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?

Once again I am not too impressed with my reading this month. I am thoroughly behind on all my challenges. I spent a week reading a book that I gave up on and decided not to review, and I had (possibly am still having) a bit of a lupus flare, so I tried reading some classic kids’ books – the Little House series. It’s certainly proving educational and I like them, but I don’t think they’ve completely won me over. I’d still choose Roald Dahl any time! But it is the first time in years that I’ve binge-read a whole series at once, which is actually a lot of fun. I’m also halfway through a collection of essays by Orhan Pamuk, which I’m enjoying but find I can’t read multiple essays in a row, so it’s taking me a while to get through.

Earlier this month I went to see a stage adaptation of Great Expectations that was excellent and made me think that I really should revive the idea a friend of mine had of a book and film club (i.e. where we read the book and then watch the film adaptation together). I’m quite excited about that now!

Books read

The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter (review here)

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (review here)

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

On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Short stories read

“The crime of our life” by Roger Angell (New Yorker, June 10 & 17, 2013)

“Pedigree” by Walter Kirn (New Yorker, June 10 & 17, 2013)

“After Black Rock” by Joyce Carol Oates (New Yorker, June 10 & 17, 2013)

“Customer service at the Karaoke Don Quixote” by Juan Martinez (Selected Shorts podcast)

“Ziggurat” by Stephen O’Connor (Selected Shorts podcast)

“The tribal rite of the Strombergs” by Simon Rich (New Yorker, Aug 26, 2013)

“But the order of lives is apparent” by Sarah Manguso (Unfamiliar, Jan 15, 2005)

“The Soviet room” by Kenneth Koch (Unfamiliar, Jan 15, 2005)

“Women and men” by Judy Budnitz (Unfamiliar, Jan 15, 2005)

“The white room” by Michael Hitchins (Popshot Magazine, issue 9, 2013)

“Schrödinger’s wine” by Armel Dagorn (Popshot Magazine, issue 9, 2013)

“Getting away from it all” by Jess Little (Popshot Magazine, issue 9, 2013)

How was your reading month?

Wow, September disappeared fast. Work was super busy and then Tim and I finally went on the holiday we’ve been looking forward to for months. Sicily is amazing. I am sure I will blog about it again when I’ve had more time to sort through the photos but for now I’ll share that it was beautiful with great weather and great food and we had plenty of time to relax and read.

This was also the month I got a Kindle and I took the radical step of taking just the Kindle on holiday with me – no physical books adding weight to the suitcase! It was a little weird for me but worked out completely fine. It’s actually quite a nice reading experience. It’s just a shame that I can’t buy books for it from my local bookshop. (Although that might change in future. I understand a number of US bookshops now sell ebooks. I’m not quite sure how it works but I hope it spreads.)

Thanks to the holiday I am very chilled but also very behind on my reviews. I will catch up on them soon. In fact, I’m scribbling some notes on my holiday reads right now!

Books

The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene (review here)

Any Other Name by Emma Newman

Saga vol. 2 by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples

May We Be Forgiven by A M Homes

Over the Front in an Aeroplane by Ralph Pulitzer (review here)

The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

Short stories

“In dreams begin responsibilities” by Delmore Schwartz (Selected Shorts podcast)

“The lover of horses” by Tess Gallagher (Selected Shorts podcast)

“Down to a sunless sea” by Neil Gaiman (Guardian Books podcast)

“Everyone’s reading ‘Bastard'” by Nick Hornby (Kindle Short)

“Dr Pretorius and the lost temple” by Paul McAuley (borrowed from Tim)

“The bone cemetery” by Paul McAuley (borrowed from Tim)

“Happy trails” by Sherman Alexie (New Yorker, June 10 & 17, 2013)

“Scenes of the crime” by Cormac McCarthy (New Yorker, June 10 & 17, 2013)

“Brotherly love” by Jhumpa Lahiri (New Yorker, June 10 & 17, 2013)

“The ripper” by David Peace (New Yorker, June 10 & 17, 2013)

So how was your September? Get up to anything fun? Read anything good?

Is it this time again already? The month started so well, with our lovely lovely holiday in Cornwall where I did a whole lotta reading. But since then I have finished just one more book. One. In two and a half weeks. It’s like I overindulged on holiday and needed to lay off for a while! And I’ve not got through many short stories either because I usually listen to them at the gym and, well, I’ve not been to the gym a whole lot this month. Truly, I am disappointed with myself. I’ve also been a bit rubbish at posting reviews.

Clearly I need to buck up for August. My stack of books for next month’s reading is pretty big already, but on the plus side I’m looking forward to every single one. (And I’m already partway through two of them, which may help my goals a tiny bit.)

Books read

The Wine of Solitude by Irène Némirovsky (review here)

Mrs de Winter by Susan Hill (review here)

Ashes by Sergios Gakas (review here)

Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman (review to follow)

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (review to follow)

Short stories read

“The children’s grandmother” by Sylvia Townsend Warner (New Yorker fiction podcast)

“Cryptology” by Leonard Michaels (New Yorker fiction podcast)

“Special delivery” by Emma Newman (read by the author here)

“A fair exchange” by Emma Newman (read by the author here)

“The quiet librarian by Emma Newman (available online here)

“Wilderness” by Sarah Hall (online here)

This has been a pretty good month, reading-wise. I’ve got through more books and short stories than previous months, but I’ve also squeezed in some other book-related stuff. I went to see Neil Gaiman talking about his new book, which was pretty awesome. I went to see the new Joss Whedon film of Much Ado About Nothing, which is completely amazing (in fact, I can’t wait for it to come out on DVD so I can watch it all the time). And I took part in the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop, which is always fun.

I’ve also found some time to enjoy the summer so far, including having a whale of a time with Tim flying our new kite yesterday, although I did manage to sunburn for the first time in several years, which I am enjoying a lot less.

Books read
A Tiny Bit Marvellous by Dawn French

Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell (review here)

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (review here)

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (review here)

Selected Stories by Saadat Hasan Manto (review here)

31 Songs by Nick Hornby (review here)

The Victorian Chaise-longue by Marghanita Laski

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

Short stories read
“The gray goose” by Jonathan Lethem (in the New Yorker, May 6, 2013)

“Axis” by Alice Munro (New Yorker fiction podcast)

“Eveline” by James Joyce (Guardian books podcast)

“On exactitude in science” by Jorge Luis Borges (Guardian books podcast)

“The story of my dovecote” by Isaac Babel (Guardian books podcast)

“Summer of ’38” by Colm Tóibín (in the New Yorker, March 4, 2013)

“Unwelcome reminders” by Emma Newman (available online here)

“The drinking problem” by Emma Newman (available online here)

“The first time” by Emma Newman (available online here)

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

“The unburdened heart” by Emma Newman (available online here)

“Made-up” by Emma Newman (read by the author here)

“Sea story” by A S Byatt (available online here)

“The swimming pool” by Jekwu Anyaegbuna (available online here)

“The River of Lost Souls” by Isabel Greenberg (available online here)