This year I was very happy to participate in Nonfiction November, having read a lot of great nonfiction and eager to share with other readers. It was a wonderful event!

I did not get a lot of new reading done. Besides finishing and reviewing Danubia for Nonfiction November, I was mostly reading through the Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, because I wanted to refresh my memory before enjoying the final volume, Return of the Thief (which I’m nearly done with now). What a pleasure it has been to watch this series evolve over the years. Bravo to MWT for bringing it to a worthy close.

This month I gave up on my French reading club book, L’énigme de chambre 622 by Joel Dicker. It was not interesting enough to hold my attention, especially in a foreign language. And far too long! We’re moving on to another book, La femme au carnet rouge by Antoine Laurain, and I’m looking forward to that.

What were your highs and lows this month?

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Reviews

• Danubia by Simon Winder

 

Other Books Read

• The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings and Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

Other Features and Events

• Here are my Nonfiction November posts: My Year in Nonfiction, Book Pairing, Be the Expert, New to My TBR

On my other blog

• On the eve of November (Halloween), I posted a reflection on the Masks we all wear.
• Another significant date came a few days later: I posted about 9/11 and 11/9.

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction

This month I went on vacation for two weeks to Crete (see here for pictures on my other blog). It was a most welcome and relaxing break, during which I got into rereading Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. It started with Gaudy Night, which I’ve been wanting to reread for some time, but then I realized I had to started with the first two Harriet Vane books, and then I couldn’t stop. It was perfect vacation reading, after all.

I could not get on at all with Foundation by Isaac Asimov, though. It’s the start of another series, and some say the later books are better, but I’m not interested in pursuing them. This one was too silly and too boring. Classic science fiction sometimes does have that effect on me.

What books or series have you been captured by this month?

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Reviews

• In search of something light, I hit on Unmarriageable, an update of Pride and Prejudice to modern Pakistan.

 

Other Books Read

• The Song of Seven by Tonke Dragt, translated by Laura Watkinson
• Foundation by Isaac Asimov
• Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night, Clouds of Witness, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, The Nine Tailors, and Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers
• Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L.Trump

 

Other Features and Events

• I asked, Am I an e-book convert?

 

On my other blog

• Land of the labyrinth: pictures from Crete

 

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction

September was World Kid Lit Month, a new-to-me event that translates diverse, global and translated children’s books. I joined in by reading The Beast Player, by Japanese author Nahoko Uehashi (translated by Cathy Hirano). The imaginary but Japanese-flavored fantasy world about a divided kingdom within which magical beasts live in an uneasy relationship with humans brought up some interesting questions about how we relate to the natural world, and to each other. The sudden, unresolved ending came as a bit of a shock after the more progressive buildup, but a sequel has just come out so I’ll have to read that to find out more about how the story continues.

Have you read any translated children’s lit this month? What do you recommend?

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Reviews

• For Back to the Classics, I reviewed Hemingway’s novella The Old Man and the Sea.

 

Other Books Read

• Something Light by Margery Sharp
• The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson
• Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal – Around the World (Pakistan)
• Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
• The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi
• The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

 

Other Features and Events

• I posted a wrap-up for Robertson Davies Reading Weekend.
• I checked whether anyone else had tried my challenge of Summer in Other Languages.
• For Top Ten Tuesday, a list of books on my fall TBR list.

 

On my other blog

• A question of gender: Should languages have them?

 

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction

This month, I planned a Robertson Davies Reading Weekend to take place around the author’s birthdate of August 28. It was a lovely long weekend of reading and discussing his wonderful books with fellow aficionados, and I hope it introduced him to some new readers. You can find all the details in the wrap-up post.

Otherwise, I feel as though this month has been somehow extra long and took me on some amazing journeys near and far (in the pages of a book, that is). It was a good time to look back over my Around the World reading project and remember all of the fascinating places that I’ve visited.

Where has your reading taken you this month?

