Books To Read: October 2012
Books To Read: October 2012
I sit down and wonder: does this monthly planning make sense when I can barely keep up with my reading and my life? Admittedly, there are times when I just want to lie down and do nothing. It even comes to the point of ignoring my bladder or hunger. Not healthy, I know. I can be that lazy, but I refuse to call it laziness. It’s something that’s akin to this need to come down to a halt and let the crazy world run its business without me.
But yes, in spite of this nonlaziness, I still want to plan the books that I want to read. It’s my book porn; that’s the best way I can explain it. I know what you’re thinking: I’m just trying to drum up another excuse for not finishing the September books. And the August books. And even the July books.
Gaaah, let’s look at my backlog:
- Ulysses (April) – currently on 196 of 682. I’ll resume this on December.
- Mysteries (July, September) – untouched.
- The Swimming Pool Library (July, August, September) – untouched.
- The Tin Drum (August) – currently on 229 of 582. I’m reading it very slowly. Vibrant, humorous prose, but it just can’t dig deep into me.
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (September) – currently on 309 of 560. I know I will finish it within this week. So far, I’m loving it. Besides, I am reading this along with Bennard, Mae, and Atty. Monique. We egg on each other if we feel stuck.
Hmm. Now let’s look at what I intend to read this month:
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – I’ll be reading this with Aldrin, Alexa, Kate, Kwesi, Atty. Lynai, and Sheila (whew!). We’ll be starting this at the middle of October, so I have to, god help me, finish the four below soon.
- The God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza – I was intrigued by Bennard’s review. And it’s really slim (it’s a play), so maybe I could ditch this over the weekend, no?
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – our book club’s pick. I have actually started reading it. Currently on 78 of 428.
- The Swimming Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst – now I should be really reading this. I signed up for The Literary Others: An LGBT Reading Event, and I thought that this is a good opportunity to finally tick this off of my list.
- This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz – this shouldn’t be here, right? This should be Mysteries. But I can’t help it! I got this only a few days after its release date, and I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about it. Plus, this short story collection could be a welcome distraction if I stumble on Anna Karenina.
I am slowly recovering from my reading rut. This looks like a promising month. Never mind that my new phone messed up a few hours ago (grrr), but let’s keep the negative energy away and ignore it.
20 Responses to “Books To Read: October 2012”
Yay for the God of Carnage!:) I hope you like it.:)
I hope so too. It looks like a cool book (in the tradition of The Catcher in the Rye). Hahaha, don’t mind me. :D
Whew! Leggo Anna Karenina buddies!
Get ready for the long and winding Russian prose! :D
My body is ready for Anna Karenina!
A double entendre? :D
I like the “reading backlog” list. I think I’ll also start my reading list posts with that. :)
I listed them out of my frustration. The books are screaming at me, haha!
Naunahan mo ko dun sa backlog list! Haha! But yay to Anna Karenina! :D I’m planning to read only 2 books for the month just to give way to my backlogs. This reading (and blogging) rut; parang syndrome no?
Oo nga eh! There are times naman when you are on fire! Now how do we get that fire back? :D
book porn! hihihi. Mr. Darcy comes into mind. :D
Waaah! I have to resume P&P soon!
P&P is that one book that I can’t seem to finish. Actually, one of the reasons I didn’t go to FFP’s discussion was that I wasn’t able to finish the book. (But I heard that Marie did a good job moderating it.) I hope you’ll have better luck than me.
Anyway, I’m sure you’ll have fun at your book discussion, regardless of your opinions on the book.
Wow, that’s something new. I never imagined you not attending FFP’s book discussions. Anyway, you might want to try it again, hehe. Our dear Camille, the discussion leader, is brewing a lot of things. :D
Well if you will choose ‘doorstep’ sized books, its no wonder you’re struggling to finish them (LOL). Anna Karenina is one I loved when I read it many years ago but want to read again. And Pride and Prejudice is wonderful – Austen’s wit shines through. The character of Mrs Bennett is priceless.
BTW – the link to the Literary Others site doesn’t seem to be working. I was curious what that is
Hahaha! Yes, but well, what can I do? I want to read as much as I can. I’m currently reading Pride and Prejudice now, and yes, it’s very entertaining.
The link to the Literary Others is now working. Apparently, the blogger switched from a dotnet to a dotcom domain. Thanks for alerting!
That looks like an impressive copy of Anna Karenina – the only other big Tolstoy novel I still have to read. You shouldn’t pressure yourself. I remember readingWar and Peace, savoring every scene, over a period of 3 months. Reading literature, especially the 19th century classics, should be leisurely. Enjoy. ;)
I’m actually excited! I read W&P last year thanks to the reading group organized at Jessica Zafra’s blog. I don’t know what your feelings are for her (haha) but I’m thankful for that group for it helped go through the book within a month. :)
Yes, no to no pressure (although it sometimes help to have a bit of it).
Read lots of Zafra since high school. Herearly writings are very good satire but I have a feeling that the more recent articles have lost their bite, they’ve become a sort of cliche.
A lot of us have noticed that, too. But unlike the others, I am not shy to admit that she has a lot of influence on my movie and book picks.