Ah autumn, time of cold weather and rain when the best thing in the world is snuggling up with a book. Well, we had two weeks of that and then it got warm again; weirdly warm. And then I wasted a week reading a book I disliked (more on that tomorrow), so my reading completed list doesn’t look too impressive this month.

I had planned to read some horror for Halloween, maybe some Daphne du Maurier, but the closest I got was making a start on David Mitchell‘s new book The Bone Clocks, which sounds spookier than it is, though I have a feeling that might change when I get further in. I did, however, watch the film of Gone Girl, which is super disturbing in an entertaining kind of way. I haven’t read the book as I’d heard mixed reports about it, but I think now I’d quite like to, even if I do now know all the twists and turns of the plot.

A quick catch-up on my reading aims/challenges for the year, as I only have two months left to get where I want to be with them! I’ve read nine popular-science books, so I only need to read one more of those. I’ve read seven books in translation, which is not so good. I was hoping for one per month but that would be more catching up than I have time left for. Must do better on that front next year. And as for science fiction, I’ve read six so far this year, which is as many as I read total in 2013 so I only need to fit in one more to achieve my aim of reading more SF!

Books
Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley (my review)

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (my review)

Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley (my review)

Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones (my review)

Short stories
“The magic barrel” by Bernard Malamud (from The Magic Barrel)

“The first seven years” by Bernard Malamud (from The Magic Barrel, available online here)

“The mourners” by Bernard Malamud (from The Magic Barrel)

“The bill” by Bernard Malamud (from The Magic Barrel, available online here)

“The girl of my dreams” by Bernard Malamud (from The Magic Barrel)

“The sexes” by Dorothy Parker (Selected Shorts podcast)

“In the throes: the precious thoughts of an author at work” by Dorothy Parker (Selected Shorts podcast)

“The standard of living” by Dorothy Parker (Selected Shorts podcast)

“The waitress” by Robert Coover (Selected Shorts podcast)