Angelology – Danielle Trussoni

The Rehearsal – Eleanor Catton

Good to a Fault – Marina Endicott

The City & The City – China Mieville

The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner

A Life Apart – Neel Murkherjee

I Do Not Come to You by Chance – Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

The Temple-goers – Aatish Taseer

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie – Alan Bradley

The Long Song – Andrea Levy

Even the Dogs – Jon McGregor

Our Tragic Universe – Scarlett Thomas

Which books from my list should I ensure I read?

Do you plan to read any of the same ones?

I hope you have a fantastic April!

I finished 11 books in February. The quality was surprisingly evenly distributed, with a range of fantastic books and a few I didn’t enjoy at all.

If you get the chance then I highly recommend you read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and Rupture by Simon Lelic they are both fantastic!

 

Books reviewed in February

Cutting for Stone – Abraham Verghese 

Rupture – Simon Lelic 

Disgrace – J.M. Coetzee 

The Harlot’s Progress: Yorkshire Molly – Peter Mottley 

Ruby’s Spoon – Anna Lawrence Pietroni 

Brixton Beach – Roma Tearne 

Blacklands – Belinda Bauer 

After the Fire, A Still Small Voice – Evie Wyld 

The Girl with Glass Feet – Ali Shaw 

The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger 

Dangerous Liaisons – Choderlos de Laclos 

Plans for March

I got a bit distracted by the TV Book Club in February, so didn’t manage to read many of the books I planned to at the beginning of the month. Most of my plans are identical to last month – sorry to all those who are waiting for me to read things from this list, I really do hope to get to them soon! 

Small Island – Andrea Levy

The Little Friend – Donna Tartt

The Woman in the Dunes – Kobo Abe

My Father’s Paradise – Ariel Sabar

The Native Hurricane – Chigozie John Obioma

The Hiding Place – Trezza Azzopardi

The Love We Share Without Knowing – Christopher Barzak

I’m going to finish reading:

Bonk: The Curious Coupling Of Sex and Science – Mary Roach

July’s People – Nadine Gordimer

The Blasphemer – Nigel Farndale

I am also hoping to read some of these: 

So Much for That – Lionel Shriver

Pocket Notebook – Mike Thomas

Marcelo in the Real World – Francisco Stork

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim – David Sedaris

The Solitude of Prime Numbers – Paolo Giordano

My Driver – Maggie Gee

Have you enjoyed any of the books I plan to read in March?

January was quite a poor reading month for me, in terms of both quality and quantity. I read 8 books and left a further two unfinished (one is a book I’ve not yet reviewed yet – I’ll leave you to guess which it is!)

The stand-out book was Uglies, something I would never have guessed had you asked me which one I’d enjoy most at the beginning of the month.

Uglies – Scott Westerfeld

Blink – Malcolm Gladwell 

Sacred Hearts – Sarah Dunant 

The Boat to Redemption – Su Tong 

The Infinities – John Banville 

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami 

To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf 

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: v. 1 – M.T. Anderson 

The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery 

The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton 

Twilight – Stephenie Meyer (Book and Film)   (DNF)

Plans for February

I am going to finish Cutting for Stone and Ruby’s Spoon, both of which are fantastic so far.

I failed to read these books that I highlighted in January, so they have been added to the list again:

Small Island – Andrea Levy

The Little Friend – Donna Tartt

Buddha Da – Anne Donovan

The Woman in the Dunes – Kobo Abe

I also hope to read some of these books:

When I Was Five I Killed Myself – Howard Buten

Blacklands – Belinda Bauer

The Catcher in the Rye – J. D. Salinger

My Father’s Paradise – Ariel Sabar

The Native Hurricane – Chigozie John Obioma

Disgrace – J.M. Coetzee

The Hiding Place – Trezza Azzopardi

Red Dog, Red Dog – Patrick Lane

The Love We Share Without Knowing – Christopher Barzak

Most of them are quite short, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to manage the majority of the list.

Have you read any of the books that I plan to read in February?

I read 14 books in December giving a total of 144 for the year. I’m quite impressed with that and hope I can read a similar number in 2010.

I was lucky to read two outstanding books in December – Flowers for Algernon and Generation A both managed to gain my highest rating and I hope that you decide to read them, as I’m sure you’ll love them!

Overall the quality of the books I read in December was very high. I’m wondering if I’m noticing a gradual improvement due to book blogger recommendations?

