-
November Reading Challenge: An Introduction
Hello friends, and hello November! I am just getting home from a trip to the library, and I snatched up some discounted Halloween candy along the way so I’m feeling excited to catch you up with some things including what I’m reading this month. I didn’t do an “official” Reading Challenge for October, because by the time my Summer Reading Challenge was over, I had started a new job! Well, another job. I am now a Freelance Proofreader, which excites me so much I could type those two words a thousand times. But I won’t, because, monotony. Anyway, I have been getting myself into the groove of getting home from my…
-
The Book of Life – A Recap
I have completed Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy. I haven’t completed – and enjoyed – a series like this since…I can’t remember. Although I didn’t finish the third installment, The Book of Life, in time to discuss it within the bounds of my Summer Reading Challenge, I need to get my thoughts out about the conclusion to the trilogy, thus the odd (to me) title of this post. Here we go.
-
Summer Reading Challenge Wrap-Up
Happy first day of fall! Although my favorite month started 22 days ago, my favorite season officially starts now. Comfortable weather, pumpkins and apple picking, and a busy book publishing season coinciding with my need to maximize comfort as I get cozy under a warm blanket sans air conditioner are all things I look forward to. But first… My Summer Reading Challenge is officially over. Once again, I was a little too ambitious, and sometimes distracted and/or lazy, to complete all of the titles I wanted to. Here is a summary:
-
Summer Reading Challenge 2016: Shadow of Night
I finished this book in one day. Sure, I had started the first couple of chapters at a different time but the rest was done on a recent dreary day when I could think of nothing else but finding out how Matthew and Diana would survive Europe in 1590. Because of course they survive; there is a third book to read after all!
-
Summer Reading Challenge 2016: The Home Stretch
Well it’s that time of year again when readers across the land scramble to finish their summer reading lists, prepare for new fall reads and holiday book hauls, and maybe get caught up with real-life people. I have done quite a bit of the latter, am not even thinking about the second, but am a strong participant in the first. My Summer Reading Challenge ends not with August, but with the autumnal equinox on September 22nd. With that in mind, here’s a recap of what I have completed, and the titles that still reside on my To Be Read list.
-
Summer Reading Challenge 2016: Disgrace
I’m not going to think about how close the end of summer is; instead, let’s talk about Disgrace. J.M. Coetzee wastes no time in launching us into the life of fifty-two year old David Lurie in Disgrace. Lurie is divorced, currently on his way to visit an escort named Soraya, and has “to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well.” I am hung up on this sentence because although Lurie is confident and sure of the actions of sex, he is almost clueless when it comes to the consequences and implications of those actions. If you haven’t already guessed, sex is a big driver of this novel, although place, society, and prose play large…