Reading My Way Around the World

Sunday 31 January 2016

Reading challenges

Booking tours, doing arrangements and planning and sending out publicity materials can be very intense - usually I end up stressed to the nines.   But with renewed determination to not get stressed by day to day stuff this year, I've buried my nose in a book instead - 4 of them this month so far ... details at the bottom.

Several people had been writing about reading challenges so I had a wee look around and spotted this post from the  Storyteller Matters blog... with a link to several challenges.  This one from Modern Mrs Darcy looks do-able.


  • There's several on this list that I have been meaning to get around to ... a book that I own and have never read - phew - that's probably half of those on my shelves.
  • A book I previously abandandoned - see above.  Someone pointed out to me once that if you read a book a month that's only around 500 books for a lifetime -Good point - So why finish something that you don't like when you could be really enjoying some new author.   A case in point is J.K. Rowling's A Casual Vacancy - I could not get into that at all.   One to be relegated to the book Corner.  But there are more that might be worth another visit.  

Apart from the book you can finish in a day which will be a challenge, the others look great.   Have you got any suggestions for that?


So far this year I've read A Man Called Ove which is simply wonderful - funny, uplifting and a real page turner - easily 5*

And Paris Letters which I wrote about here ... another 5* from me

And still continuing my binge of John Grisham novels, just finished The Testament - brilliant.

And lastly The Savage Garden by Mark Mills which was not a bad read - a good thriller.

Goodness knows when I'll have another month of binge reading like that but it was great to escape for a while.

What now!!  Maybe a book I abandoned.

What are you reading at the minute?
Any recommendations?


6 comments:

  1. How about trying a book by Shaun Tan for that one- he does amazing picture books that give you SO much to think about- amazing illustrations and thoughts behind it!!x
    I like this challenge!

    xx

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    1. I must check that out Kezzie - thanks for the suggestions. I"m trying the one from before I was born at the minute.

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  2. Right now I'm reading a bio about Princess Louise (Queen Victoria's daughter) written by the great granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Pretty good stuff, especially since the high muckety-mucks that run the National Archives have deemed most of her personal papers, etc. off limits to the masses.

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    1. Oh that sounds really interesting GB... I must check it out. I hope you're feeling better.

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  3. Hi Fil - I've lots and lots of books that have not been read ... one I saw in the stone restoration office at Canterbury Cathedral was Atul Gawande's "Being Mortal" - really interested me - just been given it.

    Boris Johnston's London .. I did enjoy - 12 chapters of fascinating history ..

    Louis L'Amour's "The Walking Drum" - as described a breathtaking historical adventure - certainly was ...

    Cheers and well done on reading so much - good luck with all the preparations for your tour and folk evenings .. Australia will be wonderful .. Cheers Hilary

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    1. Thanks Hilary - I"m dosed with the cold at the minute but looking forward...
      Boris Johnston's London would be an interesting read ... no matter what we think of politicians, they do come from very interesting and interested backgrounds, don't they?

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