 

Generation A – Douglas Coupland 

Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes 

Fall on Your Knees – Ann-Marie MacDonald 

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) – George Orwell  

The Mosquito Coast – Paul Theroux  

Right to Die – Hazel McHaffie  

Snow – Orhan Pamuk  

Tender Morsels – Margo Lanagan 

The Inner Circle – T.C. Boyle 

A Redbird Christmas – Fannie Flagg  

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Steig Larsson  

Something’s Wrong – Sam Smith  

Grotesque – Natsuo Kirino 

An Equal Stillness – Francesca Kay 

Plans for January

It is Orange January!

I plan to read a few Orange books this month:

Small Island – Andrea Levy 

The Little Friend – Donna Tartt

Buddha Da – Anne Donovan

I’m also taking part in Woolf in Winter:  

 To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf (29th January)

I hope to read a few of these other books too:

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: v. 1 – M.T. Anderson

Uglies – Scott Westerfield

The Harlot’s Progress: Pt. 1: Yorkshire Molly – Peter Mottley

The Boat to Redemption – Su Tong

Rupture – Simon Lelic

The Woman in the Dunes – Kobo Abe

The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery

Have you read any of the books that I plan to read in January?

Which one do think I’ll enjoy the most?

I read 12 books in November, but unfortunately I enjoyed this month’s selection less than previous ones. My favourite was The Help byKathryn Stockett, which made it onto my list of  The Best Books of 2009.

My favourite this month

Books reviewed during November

The Help – Kathryn Stockett

Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami 

The Nutmeg Tree – Margery Sharp 

Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi (Book and Film) 

Equator – Miguel Sousa Tavares 

Perdido Street Station – China Miéville 

Stalking Richard & Judy – Valentine Honeyman 

The Turn of the Screw – Henry James 

Indignation – Philip Roth 

The Brutal Telling – Louise Penny 

Outlander (Cross Stitch) – Diana Gabaldon 

The Blind Owl – Sadegh Hedayat 

The Magicians – Lev Grossman  (DNF)

Plans for December

I have several books lined up to read in December.

Here are the ones I hope to finish next month: 

• The Mosquito Coast – Paul Theroux
• The Woman in the Dunes – Kobo Abe 
• An Equal Stillness – Francesca Kay
• Grotesque – Natsuo Kirino
• Tender Morsels – Margo Lanagan
• A Redbird Christmas – Fannie Flagg
• Something’s Wrong – Sam Smith
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
• Snow – Orhan Pamuk
• Right to Die – Hazel McHaffie

Have you read any of the books I plan to read?

I hope that you had a great November and I look forward to sharing more book discussions with you in December!

It has been a long time since I last posted a set of links, so I apologise that some of them are a bit old, but if you haven’t seen them then they are still worth looking at!

Scribbit has a great post about how blogging has changed over the years.

The Wonder of Whiffling takes an interesting look at words in the English language. I’d love to read the book, but the website has a few quotes to keep me going until I get a copy! 

I love looking at bookshelves, so enjoyed having a glimpse at Neil Gaiman’s bookshelves.

There is a lot of wisdom for both new and old bloggers in this 50 Blogging Lessons To Know If You’re Starting Today post.

Toast It Notes – Are they madness or genius?

I found this free tool for checking the load speed of your blog. I discovered that mine loads really slowly, so am working on that! It highlights exactly which parts of your blog are causing the problems, so it is a very useful tool.

Books I’ve been persuaded to buy

 

Between Mom and Jo, by Julie Anne Peters recommended by Amanda from Zen Leaf.

I only discovered Amanda’s blog during BBAW. This was the first book review I read on her blog. I knew that she would become a favourite when her first post persuaded me to part with my money. She describes it as “the best book about GLBT issues I’ve ever read.” I love the fact she describes it as being emotional and stereotype-breaking. I hope that I enjoy it as much as she did.

City of Refuge by Tom Piazza recommended by Wendy from Caribous Mom

City of Refuge looks at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Wendy says that it  “leaves the reader with hope and a glimpse into the enduring spirit of a community.” She gave it 5 stars and as we have a similar taste in books anything she likes has a strong chance of ending up in my TBR pile. This one went straight onto the list!

The Monk by Matthew Lewis recommended by She from A Book Blog. Period.

I was very intrigued when She described The Monk as an “18th century version of a screwed up soap opera. No… Jerry Springer.” I hadn’t heard of it before, but I hope to read it very soon.

Did any of these books attract your attention too?