Reading

End of year reading

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At the end of every year, I find myself with a reading conundrum. I want to end the year with an amazing book. I scour the shelves, my library options, and, yes, sometimes bookstores. In the end, I usually re-read a book. Why? I think it has to do with comfort.

I might want to end the year with an outstanding book but there’s a lot of pressure to find the right one. Will I be disappointed? Does it say something about my reading choices, or even more worrisome, about me as a reader, if I don’t pick the right book? It’s too much pressure to put on a single book and on myself as a reader. I’m not going to even entertain thoughts about what the ‘right’ book would be…

So, I find a book on my shelf that I know. A book I have a relationship with. A book I love. This year, it’s Wuthering Heights. Yes, I’m ending my year with a morose book but somehow that dark, somber read seems appropriate to say goodbye to 2018. There are no regrets about this choice.

I can’t wait to see what 2019 will hold on the book front and to see what stories make it onto my shelf, into my library queue, and what books I write about.

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2019 full of wonderful stories, great moments, and smiles. And of course, books!

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Reading, again

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This year has been difficult, and by difficult, I mean it has sucked and promises to continue sucking for a very long time. Because I’m not looking to vent about anything that’s happened, or am I looking for pity, (or feeling the need to answer personal questions), let’s just accept that’s where things are right now and move on. OK? Thanks. (I knew I could count on you.)

With life being so uncooperative, my reading suddenly became non-existent. I’m saw words but I wasn’t really reading. I took some time off. I re-grouped. I stared at my bookshelves. I pondered. I scrolled the books on the Nook. I’d start a book. I’d put the book down. It became a pattern. I’m a reader? Why can’t I read?

*sigh*

Eventually, words made sense again. The stories started to take on a soothing quality. I was no longer stressing over reading. I read slow. I savored. I went to my comfort reads: fantasy and Arthurian legend. I discovered a new series. I’m now reading all those graphic novels on my shelf.

I’ve started to acquire books again. I’m looking forward to new releases by a few favorite authors.

In the next days and weeks, I might even feel like talking about books again.

Random Things

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I didn’t really have any intention of posting today, but since I was scheduling a post for tomorrow, I thought I’d at least let you know what I’m reading.

The Book of Apex: Volume 4 edited by Lynne M. Thomas

Black Bottle by Anthony Huso

Both are insanely good and I’m having trouble sticking with one and keep going back and forth which means reading is taking forever, but it’s so enjoyable.

Tell me, what are you reading today?

The Book of Apex Volume 4

Black Bottle

Reading on the train

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I’ve been traveling a lot lately and yesterday was no different. I decide that to make my life easier, I’d take the train to a meeting in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, a winter storm made east coast travel difficult so I spent the afternoon waiting in line but ultimately got on the coveted train. It was crowded but I found an open seat, right next to a person who was reading a very big book. It was a pleasant ride to Philadelphia, snow and all.

Defying all logic, I decided to see if I could hop an early train home instead of spending the night, as a rational person would. Obviously, I enjoy unpleasant travel situations. Once more, I found a seat next to a reader. He was reading on a tablet, but hey, he was reading.

You may notice a pattern — yes, I actively search for people reading when looking for a seat on the train. I find they make better company. No offense to anyone but I’m not one for small talk in tight spaces.

On the final leg of the trip from Baltimore to DC, the conductor in my car smiled at me and said, “You see a lot of people reading, but not real books anymore. It’s all those fancy ebooks now.”

I smiled back and said, “I have a soft spot for the paper kind.”

“Nothing beats the feel of a real book in your hands,” she said.

We nodded and smiled. She was so right.

My book of choice was Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield. I’m enjoying it. It’s very different from The Thirteenth Tale, which I loved, but I’m remembering what a great storyteller she is with this one.

I’m also slowly making my way through Doctor Who: The Essential Guide which was a great birthday gift.

Now that my class is over, I’m planning to start dwindling the TBR and writing some reviews. Yes, I have lots to write about.