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Reviews

• For Back to the Classics, Le Petit Prince
• And for Robertson Davies Reading Weekend, The Cunning Man

Other Books Read

• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway – Back to the Classics, Review to come
• Inferno by Catherine Cho – Review to come
• Anxious People by Fredrik Backman – Around the World
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – for an upcoming Witch Week discussion post
  
• Magic Flutes and A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson
• Swedenborg by Gary Lachman

Other Features and Events

• I gave an update on my Around the World reading project, with stops in Ireland, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, West Africa, Bhutan, Iceland, Korea, Japan, Ghana, and Chile.

On my other blog

• In Doublespeak I shared some of my adventures in learning two languages.
• And in Settling into Switzerland, thoughts about other things that require some adjustment.

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction

I’m back from my blog break — returning at one of those times when it seems a bit strange and self-indulgent to just talk about books. But I still think that reading is one of the things that holds us together in this broken world, and an act of courage and conscience. We readers are the people who try to make sense of things, to find order in the chaos, and though it seems at times a hopeless task, it’s a deeply human one. May we read our way toward a more human future.

So I share my reading month here: divided between comforting rereads, children’s books, some new releases, and backlist books that meet my current challenges. From a reading point of view, it was a good month.

Some more positive news: my CELTA training to teach English to adults is nearly done, and it’s been a great experience. I’m thinking about next steps, and may have some exciting news to share with you.

How is your reading life, and life in general? How are you coping?

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Books Read

• Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte
• Haben by Haben Girna
• Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfeild – Reread
• Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor – Around the World (Ireland)
• The Thief Knot by Kate Milford
• Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh – Reread, Back to the Classics
• The Three Years by Emil Bock – Reread
• Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block – Phoenix Award
• The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge – Reread
• Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye – Phoenix Award, Around the World (Palestine/Israel)
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos – Back to the Classics
• The Pearl of the Soul of the World by Meredith Ann Pierce – Reread

On my other blog, Entering the Enchanted Castle

• Crisis: A poem
• Seeking the honey of life

 

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction

During this time of doubtfulness and confinement it’s hard to settle down to reading. I’ve found myself gravitating to books that pull me in and carry me along with a story, letting me live in another world for a time. Along with some dependable rereads these included a couple of outstanding new-to-me titles (most notably An Anthropologist on Mars and The Scapegoat, both of which were fantastic).

As I looked for a book to count for my Around the World project this month, I decided on The Gustav Sonata. I’ve no idea what connection British author Rose Tremain may have with Switzerland, or why she chose it as a setting for her novel, but from my foreigner’s point of view I think she did a good job at capturing some of the character of the Swiss, their strength and their vulnerability, and the conflicting realities behind the surface image that they like to present. Have you read it, or would you like to?

What else have you been reading this month?

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Reviews

• For Back to the Classics, I reviewed The World I Live In by Helen Keller, a fascinating picture of some of our more overlooked senses.

Other Books Read

• Rudolf Steiner by Gary Lachman
• The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer – Reread
• An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks
• Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic by Michael McCreary
• The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit – Reread
• The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer – Reread
• The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren – Reread
• The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain – Around the World
• The Scapegoat by Daphne DuMaurier

 

Other Features and Events

• As the world went into lockdown, I posted a list of fourteen books about freedom.
• I asked Do you like books about fighting?

 

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction

March 2020 was the month the world turned upside down for most of us. Reading helped me to stay afloat!

I managed to keep up with most of my reading goals: some nonfiction, some books from around the world, and something from my own shelf, the results of which you can see below. An immersive fantasy trilogy also seemed like a really good idea, and I plunged back into the world of Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy. But my interest lagged by the third book, so I’m looking for another venture.

What books are helping you to cope right now?

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Reviews

• For March Magics, I appreciated anew the wonderful works of Terry Pratchett and Diana Wynne Jones: in particular, A Blink of the Screen and The Homeward Bounders.
• I found The Body Keeps the Score to be an important book for anyone interested in the understanding and treatment of trauma — a topic that touches all of us, especially now.

