Sunday 16 January 2011

The Sunday Salon

At the moment I'm participating in two read-a-longs both of which have Sunday reading goals, so my Sunday's have changed and are no longer wallowing in laziness with one novel but trying to have read the right amount of pages and make some type of constructive comment.
This morning - after marking and housework - I finished off the section of War and Peace I needed to get read and later on I'll be reading the next 3 chapters of Bleak House.
I'm enjoying both books, and really enjoy the discussion that entails - especially in the War and Peace group as people pick up on funny things (Tolstoy's obssession with female lip hair!) but also discuss the historical and social context.
Do you participte in read-a-longs? Know of any good read-a-longs coming up?

I'm not a New Years Resolution kinda girl, mainly because I'm always setting myself resolutions throughout the year, and secondly because January is a bad time of year for starting stuff - the weather is rubbish, and I don't want to eat healthy/excercise/learn new things - I just want to hibernate.
However I did set myself a goal of 15 books that I wanted off my TBR mountain before the end of 2011. 10 fiction and 5 non-fiction.
Fiction:
1. Court on the Air (a book I requested through bookcrossing ages ago and still haven't read).
2. Tender is the Night
3. The Sound and the Fury
4. Arthur and George
5. The Tapestries
6. Les Miserables (All five have been on mount tbr for over 3 years)
7. Tsotsi (the kids study it at school yet I still haven't read it).
8. David Copperfield (a non-reading ex read this while travelling and made me promise to read it asap - that was a year ago)
9. Jude the Obscure
10. Don Quixote (both books I feel as a lit graduate I should have read, and both have lingered for 3+ years on the pile).

Non-fiction:
1. Wild Swans (a bookcrossing book I've had since 20070
2. Wall and Piece (I love Banksy and should do more than just look at the pretty pictures)
3. An Age of Wonder (brought not this christmas but the one before, it looks good, so should have been read ages ago).
4. A Human Being Died That Night (I loved Eva's review and keep saying I should read more non-fitcion, plus it's real skinny).
5. The Shory History of Nearly Everything (because my knowledge of pretty much everything is teeny or non-existant, and the only way I'm going to understand the Big Bang Theory - plus others - is if Bill Bryson explains it nice and simple).

Hopefully in the next year these will be ticked off the pile, reviewed and some sent to other readers.

6 comments:

raidergirl3 said...

Good Sunday Morning!
I've been wanting to read Wild Swans for about as long as you. Someday.

I love that you want to read A Short History of Nearly Everything so you can understand Big Bang Theory. Excellent book, and great show. We've only just discovered the show, so have lots of new episodes to watch. I teach physics, so I love all the physics jokes.

serendipity_viv said...

War and Peace so early in the day! I should really set a certain amount of books to be read in my pile. Good luck.

katrina said...

I've seen a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory, its great but I don't have satelite tv so can only watch it on dvd, one day I'll get the box set.

Yeah, War and Peace while I'm awake and my hands are strong enough to hold it! Actually the translation I was told to get is a fairly easy read - certainly easier than I thought it would be.

Anonymous said...

I have Arthur and George on my pile. Tender is the night looks to be one of Fritzgerald's best. Wild Swans is good too.

You got some great read there. I still can't get into my head how anyone could finish War and Peace. I suppose only the super patient and persevered ones do! :D

audreygeddes said...

A Human Being Died That Night looks very interesting. This is such a good list - thank you for sharing :}. You might also enjoy a new non-fiction read out called, 40+ and Fabulous: Moving Forward Fierce, Focused, and Full of Life! by Sondra Wright. What I enjoyed the most about this book is that the author includes memoirs of women who write about their own mid-life along with perspectives from men. The role models she chooses are positive and really boost your confidence about aging.

katrina said...

thanks for the recommendation. Hitting 30 a few weeks back was scary enough as it was, 40 makes me shudder, just can't imagine I could ever be that grown up!