available online here)

“Tourists” by Emma Newman (read by the author here)

“The letter” by Emma Newman (read by the author here)

“The verdigris set” by Emma Newman (read by the author here)

“Escapism” by Emma Newman (read by the author here)

“The business of art” by Emma Newman (read by the author here)

“Overdue” by Emma Newman (read by the author here)

How has your reading month been? Are you hastily trying to tick off your 2013 goals? Or are you done with all that now and enjoying some relaxing reading before the new resolutions kick in in January?