Just a quick post today…the weather has been sweltering here recently which I’m not thrilled about, but I guess it’s working out for my tomato plants…
Visit West Metro Mommy for more Saturday Snapshots. I hope you’re enjoying the holiday weekend!
Category: Ruminations
What Are You Reading?
It’s been a couple of weeks since my last What Are You Reading post, so it looks like time to check in again…
My last post mentioned the pile of series -books I was planning to read, and which I am happy to say I finished up this week. Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card means finishing the Ender Quartet, The Garden Intrigue by Lauren Willig got me up to date on the Pink Carnation series, and after finishing Seer of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier, I just have one book left in the Sevenwaters series too. Progress!
Coming up next, I decided to read a couple of very light books, after all the denser ones I’ve been reading lately (meaning: Tolkien). I decided to do a reread of a fun time travel book, The Secret of the Ruby Ring by Yvonne MacGrory, and The Ogre Downstairs by Diana Wynne Jones is one I’ve somehow never got around to (despite loving her books!)
Not at all on the lighter side, I also have Eccentricity and the Cultural Imagination in 19th Century Paris by Miranda Gill, and Nights in the Big City: Paris, London, Berlin, 1840-1930 by Joachim Schlor. Both are research for my next novel, a retelling of The Phantom of the Opera. Seeing as I’m writing about a masked man who lives under an Opera House in 1880s Paris, it is a source of wonder to me that there’s actually a book about the cultural attitude towards eccentricity, in that city, at that time. I have no idea yet if it will actually have anything useful, but I’m fascinated by the prospect!
And the last big thick book, somehow strangely on the lighter side, is a book of letters between Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine. I started reading it a few years ago and absolutely loved it (who knew Winston Churchill could be cute and romantic and adorable?) but somehow got sidetracked and never finished. So I’m resolved to pick that up again too.
So much for my plans! What are you reading this week?
2013 Reading Challenges – Halfway Mark
The end of June marks the midpoint of the year, which of course means it’s time for an update on reading challenges…
All links go to reviews, and if you’re curious about any unreviewed books, just ask!
In my efforts to overcome my fear of long books, I’m trying to read some of the intimidating ones I’ve been putting off…
1) Walden by Henry David Thoreau (audio)
2) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (reviews Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3)
3) The House on Durrow Street by Galen Beckett
4) The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
5) The Master of Heathcrest Hall by Galen Beckett
My goal was one chunkster a month, which went slightly awry when it turned out that The Two Towers and Return of the King are not as long as I always thought! But since the real goal was to finally read intimidating books, I’m calling that good anyway…
I’ve been trying since last year to finish the many series I was midway through, and I’m making some good progress…
1) The Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig
Total books: 9 (to date)
When I began the series: February, 2011
Read prior to 2013: 7
Read in 2013: The Orchid Affair, The Garden Intrigue
Status: Up to date, until the next one comes out in August
2) Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card
Total books: 4
When I began the series: February, 2012
Read prior to 2013: 1
Read in 2013: Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind
Status: Complete–kind of!
So this is funny–it’s complicated counting how many books are in the Ender series, because there’s a second, connected series, and a few scattered items that fit in as well. I’ve decided to reduce my focus (for now at least) to just the original Ender quartet. I may eventually come back and read the other six or eight related books…
3) The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
Total books: 2 (to date)
When I began the series: June, 2012
Read prior to 2013: 1
Read in 2013: Scarlet
Status: Up to date!
4) Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier
Total books: 6
When I began the series: June, 2010
Read prior to 2013: 3
Read in 2013: Heir to Sevenwaters, Seer of Sevenwaters
Still to read: 1
5) The Mrs. Quent Trilogy by Galen Beckett
Total books: 3
When I began the series: September, 2012
Read prior to 2013: 1
Read in 2013: The House on Durrow Street, The Master of Heathcrest Hall
Status: Complete!
Revisiting Old Friends
I’ve also been resolving to reread some beloved books, and since many of them are fantasy, I made good progress during Once Upon a Time. Revisited favorites include:
1) Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat by L. M. Montgomery
2) A Voice from the Border by Pamela Smith Hill
3) Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
4) Star Trek: Federation by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
5) Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
6) Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
7) Chalice by Robin McKinley
8) The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
9) The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
10) The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
11) Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier
12) The Princess Bride by William Goldman
13) The Crystal Gryphon by Andre Norton
14) Gryphon in Glory by Andre Norton
The plan this year was to be relatively low-key with the challenges, mostly to open up some space for all those big thick intimidating books. Which has worked, since, after all, I read Lord of the Rings! But long books have rather thoroughly occupied my reading focus recently, so I’m planning on an increasingly low-key summer to do a little more random reading…at least in theory. I’ll have another update at the end of September!
Saturday Snapshot: New Shelves
Last week I shared about my haul from my library’s warehouse sale. Well, I went to the sale on Saturday…then went out to buy new bookcases on Sunday! I had been getting cramped on my shelves for a while, and I think the new O. Henry books marked something of a tipping point.
There’s not much space in the apartment at large, but I managed to fit in a couple more small bookcases. As I rearranged my books, I decided to give a bookcase to my L. M. Montgomery collection…
That top shelf may look disorganized…but the books are actually arranged in the order in which LMM wrote them. I tried organizing them that way when I moved to this book case, and I still haven’t quite decided if I like it. I may freak out at some point and put them back in series order!
Here’s the larger context of where I put the bookcase. This is my favorite painting by William Bouguereau, a French Academic painter. Just a poster, alas. (Here’s a better view, without the weird reflections.) There’s no actual connection to LMM, but I feel like they fit together thematically…
Have a great Saturday! Visit West Metro Mommy for more Saturday Snapshots.
…and They All Lived Happily Ever After
Summer is starting, meaning all sorts of things, but also marking the end of the Once Upon a Time “challenge” for another year. As always, I had loads of fun reading fantasy, and seeing what everyone else read. I’m feeling particularly happy, because I managed to complete some long-standing goals…
Here’s a round-up of my reading and viewing for the season. (R) designates a reread (not a rating!), and links go to reviews.
- Chalice by Robin McKinley (R)
- Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George (R)
- Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George
- The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (R)
- The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
- The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien
- The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies, directed by Peter Jackson
- Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
- The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl (audio)
- The House on Durrow Street by Galen Beckett
- The Master of Heathcrest Hall by Galen Beckett
- Stardust by Neil Gaiman (R) – read-along Part One and Part Two
- Stardust movie
- A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
- The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine (R)
- The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (R)
- The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (R)
- Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier
- Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier (R)
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman (R)
- The Crystal Gryphon by Andre Norton (R)
- Gryphon in Glory by Andre Norton (R)
Total: 21 books, half reread and half new-to-me. Since one of my goals for the year is to reread favorites, I’m calling that a win. The big accomplishment, of course, was reading Lord of the Rings for the first time, and I’m very happy I got the extra push to finally do that! Thank you to everyone who was so encouraging, and for all your great discussion as I read. 🙂
I had sort of hoped to make some progress on my fantasy-heavy TBR list and…well, that didn’t happen at all. And instead I added to it, by looking at the great things other people were reading. Ah well…what’s the summer for, after all?
Thank you everyone who came along for the quest! And do stick around–the reading won’t be ending here!
Tales of the Marvelous 
