I Read Therefore I Am discussion

A rather paltry list, I'm afraid :( Didn't make time for reading until April/May

1. Inquisition - Alfredo Colitto (Feb)
2. A Death In The Family - Karl Ove Knausgaard (Mar)
3. The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England - Ian Mortimer (Apr)
4. Pear-Shaped - Stella Newman (May)
5. The Pile of Stuff at the Bottom of the Stairs - Christina Hopkinson (Jun)
6. Every Contact Leaves a Trace - Elanor Dymott (Jun)
7. How to Talk To Girls at Parties - Neil Garmin (Jun)
8. Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town - Mary Beard (Jun)
9. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruis Zafon (Jun)
10. Merivel: A Man of his Time - Rose Tremain (Jul)
11. The Ancient Guide to Modern Life - Natalie Haynes (Jul)
12. Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar - Robyn Young (Jul)
13. Stoner - John Williams (Aug)

Ugh, unfortunate number, I'd better get reading quick!!

like Kirsty said it's quality not quantity - I think I've probably read about the same number since I joined Goodreads in April

You can see, from the dates I finished the books, when I started being active on Goodreads groups. One book a month Feb-May, then 9 in two months :) Would be good if I could keep up that average

Book groups have helped me to read more too - and to be more reflective about what I've read. Before I joined Good Reads I used to get a little way into a book, get distracted and start reading something else, get distracted and so on and so on

I haven't got a book club near me that I know of, not one that operates at a time I can attend anyway. I've been taking part in the Cheltenham Festivals book club, which has had an interesting array of books: of the five read so far, three were on my 'potentials' list, two were something I never would have considered. The Goodreads groups are causing me to add at least one book a day to my 'to read' list :)

14. Angel City - Jon Steele

15. Manuscript Found in Accra - Paulo Coehlo

16. The Problem with Islam Today - Irshad Manji

Actually read this back in April/May but for some reason Goodreads didn't record the date completed.

17. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
18. Bitter Like Orange Peel, Jessica Bell

19. The Unconsoled - Kazuo Ishiguro
20. Birdsong - Sebastien Faulks
21. Song of the Shaman - Annette Leach

What did you think of Birdsong Ellie?

For the most part I thought it was beautiful. I loved some of the phrases used by Faulks to describe his characters, and the scenes set during the war were moving and at times made me very angry: what an almighty cock-up The Big Push was, General Haigh should've lost his job for that!

I was less enamoured with the bits set in '78, I couldn't engage with the main character in that era, though the parts where she visits the Somme and visits the old soldier are moving. Faulks seems to be strongest when writing about the experiences of the veterans young and old

It's a while since I read this and I'd completely forgotten about the part set in '78 - so it obviously didn't make much of an impression on me either! I guess that the parts set in the trenches are so completely involving that the rest of the book pales alongside them

Not just the scenes in the trenches, but the sections about how the characters feel away from the front line too, the way they are treated by the people back home and so on. So sad :(

22. The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
23. Thanksgiving - Ellen Cooney
24. Animal Farm - George Orwell

25. The Birds & Other Storis - Daphne Du Maurier
26. Kissing Bowie - Joan Taylor

27. Prisoner of Heaven - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

28. A Possible Life - Sebastian Faulks

29. A Severed Head - Iris Murdoch
30. Dolly - Susan Hill

31. Most Over Pendle - Robert Neill
32. Dolly - Susan Hill
33. The Testament of Mary - Colm Toibin

How was Dolly?? I've read a few of hers and found most of them pretty creepy!

It was quite chilling, actually. Never read any of her work before, and this was an impulse borrow at the library. I enjoyed it.

Cool, I will check it out! I really liked The Woman in Black and The Man in the Picture but didn't think The Small Hand was as good as those two.

Oops, just realised I've listed Dolly twice. So, my latest finish is no. 33

33. Blue Skies and Black Olives - John & Christopher Humphreys

Oh,

34. Effi Briest

35. The Vicar's Wife - Katharine Swartz
36. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John Le Carre
37. War of the Worlds - H G Wells

38. Girl With a Pearl Earring - Tracey Chevalier
39. The Collector Collecter - Tibor Fischer
40. The Christmas List - Chrissie Manby
41. The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul - Deborah Rodriguez
42. The Strangler Vine - M J Carter
43. Dear Life: Stories - Alice Munro
44. Austerlitz - W G Sebald
45. The Rings of Saturn - W G Sebald
46. Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe - Jenny Colgan (first and last I ever read of hers!)
47. Christmas Carol - Michelle Gorman

And that appears to be it for me 2013 reading. On to 2014!!