December Roundup

It has been more like rain in the North West this December than snow, with a few frosty days which were pretty. Cold weather means sitting by the fire with a book though, whenever you get the chance.
Now I am on a roll how did the reading go...
Read - 1 and a half books
Completed - one book, The Organic Year by Patricia Gallimore.
Currently Reading -
The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini
Literary Genius edited by Joseph Epstein
TBR Pile - currently at 128 (according to GoodReads) with 7 novels as Christmas gifts added. I also got 3 other books over Christmas...
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy
The Thread by Victoria Hislop
Winter in Madrid by C J Sansom
First and Only by Peter Flannery
Common Ground: Around Britain in 30 Writers
Shakespeare Off The Record by Stanley Wells
Dickens Off The Record by Paul Schlicke
RHS Latin For Gardeners by Lorraine Harrison
Challenges - Still haven't bought any new books throughout all of 2012. All of the new books in December were Christmas presents.
Wishlist Additions - just the one...
Gossip from the Forest by Sara Maitland
Discoveries -
I loved the Jim Carrey CGI version of A Christmas Carol which was on TV on Christmas Eve. Wouldn't be Christmas without some form of Scrooge. Went very well with a Festive glass of Port I can tell you.
Events - Apart from Christmas... I did watch the 2011 version of Wuthering Heights on TV last night, having read it earlier this year. It didn't have a great write up and I could see why. Long winded, not really a love story, frustrating characters, cold rather than passionate and endlessly melodramatic, the TV Times said 'unremittingly grim'. Just about everything I thought about the book to be frank. For all of the films frustrations it was exactly how I envisioned the story, a bunch of degenerate, unpleasant people in the middle of nowhere while endlessly blowing a gale on the moors. On that point it was a winner.

2013 is almost upon us, I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

December Roundup

Hard to believe that the madness of Christmas has come and gone for another year. It has been a full on month, but how did the reading go...

Read - 2 books

Completed -

The English Novel in History 1895 - 1920 by David Trotter

The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende

Currently Reading -

Generation X by Douglas Coupland

Notes from Walnut Tree Farm by Roger Deakin

The Organic Year by Patricia Gallimore

TBR Pile - currently at 117 according to GoodReads with 9 added over Christmas...

The Last Kestrel by Jill McGivering

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Trick or Treat by Richie Tankersley Cusick

Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Dubliners by James Joyce

Seize the Day by Saul Bellow

August: Osage County by Tracy Letts

The last 6 of these are for some new challenges for 2012 which will be covered in detail in my next post.

Challenges -

Finished The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende for #4 of my own 2011 challenges

Finished The English Novel in History 1895 - 1920 by David Trotter which I wanted to make notes on each month.

Wishlist Additions -

Dark is the Sky by Jessica Chambers

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Discoveries -

An interesting new blog...Ready When You Are, C.B.

Events -

Seeing Hugo at the cinema, Martin Scorcese's cinematic version, in the best 3D film that I have seen, of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, reviewed here at The Octogon in July 2009

December Roundup

Thanks to my friend holgachick for this frozen leaves photo taken last year. It has been pretty frozen here in Britain this month so it is a good picture to start with. Here is how the reading went this month...

Read - 1 book

Completed - The Distance Between Us by Maggie O'Farrell (finished earlier today!)

Currently Reading -

Blindness by Jose Saramago

Caught by the Water: A Collection of Words on Water by various authors

TBR Pile - Currently at 87 (according to Goodreads) with 6 new ones after the Christmas gifts were added...

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

The Natural Navigator by Tristan Gooley

One Day by David Nicholls

No and Me by Delphine de Vigan

Challenges - will be covered in the next post Looking back and looking forward

Wishlist Additions

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Discoveries - Some lovely new blogs from the Book Blogger Holiday Swap...

Gaskella

The Mountains of Instead

Events -

Book Blogger Holiday Swap

I will be doing my end of year wrap up with loads of lovely lists and statistics (love it!) in my next post. Wishing you all a Happy New Year. Stay safe and happy!