Thank you, always, for the questions about what I'm reading. I hesitate to answer that question oftentimes because my memory of the books I read is completely shot. I find that I cannot recall titles, authors, characters, or plot anymore. It's as though I never read the book at all!
(This is surely due to age and circumstance, and the fact that I often read to quiet my head and fall asleep, but it bothers me nonetheless.)
In 1991, I took a little road trip to Dayton, Ohio to visit my friend Dr Dan Gaughan while he was in medical school. We went to dinner and then a bookstore, and as I left, he gifted me with a little notebook to record the books that I read:
It never dawned on me that my Book of Books (or Bob, as he is more affectionately known) turned THIRTY years old last year!
2021 wasn't a particularly prolific reading year for me, but here are the books that I did manage:
(Yes. I am fully aware that I have the handwriting of a serial killer and that it is completely illegible).
This year has started very slowly. I just finished "The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett" by Annie Lyons and enjoyed it quite a bit, but parts of it did bring me to tears.
Now, I'm re-reading "The Starless Sea" by Erin Morganstern. She is the also the author of "The Night Circus"... totally not my normal genre, but one of my very favorite books. Ever. "The Starless Sea" is definitely second, and I find myself reading it slowly to absorb every gorgeous detail of it.
I love writers who write well and take me places I never could have imagined. The elegant turn of a phrase will stop me dead in my tracks, and if I can lose myself in a witty character or a perfect description...I'm sold!
So, Dearies. Thank you, again, for asking what's keeping my skirt blowing these days. As soon as I finish my little chore list for the day and have a bite, I might head back to the big girls sleigh bed for a bit and enjoy a few pages!
Come tell me all about the books and authors that you're loving!
Connie, I asm too a very prolific reader, but I wish I had started a log during the pandemic as my reading skyrocketed. To have your list over the past 30 years is amazing and what a wonderful gift from your friend. SherryB
ReplyDeleteI wish I would have started sooner. December of 2018.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to look back, I didn't realize there are times where I read for emotional comfort
Loved "This Tender Land" by William Kent Krueger I listened to it
I've kept a log of my reading for years. My current notebook was started in September 2002 and somewhere in my house there are the previous logs. I LOVE Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Ove and several others equally good.) I also adore everything Fannie Flagg has ever written and may she live to be 150 years old and still be writing! Please! I could go on forever about books - but would just end with this; I reread all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books every few years and have done that since I was 10 years old. I'm now 65. Best children/young people books I've ever read and I've read A LOT!!
ReplyDeleteanything by Fredrik Backman
ReplyDeleteThe Giver of Stars - Jojo Moyes
ReplyDeleteThe Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Loved The Book Thief but couldn’t watch the film. Knew what was coming and wasn’t looking forward to it.
DeleteGeoffrey Rush was resplendent in the movie..... I cried like a baby....
DeleteYou have a lovely list from last year. I will have to check out The Starless Sea because I also loved Night Circus, not my normal genre either. I'm always reading several at a time. Currently "Dear Fahrenheit 451: A Librarian's Love Letters and Break Up Notes to Her Books" by Annie Spence - very funny and a little irreverant, "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell - always interesting and thought provoking author, and lastly "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer - my new best ever book. I'm reading it with my college roommate (grad 1974) with a weekly Facetime chat. I've got the paperback and Audible. I don't always listen but of course you can stitch at the same time... and read by the author is truly exquisite. I have been on Goodreads.com for nearly a decade and love being able to investigate before I choose. I rarely go wrong that way.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. I highly recomend it. Recently finished The Splendid and The Vile by Erik Larsen, a long detailed and fascinating account of Churchill's handling of the blitz. Also highly recommend. I don't remember titles very well either but I do remember the details and story lines. Oh, one more, A Red Bird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. A very nice sweet story that I'm glad I read.
ReplyDeleteI read those books and enjoyed them also. The Larsen book would have been very scary if we didn't know how the story turned out. I never realized how close the Germans were to invading Britain.
DeleteThank you so much for sharing your books! I think I read Night Circus (actually listened to the audiobook) because of your recommendation.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in grade school, the school librarian would provide an annual page to record our reading with perhaps 5 or 6 lines per month. My best friend and I would frequently read 5 or 6 books per week!