Other Books Read

• In Pursuit of Disobedient Women by Dionne Searcey – Reading All Around the World
• Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
• The Book of Forgiving by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu
• The World I Live In by Helen Keller – Back to the Classics

Other Features and Events

• I asked Are there too many books?
• I summarized my progress in the Reading All Around the World project.

On my other blog, Entering the Enchanted Castle

• I shared my experience of the musical Les Misérables – Do you hear the people sing?
• Some thoughts on finding bread in the wilderness – Our daily bread
• And on the question Can health also be contagious?

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction

This month, I thought more about my reading goals and how I might plan to meet them. I’m really enjoying reading books representing various countries of the world and I’ve finished a few more this month.

I managed to finish one nonfiction book this month — the excellent The Body Keeps the Score. I’m interested in reading more about brain science and I wonder if I might make that a focus this year. Do you have any titles to recommend?

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Reviews

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a beautiful but devastating read that deserves its classic status.
• Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was another long-unread classic that provoked some interesting questions about our hidden tendencies to evil.

Other Books Read

• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent – Around the World
• The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey – Around the World
• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk – Review to come
• Married to Bhutan by Linda Leaming – Around the World

Other Features and Events

• In trying to plan my own reading year, I asked, Do you have a reading plan?

On my other blog, enterenchanted.com

• I posted an essay on marriage in fairy tales, Beyond the happy ending.
• I shared a poem I wrote on the theme, simple titled Marriage.

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction

December was a fantastic reading month! From my Classics Club list, I read Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and immediately had to go on to devour the sequels (three of them so far). This is an astonishing story that I can’t believe I never got around to reading before.

I also read two nonfiction books that happen to count for my Reading All Around the World project: Daring to Drive and Born a Crime. Both were powerful and moving reads. There is so much injustice and wrong in our world, but also such amazing, inspiring people who meet those challenges with courage and determination. They make me want to try a little harder in my own life, which is so much easier in comparison.

Then there was some lovely comfort reading with the D.E. Stevenson reissues from Dean Street Press, and a touching graphic memoir that I read in French — all great things!

How did your reading year finish up?

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Reviews

• Miss Carter and the Ifrit – Susan Alice Kirby

 

Other Books Read

• Daring to Drive by Manal Al-Sharif
• Ce n’est pas toi que j’attendais by Fabien Toulmé
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou – Review to come
• Vittoria Cottage by D.E. Stevenson – Review to come
• Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
• Music in the Hills by D.E. Stevenson – Review to come
• Gather Together in My Name by Maya Angelou
• Winter and Rough Weather by D.E. Stevenson – Review to come
• Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas by Maya Angelou
• The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

 

Other Features and Events

• I listed my Gems of 2019.
• I asked, How do you know a book is going to be good?
• And I reviewed my 2019 discussion posts and signed up for the 2020 challenge.

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the Month in Review linkup at The Book Date, and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction

This month, I read a book in French! I was not blown away by Coeur de Cristal by Frédéric Lenoir, a fairy-tale style novel about a prince who is unable to love, but it was easy to read and helped me with my efforts to improve my French skills. I hope to move on to some more interesting works. Any suggestions?

And after enjoying Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor, I had to finally read Dracula — and was seriously underwhelmed. After a few deliciously creepy scenes, the story deteriorates into a lot of absurdly bad English, male incompetence, and a boring, anticlimactic final chase scene. Interesting idea, uneven execution.

On the plus side, I finally read Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and liked it a lot. What have you been reading, good and bad, this month?

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Reviews

• I reviewed my Classics Club Spin book, My Brilliant Career, perfect for Australian Reading Month.
• Howl’s Moving Castle and Kindred are two beautiful, and utterly different, new productions from the Folio Society.

 

Other Books Read

• Coeur de Cristal by Frédéric Lenoir
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

 

Other Features and Events

• I came up with a fiction/nonfiction book pairing for Nonfiction November.
• For discussion, I asked Do you find some book titles confusing?

 

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the Month in Review linkup at The Book Date, and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction