Read Harder Challenge

Checking my reading list lately it occurs to me how many books I read that are by European white men, especially of the dead variety. Although I own lots of books by women and people of different races, I think I've got a bit stuck in a rut of reading books from the same perspective and in particular nineteenth century classics and books set in that time period.

So this month I have decided to try and challenge myself to try and broaden my horizons. I am not going to ban myself from reading books I've already started, but I'm hoping that all the books I start will be by alternative authors.

So far I have continued the French theme I have been pursuing by reading The Lost King of France, a history book describing the downfall of the French royal family and attempts to trace Louis XVII through DNA testing. Although I enjoy reading history books I don't often read books with forensic analysis. This was very interesting and obviously well researched. Deborah Cadbury's description of the treatment of the Dauphin was heartbreaking but avoided becoming too melodramatic. 

Tigers in Red Weather, on the other hand, was wonderfully melodramatic. Full of lurid family secrets and deeply flawed characters. I liked how the story is teased out through the shift in narrative viewpoints so that the reader is not actually sure about the heart of the mystery until the end.

Finally, I finished A Little Life, something that had been on my reading list for a while. Not an easy book to get into due to the subject matter and it seemed like most readers either loved it or hated it. I was in the minority of appreciating it. I thought that the writing was really good, I could appreciate the uplifting moments (I cannot understand people giving books low ratings for being depressing, especially books that are about child abuse) and I was moved and horrified by the story but I also recognised the criticisms, that perhaps Yanagihara missed out on portraying homosexuals and homosexual relationships in a positive way and that the abuse depicted is so very extensive and revealed throughout the book in such a way that it starts to read a little like a hurt/comfort fan fic where the poor protagonist is heaped with such a litany of horrifying things happening to them that it kind of numbs the reader. Once I got into it, I raced through it but the second half got a little frustrating with Jude continually apologising and refusing to see a psychiatrist or do much else to help himself. Anyway, it got 4 stars and I didn't write a review on Goodreads. 

As a follow up I have started The Goldfinch. I haven't had a great history with Donna Tartt, I hated The Secret History to the point of blocking it from my mind and I can't even remember if I actually finished it. But so far I have been impressed with the writing and the plot. 

I am also considering continuing with the French theme by reading a book that's been on the old 'to read' list for a long time, A Place of Greater Safety. I've started it a few times but somehow never got into it. 

Otherwise, I am not sure where the read harder challenge will take me, although I think I'd like to read a little bit more history and also Villa America.   

Where to next?

Had a bit of a binge on the Victorian pastiche, and I've now finished The Quincunx, as well as The Unburied and Rustication (all Charles Palliser). Then I went onto Kept (D J Taylor) and I'm about the finish Derby Day. I think that the two authors differ in that Palliser's novels are more centred on the plot and read more similarly to Dickens or Wilkie Collins. They are both postmodern, but somehow I find Taylor's postmodernism more extreme. Palliser's novels take the Victorian elements such as the coincidences and links between characters and multiply them to the extreme. The mysteries seem genuine mysteries which, in the case of the Quincunx, are not necessarily satisfactorily solved by the reader due to the unreliable FPN. Taylor's novels don't exactly read as murder mysteries, much to the disgust of some of the Goodreads reviewers, the mystery is more like how and why the characters are linked, and Taylor meticulously recreates Victorian atmosphere with references and excerpts from novels of the period as well as from recreated newspaper reports and letters. So far I have enjoyed all of them, but I have to say The Quincunx has been my favourite and one I'd like to re-read at some point.

So, I have sort of reached the point where I am not sure whether to go on with Victorian mysteries or move onto something else. I think I'd like to read An Instance of the Fingerpost before I get out of the genre for a spell; I know it's not Victorian but I think it would round it off nicely.

Otherwise, I have finished The Black Moon (Poldark). I am still meandering through Balzac, a couple of the stories have been a bit forgettable, but I think I will probably continue, although I feel like I am cheating a little on my Goodreads count as if I have a quiet day I can get through one or two in a few hours. I suppose it makes up for the giant books I am trying to read though. Otherwise, not a huge amount of progress on the other books I'm reading as I've been reading a couple of library books in the meantime.

 

2014: A Year in Books & Next Year's Books

I haven't done too badly this year, despite having a baby and a full time job (before I went off on maternity leave), I managed 61 books. Delights have included the Patrick Melrose novels, most of the Barchester chronicles (although I have completely slowed down on these lately and need to finish The Small House at Allington and The Last Chronicle of Barset) and Penny Vincenzi novels. As far as the BIHNR list is concerned, I managed the first book in A Dance to the Music of Time and Anna Karenina on top of the Trollope. I read a bit more chick-lit and woman's fiction, but that was fine. At the moment, I'm not putting too much pressure on what I'm reading and I'm not likely to next year either as I have to get used to working full time as well as being a mum. 