Quiet on the reading front

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The last week’s been busy, and while much was started, nothing was accomplished. This includes a few blog posts as well…

I started an online course on historical fiction this week and somehow managed to not finish reading one thing even though the reading was interesting. A few articles and chapters here and there were perused but nothing was finished. I find this so frustrating. The good thing is that the required books for the course look very interesting so I’m looking forward to starting those.

One thing that I know is going to get me out of this funk is The Republic of Thieves Read Along.  If you’re not familiar with Scott Lynch go now and read The Lies of Locke Lamora and then Red Seas Under Red Skies. Once you finish those two books, The Republic of Thieves will be waiting for you. I have this book queued up and plan to start it later today, damn that class reading. (Actually, I plan to finish that reading too; that’s the kind of rebel I am.)

Reviews have been sorta non-existent for a bit here but I do have one to share — This House of Haunted by John Boyne. My review is over at The BookReporter. It’s a good ghost story for October (hint, hint).

I’ve been doing this yoga challenge that requires me to get myself out of bed for a 7am class several times a week. I’m not (NOT) a morning person but I have been very relaxed of late which is maybe why my lack of reading focus isn’t bothering me so much. It’ll be interesting to see how November turns out with all the traveling we have planned. The good thing about those cross country flights is that they provide several hours of uninterrupted reading time. Looks like I’ll have time to catch up on a few things, next month.

Now, I have to go buy a pumpkin.

Break

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It’s that time of year when I feel the need to take a break. And let’s face it, not much has been going on around here.

So, I’m going to continue reading without pressure and be back in a few weeks with some new ideas.

Here’s where I’ll be reading and contemplating.

Enjoy August, my fellow readers.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

The Sunday Salon – Time (Someone loan me a time turner, please.)

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TSSbadge1How much time do I spend on content creation? Andrea at the Little Red Reviewer had an interesting post about this very topic and here’s my answer — not much as I’m posting barely once a week which got me wondering as to whether or not I want or should continue since I’m not actually offering much in terms of book reviews or news. I’ve seen this from a number of bloggers lately so I know I’m not alone but I don’t want to get caught up in that thought because even though I may not be sitting and creating, I’m constantly thinking about topics to write about. In fact, I have a whole list of topics in a file that I just keep adding to. Of course, I’m not writing but that’s another story.

Life got complicated a few months back and while things are better, there are still other things that occupy my time and thoughts. I’ve even been reading less. Shocking but in a way it’s a good thing because I’m also doing other things that I’ve been wanting to do and I feel very good about. Hello, yoga! 🙂 There’s a trade off to everything. For me, it’s about the time. Time to read books, time to write down thoughts, time to edit, and time to post. I also want to find time to write about things other than blog stuff. Writing is something I enjoy and I keep saying I’m going to find time to do it but I’ve yet to get there. I need to do that which means that the blog may need to take a little hiatus for me to get things in order. I’d be okay with that actually but I don’t really want to do that either which means I need to find a better system. (This is when I get envious of all the people out there who seem to be able to wring every usable second out of a day. Obviously, I’m not one of those people. If you are, I envy you. Know that.)

So this question of Andrea’s has me thinking about all things now and not just the blog. Although, I have been thinking about the blog lately and how I need to get things done. It also got me thinking about how I haven’t seen the last few episodes of Doctor Who. I know the tragedy! I don’t even watch that much TV and I can’t seem to find the time to watch a show I enjoy. What is it I’m doing then? How the hell should I know?! Okay, I should know the answer to that and it’s been bothering me because I highly suspect I’ve been doing nothing. We spent two weekends in a row traveling and I had a work conference that sucked hours and the life out of me. I’ve been doing some reading and reviewing for another website too. I know, I’m cheating on myself. I started writing for this site long before I started my own blog; it was one of the reasons I started my blog actually. I agreed to do a few reviews that were out of the regular pattern for me and it reminded me how much I still like reviewing.

Back to the topic that started this whole string of random thoughts, how much time. I don’t really know but I think the next few weeks are going to be a little experiment to find out and see how organized I can be. I warn you, this probably won’t last long.