Books to Read: February 2013
Books to Read: February 2013
I have a theme for this month. It’s a first, but it’s nothing ingenious. In fact, it’s very common for the month of February. Yes, I am picking books with the words heart or love in their titles. But before that, let’s see how January went.
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – 3 out of 5 stars.
- The Fish Can Sing by Halldor Laxness – 4 out of 5 stars.
- This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz – 4 out of 5 stars.
Additional Books Read: None
The 2013 Reading Backlog: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo – currently on page 145. It’s now official, this backlog tracking.
And now, I’m proud to present this month’s lovely reading plan:
- The Noble Nobel Project: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda – it’s my first time to read a whole poetry collection. I’m still wondering how to do it. Should I do one poem a night? Should I read each one aloud?
- The Classics Club: The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen – I was considering another book, but I caught the spine of this and felt that it’s a good time to read it. It’s actually this that inspired the theme.
- GR-TFG’s Book of the Month: Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez – this is not a novel. This is not even a standalone book. This is a short story discussed in most college English classes, although we didn’t discuss it from where I graduated. It beat Fairy Tale Fail by Mina V. Esguerra and From This Day Forward by Marla Miniano at our offline and online polls. I voted for it because it’s short and it’s a good thing that I did because of my current backlog. And oops, this doesn’t have the words heart or love, but this should be exempted because this is a book club pick.
- The Fourth: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver – finally, I’m reading Carver. And yes, I’m on a short story roll.
There. I hope I could do better this month. This should be quite fast, right?
22 Responses to “Books to Read: February 2013”
Lol…I actually thought the theme was books with the word “death” or “dead” in them and that you were particularly morbid in choosing those words for Feb :P
That’s a better idea! It could even accommodate Dead Stars. But I want to read Carver now.
Hello, Angus! I’m a huge Elizabeth Bowen fan. I hope you like The Death of the Heart. A lot of people think that it’s her best work. The writing feels a lot like Wharton without the rich people. Hehehehehe. (I also love Wharton, by the way.)
Your post got me inspired to reread The Death of the Heart. I really found it to be very enjoyable.
Wow, that’s very encouraging. I only know one Bowen novel, and I’m glad I found the “best” among them. Regarding Wharton, I might like her better if she didn’t write so much about the rich. :D
Oh Dead Stars! I loved that story when we discussed it back in college, but that was years ago. Now, I’m itching to grab my lit book and read it again. Looking forward for your post on that. :)
You might want to join our book club’s discussion of Dead Stars. :)
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair is great! Some of them were funny to me…I think one has a line that translates to: ‘I love it when you’re quiet’, or ‘I love it when you don’t speak’–and I’m like really? that’s nice. Not. I would read the Spanish aloud.
Also, I’m doing a similar thing where I’m reading a book in February with the word ‘love’ in it. I chose Love in the Time of Cholera.
I’m also looking forward to that novel by GGM, but I’m putting it on hold because it seems like a possible book club selection this year.
Pablo Neruda. <3
Do you have a favorite?
Ode to a Beautiful Nude. Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines.
Poems we studied in college. Never fails to move.
Thank god for Carver! You can’t go wrong with him. Read all of his!
Yep, I have started collecting his works. :)
Carver is such a great short story writer. I’ve read his collection, Cathedral, in the past and it really masters the low-key epiphany writing style. Very subdued and… I’m running out of words to describe it, subtle? Hope you enjoy that collection.
I was going to read Cathedral but since I’m set on having a theme this month, I picked this instead.
Carver and Neruda are great! I might read Short Cuts because of this for Feb.:D
Go! Let’s make this a Carver month. If I finish my books early, I plan to read Cathedral as well. :)
I think I just might.:D And I’m also going to read Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair
I don’t plan of having a particular theme for my monthly reads, but for this month I am joining the bandwagon and will be reading something about love also. :) You have interesting titles this month but I must say I haven’t read any of them yet, haha! :D
Many of us are doing it, so it wouldn’t hurt to try even just once. :)
You know I was on the lookout for that Carver book last Christmas so I can give it to you but I couldn’t find a copy. I liked the title, though, and I would have gotten it for myself just for the title alone. :D Looking forward to read your review of that :)
Aww Tina, you’re so sweet. :) But I love the book that you gave me, and I have to say it was a prudent choice. Carver’s books are quite hard to find, and yes, the title is enough for one to read it (it’s actually the carrier “single”).