Welcome to October, my most favorite month of the entire year, for it ushers in Autumn which I
dearly love. This month, I will be reading six books.
CLASSICAL LITERATURE: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. In September, I read Jasper Fforde's
The Eyre Affair which whetted my appetite to read this overlooked piece of classical literature.
HISTORICAL FICTION: Russka by Edward Rutherfurd. I am reading this as a precursor to Glenn Meade's The Romanov Conspiracy. Russian history fascinates me; especially, the history of the Tsars.
CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE: The Romanov Conspiracy by Glenn Meade. I stumbled upon this in the new book section of the public library.
SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY: The Initiate Brother by Sean Russell. This was recommended to me by a Canadian friend. I am really looking forward to it because it combines fantasy with Asian themes!
MYSTERY: The Murder at the Vicarage by Dame Agatha Christie. In my early teens, I was a huge Agatha Christie fan, probably due to my facsination with Murder She Wrote. The Murder at the Vicarage is the novel which introduces Miss Jane Marple.
REVIEW COPY: The Fourth Fisherman by Joe Kissack. This book was provided as a free, review copy from WaterBrook Press
Hi Joseph, hope all is well with you there across the pond!
As always, I'm *so* impressed with the breadth and olume of your reading, and I wonder...just how do you manage to accomplish this? I'm aware that you're a father...that you work at a job...that you have religious convictions (and therefore comitments...just like most of us. How do you get the time to do this reading? Presumably you don't waste (word used advisably) much time on television? Do you set aside a daily chunk of time for reading? If so, how do you 'defend' it?
My lovely wife just bought me a Kindle for our anniversary - I'm so happy with it, an am determined to read more fiction than has hitherto been the case, so your thoughts would be of real interest. Incidentally, I have all the zeal of the convert for this new 'toy', having sworn blind that I would never own or use one - but I have been proved wrong and the experience is great! I'm part way through Ash, the new novel by James Herbert, and have The Complete Sherlock Holmes waiting to go (although I suspect that's going to be a long-term project).
Would be great to hear from you
Your friend in the UK
David
Posted by: David Popely | Tuesday, 02 October 2012 at 08:21 AM
David, I always love hearing from you. I hope you are well. In the sixth grade, my teacher bestowed a love of reading in me and it has been a life long passion, ever since. I can vividly remember that, instead of a second play period, we would sit at her feet on our carpet squares and she would read to us from her rocking chair. That wonderful year she read Huckelberry Finn, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Wind in the Willows, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Harriet the Spy, My Side of the Mountain, and A Cricket in Times Square. My reading tastes have evolved since then, but I always have fond memories of her and her books. Today, I read about 1.5 books per week. How do I do this? I have elinated television viewing from my life because it is such a waste of time and is mind-numbing. I do, however, have one television-related vice, and that is watching Downton Abbey on Hulu. I also have the book I am reading with me at all times so I read whenever an opportunity arises.
Posted by: Joseph David Quinton | Tuesday, 02 October 2012 at 01:32 PM
Just as I thought! we're just about to eliminate 'most' television as well (Sky cable is going in November when the contract ends), although we'll also retain a couple of guilty pleasures each week - but that's all. Television is *such* a waste of time, and because the schedulers plan whole evenings with the aim of 'locking in' viewers for the duration, its all too easy to sit down to 'just' watch a short program after work, and end up several hours later having done nothing at all of use! We both have plans for our evenings this winter which *don't* include that kind of waste, so most of what we watch is going to go. This isn't the first time we've done this - we've been completely TV free twice before in the last five years, for about 18 month each time. We'll see what happens this time!
Isn't Fall a great time for starting new things? After a lifetime of being raised in the academic year, it really feels like a New Year to us - more so than January really....
Looking forward to following your TBR progress with interest - I think I'll make a list of my own now.....:)
Best wishes
David
Posted by: Davidpopely | Tuesday, 02 October 2012 at 01:55 PM
David, Andy Mooserman has posted an excellent video on YouTube which I think you would thoroughly enjoy. The title is eBooks, Kindle, & Me and the url is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3ROT-A4E&feature=BFa&list=FLNjGNaNLgzWKLkmq1H0TDGA
Enjoy,
Joseph
Posted by: Joseph David Quinton | Tuesday, 02 October 2012 at 04:35 PM
Well....I clicked on the link and I got a video by One Direction! I think you must have got the links mixed up :) Managed to find the right link from the title you gave though - excellent! Thank you.
I've decided to compile my own 'TBR' list so I'll let you know when I'm started (it'll be a work in progress for a while.....)
Thanks again
Posted by: David Popely | Wednesday, 03 October 2012 at 11:01 AM