I don’t read as much now (too many blogs, Pinterest posts, tweets and games), but still love to lose myself in books. I used to buy many books, but since retiring, have switched to library books, mostly ebooks and some audio, 95% fiction. One of the many great things about the library ebooks is that the library maintains my book list!
I have really enjoyed listening to Jan Karon’s “Mitford” books, as well as Patrick Taylor’s “Irish Country” novels. And have to confess an addiction to light paranormal romances!!
I honestly could not make out one single word from your book list. Please don't take offense, I don't mean to offend. I love to read too and always have. I remember going to the library as a little girl and coming home with a huge stack of books, reading them all, and going back for another stack. And doing that over and over.
ReplyDeleteLooking at your handwriting Coni, you should have been a doctor. I carry a notebook with me at all times, but it lists my favourite authors and the books I have already read, but also others that they have written that I might come across - usually in charity shops, or goodwill shops as you call them.
ReplyDeleteI love your writing, even more so as you have compared it to a serial killers. HA! I keep track of my reading on an app called Goodreads. Do you use it? I have to so that when I add a book to my currently reading list it will pop up if I have already read it. I also am not the best at remembering if I have read a book before either.
ReplyDeleteI just finished Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. It was ok but I don't get the hype. Currently I am reading Maid by Stephanie Land. There is a Netflix miniseries based on the book that was super so I had to get the book. Usually I am a read first watch later kind of gal but this one is good either way. The book is quite different from the show.
I hope you were able to get back into bed and enjoy your book :)
I also keep a record of the books I’ve read so I can make sure that I don’t re-buy. I will also check out The night Circus and Starless sea.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read fiction in at least 30 years. I used to love those trashy bodice busters. One day, I got sick of those and tried a few other types. Then I just stopped all fiction for reasons not remembered.
ReplyDeleteNow I read about sewing, needlework & textile arts of all sorts, gardening, cooking, some history, etc. I just finished reading a book about antique American sewing tools, am in process of reading about history of Iowa gardens most of which no longer exist. I read part of a needlework book on making all sorts of containers to get more tips on how to finish the Halloween Smalls casket. I have a few magazines I read cover to cover. Yet, people seem disappointed in my replies when they ask what I'm reading.
Your handwriting brought back a memory of an aunt whose letters were handed to me to decipher. Her writing (nearly a flat line) was the opposite of yours. The contrast between your writing and your admitted need to feel in control of all parts of your life is interesting. Maybe your handwriting is your little personal rebellion against your "must be in control" self. I wonder what a real professional handwriting analysis would say about you? :-)
I too loved "the Brillant Life of...." and I'm always interested in what other people are reading. I recently finished Rick Bragg's "The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People". It is a sweet, funny book about a man and his dog. I would also suggest checking out the books of southern writer, Wiley Cash. His latest is "When Ghosts Come Home", but my favorite is "This Dark Road to Mercy".
ReplyDeleteI've kept a Books Read journal since 2000. I love looking back at all I've read over the years. I just finished The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Murray. Fictionalized history..a fascinating true story.
ReplyDeleteI just finished Eudora Honeysett. I must confess that I didn't think I would like it, but then I just couldn't put it down. The way that her attitude changed, without her realizing it, was, well brilliant. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll read it again.
ReplyDeleteWow. Coni, I never would have imagined that there was someone whose handwriting was ALMOST as bad as mine.....but there you are.....I'm actually kind of impressed. LOL!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of books, one of my favorite authors is actually a local author (for me, here in Asheville). Sarah Addison Allen. She hooked me with her first book, Garden Spells and has written 5 or 6 more. I just received the last 2 books she wrote as a Christmas gift. Haven't started them yet, but can't wait t savor them!
ReplyDeleteOh! Loving beautiful passages and unexpected turns of phrase means that you should definitely read the books by Louise Penny. She writes mysteries, of a sort, but the books are much more character studies than a typical mystery. Normally, being fully left-brained, I despise those sorts of books, but Louise Penny's books are one of the Very Few that I will pre-order. There are actually Pinterest boards with interesting and beautiful passages from her books!
ReplyDeleteThe Personal Librarian is the best I have read in a long time!
ReplyDelete