Next year's biggest resolution is going to be no more buying cheap e-books in 2015. I realise that this has become a bit of a habit I need to break as I am not even sure how much I am spending on e-books, I just go on Kindle when I need cheering up or something then somehow end up buying a couple which I then feel like I will never have time to read. Plus there is the ethical implications of supporting a giant tax avoiding conglomerate that will potentially destroy the publishing industry and independent bookshops. I've got plenty of books on the TBR shelf that I want to read, so I am going to look at seeing if I can get through some of those. I'm making it a rule that I can go to the library and add things to the TBR list, but not buy any, and I can complete challenges without buying any books.

I'd also like to read a few more books from authors from other cultures. I'm aware I get put off sometimes, which isn't great.

Other than that, finish some of the series I've started, particularly the Trollope and the current Churchminster series I've borrowed from the library and I'm close to finishing. I've also started the Mapp and Lucia series recently. I finally finished some of the books that had spent the longest on the reading list, but I still have The Cornish Trilogy and Pillars of the Earth lurking around there (they are quite heavy to read in bed with a book light both physically and metaphorically) and I've barely got anywhere with Tales of Angria. I know the Wolf Hall TV series is coming up too, and that's been on the TBR list for ages, it was one of the first e-books I paid for. So, lots of stuff to read. My challenge is 50 books and, although it seems like I am setting myself a lot of rules, I am just going enjoy it even if I end up reading mostly chick lit.

Update on this Year’s Book Marathon

Pinched from Free Digital Read's FB Page

I haven’t updated for a while so here’s what I need to do to get ‘up to date’ with everything:

• Finally finish writing about The Bell Jar. I haven’t even looked at it since before last week’s half term holiday and I’d just like to get it done at the moment. 

• Write a review of State of Wonder which I finished about a week ago and loved.

• Write a review of Instruments of Darkness. I am currently in the middle of a small historical murder mystery binge having discovered Imogen Robertson’s books in the library, along with The Black Dahlia, which I have yet to start. I have started Robertson’s second book in the series and have one other to read (the fourth book is being published in April, but I am not in that much of a rush to read it, although I am quite enjoying the series so far). The plan with the Ellroy is to read The Black Dahlia then move on to the next three books in the quartet. Ambitious, particularly with the number of library books I have out at the moment, but the L.A. Quartet has been on the ‘to read’ list since around 2003. Not sure if it was going to go on BIHNR2: The Next List, but never mind. 

•  Finish and write about Swann’s Way.  I’m still hoping to finish this by the end of February, although I think I’m going to miss the Year of Reading Proust’s Goodreads group deadline of 25^th February. I don’t think I want to spend the entire year reading it anyway; it would be good to have a schedule of finishing one book per month so that I can finish by July. Whether this is possible or not is another matter.

•  As well as library books I am still ploughing on with A Clash of Kings,  Death Comes to Pemberley and Shadow of Night, which will all need to be finished and reviewed. Yes, I am juggling a crazy amount of books at the moment and obviously considering more, including a mini Richard III book festival, but that will have to wait for the moment. I’m already confusing myself and finding it a little bit difficult to keep up with everything, so no more new books until I have finished some.

I’m not sure where to start to be honest, I think I am going to try and start with Instruments of Darkness then finish The Bell Jar up before it drives me crazy.  On the plus side, the fifty books in a year is going really well, I’m currently nine books ahead of schedule and have read fifteen books this year, but haven’t finished so many recently (yes, I am counting Sherlock and Castle Rackrent, I have some short books to make up for the reading time wasted reading trashy fanfic, which is my guilty pleasure rewarding me for persevering with the Proust!). Honestly, I am slightly bogged down with Shadow of Night and finding it quite difficult to get into Anatomy of Murder. Both are good but SoN seems to have got a bit lost plot-wise at the moment turning Diana into a wife (I am also frankly baffled with one element of the story, but as it is a BIG spoiler I will save that for a review once I’ve finished it) and Anatomy of Murder is taking a bit of time to get off the ground. I don’t know, it could be a post half-term slump or something; at least it hasn’t affected Swann’s Way, which is still rather relaxing and pleasurable to read, although sometimes I think it would be nice to abandon writing notes about it and just float along like I am in a little Proust-steered boat or even wallow in the warm bath of his prose. I think it is affecting more that I thought it was!

Saying Goodbye to Chick-Lit

 Goodreads has actually stopped recommending it for me as I have stopped adding chick-lit books to shelves. I did used to enjoy reading a certain amount of it but I have recently realised that it doesn't have to same allure. Since joining Goodreads I have noticed that I am trying to be more discerning about what I read, I think that I get the feeling that life's too short to read too many instantly forgettable books, I am trying not to be too snobby here as I know that there are some authors who are great, I really like Jane Green's books for example, and Sophie Kinsella's. But at the same time I have this feeling that I will never feel the need to re-read the shopaholic series or Bridget Jones for example. I will probably finish off re-reading Jilly Cooper's books at some point (I'm currently on Pandora but I'm finding it hard going and haven't looked at it for a couple of months) and read some of the cheap books I picked up for the Kindle last summer, but I think I might start sorting out my chick-lit bookshelf and get some room for the other books that I have that have no proper bookshelf space. My bookshelves are a dreadful mess and some of the shelves are bending or even breaking under the weight of books!

Alas, I am no longer a twenty-something looking for the love of my life. All that's left is middle-aged lady fic (link)

This isn't a complete ban on the books forever, I've just taken it off my favourites list. I'm sure I'll carry on reading other romance books as well (I'm currently reading Shadow of Night), particularly historical romances, which I love.

Anyway, here's what I have to do on here:

• Finish my writing on the first part of Swann's Way
• Finally finish reviewing and writing about The Bell Jar
• Review State of Wonder by Anne Patchett

I think that's it!

In a bit of a Muddle!

Pinched from my local library's Facebook page

Okay, so having finished Les Mis and decided to embark on Wuthering Heights I now discover that the Guardian’s next Reading Group project is Swann’s Way by Proust, one of the hefty tomes appearing on the BIHNR list. I am now quite muddled over what to read. I have a few options:

Abandon Wuthering for the time being, take it off Goodreads and dive straight into the Proustian behemoth with the intention of finishing the first book with the rest of the Guardian crowd then carrying on with the rest of it. Yes, I know I said I wanted something shorter and probably less French, but it would be nice to read it sort of with other people (although I am more of a reader of comments than maker of comments)

Stick to Wuthering, possibly attempting to finish it early (which is a bit of a cheat as there is so much written about it).

The ultimate challenge, which is going against the unofficial one book at a time rule and reading the two books at the same time, which will probably lead to me not finishing Swann’s Way by the end of the month and possibly turning the whole thing into a lot of frustration and toil. It’s not so much the reading that takes the time, it’s the analysis and the writing about the books so reading two will possibly slow me up so I am either writing about the books more than a couple of times of week or I have to spend a few weeks catching up with the writing afterwards. I really don’t want to turn this into a chore, that leads to abandoned books and feeling like this is more work than play!

If I am reading Swann’s Way, which format? I have the Moncrieff translation in paperback and ebook form (both were pretty cheap).  It’s lovely to be able to pencil in a book, but the same time, the two volumes are MASSIVE, bigger than even Les Mis. I doubt I will be able to take a copy to work. 

Anyway, I think on reflection I am going to leave rolling in brie for the moment and plunge into Proust. At least it will feel like a major achievement once I start crossing off books from an entire series and I am actually looking forward to it. The prose isn’t that difficult to read, it’s just extremely easy to get bogged-down with the length. I’m going to go ebook for the sake of my back and my sanity, but I can always refer to the physical book at home if I want to. 

I am also a little bit muddled with the amount of reviews and books to finish, so I am making a list of the things I aim to do shortly:

• Write a review for Mr. Selfridge
• Finish writing about the Bell Jar. I have most of the notes I wrote for the feminist part of it, but I wanted to have a look into the Freudian aspects of the book which is linked. Yes, I am rediscovering the old literary theory.
• Finish Castle Rackrent and write a short review 
• Finish My Cousin Rachel and review. 

 

It’s getting more difficult to keep up with the number of books I’m reading and reviewing, but as I am enjoying it at the moment I might as well continue.

    

Rolling in Brie

So, why are we rolling in brie? Well, it's time for the dreaded Wuthering Heights, which I have had a hate-hate relationship with for years. I can't see the point of it as a love story, it's morbid and depressing, Bella from Twilight loves it and I've tried a couple of times to read it without success. But now I am ready to give it one last try, and if I still hate it I probably won't read it again. I saw a film version over Christmas too that was quite good (Andrea Arnold's 2011 adaptation, black Heathcliffe, all very post-colonial). Anyway, I could do with something shorter, with less Victorian excess, to cut the richness of all that Hugo. It also gives me an excuse to refer to the Kate Bush song. Heath-cliffe, it's meeee, your Cathee, I've come home, let me in-a your window. So coooold.

Awesome yet mad song

I'm going ebook as it doesn't really matter what edition I read and it will be lovely to just carry my notebook adn Kindle around. What with BIHNR and all the other books I read I have been lugging Les Mis, the Bell Jar and My Cousin Rachel around for the last week or so, and Les Mis weighs a ton. I'm so glad to have finished the notes for it before the end of the month, now I've just got to review Mr. Selfridge (not the proper title) and the Bell Jar (which is taking ages) then I'll be clear, although I will probably start reading WH before I've finished the rest of the writing. I should also probably attempt to clear my mind of all that hatred of the book!