March Roundup

We have already left last month behind by quite a few days, although the weather here in the UK does not show any signs of warming up yet. The bitter cold has meant staying by the fire still, sometimes with a good book. Here is how my reading life took shape during the month of March...

Read - one and a half books
Completed - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Currently Reading -
Eve Green by Susan Fletcher
Literary Genius edited by Joseph Epstein
Adventures of a Waterboy by Mike Scott
The Natural Navigator by Tristan Gooley
The Last Elf by Silvana De Mari
TBR Pile - no novels added so it is currently at 127 (according to goodreads), but I did get a copy of The Kitchen Diaries II by Nigel Slater, a lovely book that can be used for inspiration in your own kitchen or as a bedside book to dip into.
Challenges - I finished The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, which was part of #5 of my challenges to myself this year, to read 1 or 2 titles that came from our literary holidays. This one was my lucky dip prize from our Jane Austen holiday in Hampshire (2010) and a recommendation from that trip.
Also I am reading Eve Green by Susan Fletcher which won the 2004 Whitbread Novel of the year, to comply with #8 of my own challenges to read a prizewinner.
Wishlist Additions -
Pure by Andrew Miller
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Harvest by Jim Crace
The Stranger Child by Alan Hollinghurst
The Oopsatoreum by Shaun Tan
Ahabs Wife or The Star Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund
Discoveries -
Some excellent articles on the net this month...
The death of writer Chinua Achebe prompted a lot of tributes, including
- Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist and poet in pictures
- Chinua Achebe 'a mind able to penetrate the mystery of being human'.
Then to tie in with St Patricks day there was Books of the Irish
A discussion about What is World Book Day?
Some positive news for the future of our bookstores, at least in the US, with A Novel Trend: Independent Bookstores on the Rise
A lovely article in The Guardian about Virago publishing - Has Virago changed the publishing world's attitudes towards women? and A New Study About Which Authors Have Ignored Women The Most.
I love a good list so the Lonely Planets Worlds Greatest Bookshops caught my eye.
Also Folio Society named as sponsor of fiction prize to rival Booker
About book blog reviews in Beyond Good and Awful: Literary Value in The Age of the Amazon Review in Time Entertainment.
An article in The Nation Irritable Reachings: On John Keats on his life and poetry.
A website that collects together many different articles, including literay and bookish subjects at The Electric Typewriter
And finally, the curious and the bizarre...
- Edible Book Cakes in pictures
- Bed Bugs found in Kzoo Library Books
Events -
The Liverpool Literary Festival is gathering speed, due to start on 23rd April in various venues in the city, celebrating the Written Word. To see the Writing On The Wall Literary Festival 2013 program use the link.

Lets hope it starts to warm up a little soon, I need to get out in the garden...