'Catch-up' Book List 2009

Sitting at home with the sniffles and the last episode of Tudors series II on pause, I was suddenly inspired to have a look through my shelves and decide which of the books that I already own, I would really like to get round to reading this year. This is a particularly good time to decide, as I am moving out of my beloved flat in a couple of weeks. I have to say it's a thoroughly cathartic process, organising myself down to the minimum of possessions to store at my boyfriend's house before I go travelling next month. Of course I have tried (not really) and failed to actually get rid of any books, but I will be putting a few out of sight and out of mind for the time being. I'm thinking that the short (ish) pile left cluttering up my dressing table will consist of the following:

The Book Thief Markus Zusak

My next book group read, I've finally conceded that I need to put down the Never-ending Anna Karenina temporarily in order to meet Thursdays deadline for reading this. Luckily I've been hugely looking forward to reading The Book Thief , but I really don't like starting one book while I'm reading another...grrr!

American Psycho Brett Easton Ellis

Oddly for me my desire to read American Psycho hasn't been dampened by having seen the film beforehand. Perhaps it's because I imagine it being different from the film, and because it is generally hard to put me off a bit of dark and gruesome fiction anyway. A gory gift from my ever benevolent book benefactor Savidge Reads, perhaps I will have to sacrifice a few pairs of undies so I can fit this copy into my rucksack for my travels.

Dorian: An Imitation Will Self

Having read both Great Apes and The Book of Dave, I know that I find Self's writing to be tough going and pretty pretentious. However... I still enjoy reading his books... perhaps because I feel like he's allowed to be pretentious because he's so damned clever and original. When I read his books, I always feel as if my perception of things has been pushed around a bit and stretched which I like. Also, Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, is one of my all time favourite novels so I'm looking forward to reading this even more twisted version!

Hurting Distance Sophie Hannah

Having recently read The Point of Rescue in the wrong order (slap on the wrist!), I now feel compelled to go back and fill in the gap by reading Hurting Distance before The Other Half Lives is released. I do so enjoy Hannah's clever plots, and suspenseful writing style.

Calendar Girl Stella Duffy

Another book gifted to me by Savidge Reads, after I joined a certain literary salon that is Polari and met the lovely Stella herself. Looking to forward to delving into this intriguing novel that promises a heady mixture of mystery and lesbianism. Oo-er!

The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood

Ok, I don't know much about this except that it's got a great cover, a brilliant title and won the Booker prize. Sounds good to me!

I, Claudius Robert Graves

Most people don't like the kind of books that people are made to read in school. Being contrary, I seek them out. I was a bit of an English Lit geek, plus I also love reading Classical stuff, having devoted much of my childhood to reading Greek myths... plus the blurb promises folly, vileness, wickedness and tragedy. What more can a girl ask for.

Brighton Rock Graham Green

I struggle with Graham Green a bit, but again, because I'm contrary I like to stick at authors when they're clever but difficult and give them the benefit of the doubt. You see I loved The End of The Affair (although it wasn't at all what I expected), and was completely confused by Our Man in Havana. Anyway, this is one of those GCSE-type books and the blurb makes it sound so odd I have to read it. Oh, and I have a lovely old Penguin copy which I shall have to add a picture of when I read it with pink writing, so that sealed the deal for me.

Tennyson selected by Kingsley Amis

Another one I will have to add an image of, I picked up this lovely battered copy of Tennyson poems on a visit to my Nan's house. Apart from the brilliant 1970's cover, I mainly want to read this so that I can be even better at University Challenge. When Paxman asks a question about poetry the answer is nearly always Keats, Shelly, Wordsworth, Byron or Tennyson and I want to improve my 1/5 shot at getting it right. I know it's so wrong. I'm hoping that I might also discover something beautiful at the same time mind you, especially as one of my favourite paintings is The Lady of Shallot by John William Waterhouse so I suspect I will have that rather romantic image in my head when I read the poem.

Here's that lovely picture by the way, (although it's much better seen in real life for free at Tate Britain in a moment of contemplation):

Christmas Day Ponderings

It's Christmas and it seems like its the first day in ages I've been able to sit down and blog. It'll be a quickie though I think as cooking a first-class turkey has knocked the stuffing out of me - sorry, pun intended.

What I'm most excited about at the moment is that it's a great time to really get my nose into some books. I've just finished Sophie Hannah's detective novel Point of Rescue, and I have to say she is fast becoming my favourite author for gripping page-turning reads. I suppose what I like about her writing is that it's quite unique in that it has a distinctly female voice or at interesting female characters - I enjoy this of course but I do wonder whether if this would turn off male writers. Although, my boyfriend picked up my copy of one of her earlier books - Little Face, and stormed through it. Then the other day I was reading Point of Rescue and went to make a cup of tea and the cheeky bugger picked it up and started reading, so I'm thinking that my concerns about her audience being limited are probably ill-founded!

I also recently read a more classic (of the modern variety) novel in the form of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and have been procrastinating about blogging about it probably because I thought there was so much to say and I didn't quite have the energy to do it justice yet. I'm starting to realise that I'm going to have to blog a bit more frequently - especially as a new-starter, I know its very bad form to blog sporadically! I think I may have to admit to myself that I can't be insightful every day but do my best to write a little more often and still be coherent. I am determined to get my thoughts out on To Kill a Mockingbird tomorrow though!

I am also going to embark on Anna Karenina tonight which I will be reading in tandem with fellow blogger, Savidge Reads. I am completely excited about this, to the extent that I went to the effort of hunting down thisparticularly attractive Folio Society copy because I didn't like any of the paperback covers that you get in the bookshops right now. I am hoping it lives up to the idea I have in my head of an enthralling and epic Christmas-read that Mr S and I can enjoy gossiping about together afterwards.

Right off, to get a cup of tea and read the first chapter of AK!