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02 May 2013

The Difficult Second Year Post

I can't believe I've been writing this blog for two years already!  And I definitely can't believe it's a whole five months since I last reviewed my progress. Blimey!

I have to be honest, though, and say that not much has really changed since my review of the year in December. Despite not finishing anything in January, I'm still averaging two books a month (yay!), but I've still not really latched onto any themes or events or read any classics (boo!).  I've picked up 'Jane Eyre', 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' and 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' at various times, but somehow always managed to get distracted by something else. Clearly I'm shallower than I thought and these books need shinier covers!

On the plus side, and I hope you agree with me on this, what I'm reading is still quite varied. As someone who loves Historical Fiction and Science Fiction, I often worry that I'll get carried away and read too much of one or other of these genres. I really don't want to bore anyone and think my 'library' is broad enough to cater for most people, so hopefully this won't become a problem. Having said that, I do want to read a few series of books, although this category ranges from the Poldark novels to Ian Fleming's James Bond books, so perhaps I don't need to worry!

So, between May 2012 and April 2013, I read 23 books. Not bad considering I had a couple of quite major lulls due to the length (and sometimes weight!) of what I was reading. Sadly, I've not been able to help myself when unleashed in the local bookshop, so this hasn't really made much difference to the overall total.

I am reading more due to the lovely weather we've been having lately though.  It makes such a change to be sat in the warm sunshine, lulled by the sound of insects buzzing about, rather than inside, under a blanket, listening to constant rain thrashing against the windows.  So, as long as the weather holds, I'm quite hopeful for the next few months.  Just so long as I don't get too relaxed!

As always, thank you very much for reading this blog and sticking with me despite the lack of progress! I'm glad that you're interested in what I've read and what I've thought about it and hope that you're enjoying at least a few of the posts. At least not all of them are as dull as this one!

May 2012
'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day' by Winifred Watson
'Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops' by Jen Campbell
'Notes on a Scandal' by Zoe Heller

July
'Fragile Things' by Neil Gaiman
'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

August
'The Somnambulist' by Essie Fox
'The Day of the Triffids' by John Wyndham

September
'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' by Rachel Joyce
'In-Flight Entertainment' by Helen Simpson

October
'Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures' by Emma Straub
'Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee' by Neil Forsythe
'Sword Song' by Bernard Cornwell

November
'How to be a Woman' by Caitlin Moran
'Legend of Sleepy Hollow' by Washington Irving

December
'Little Boy Lost' by Marghanita Laski
'The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ' by Philip Pullman

February 2013
'My Heart is My Own' by John Guy
'Fluke' by James Herbert

March
'My Word is My Bond' by Roger Moore
'The Man Who Fell to Earth' by Walter Tevis
'The Real Me is Thin' by Arabella Weir

April
'The Other Queen' by Philippa Gregory
'Remember Me?' by Sophie Kinsella