Month: July 2016

The last three months in brief

• My thumb is better
• I got out of the habit of knitting and have had to re-introduce it into my routine
• Work went crazy for a while, but it is a little calmer at the moment.
• I’ve been doing huge amounts of reading, but mostly as a kind of warm blanket, so very light reading
• In June I knitted three pairs of socks for Tour de Sock
• Since last autumn I’ve been trying to complete 10,000 steps per day using a fitbit. It appears I can either achieve this or knit, not both.

The reading challenge

Bearing in mind my self-imposed extra rule that there should be no re-reads except in the re-read category.

• a book published this year. The new Ben Aaronovitch is on pre-order, but delayed until October. In the mean time I have have read Poison or Protect, by Gail Carriger. Only a novella, but I very much enjoyed it.
• a book you can finish in a day. According to Yes by Dawn French
• a book you’ve been meaning to read. I have shelves full of stuff I’ve been meaning to read, but the lure of the new seems to win.
• a book recommended by your local librarian or bookseller. The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. Recommended by  White Rose Books in Thirsk.
• a book you should have read in school. To Kill a Mockingbird. Amazing book. I see what all the fuss is about now.
• a book chosen for you by your spouse, partner, sibling, child, or BFF. My son has been enjoying the Percy Jackson books, and he has encouraged me to read them too. I’ve read Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse
• a book published before you were born. Haven’t got round to thinking about this yet. I’ve had Lorna Doone suggested, but I haven’t made any headway.
• a book that was banned at some point. Not looked into this yet
• a book you previously abandoned. Ideas: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Gormenghast, or Wuthering Heights
• a book you own but have never read. Not got round to looking through the bookshelves yet
• a book that intimidates you. Although not easily intimidated by literature, I sometimes struggle with feminist writing. I have bought Girl Up, by Laura Bates and I’m working my way through it. I like the style and, although I don’t agree with everything she says, I am beginning to think it should be required reading for every parent. This next generation are going to have a tough time.
• a book you’ve already read at least once. I’m doing very well with this category. See below

Progress at the beginning of July: six complete, one under way, five to begin

Also-read, in no particular order

I did a complete re-read of all my Gail Carriger books and picked up more of them. I absolutely adore her fantasy world. Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, Timeless, Prudence, Etiquette and Espionage, Curtsies and Conspiracies, Waistcoats and Weaponry, Manners and Mutiny, The Curious Case of the Werewolf that wasn’t etc.

Another mammoth re-read: most of Diana Gabaldon’s output

Vulcan 607, an account of the longest range bombing mission ever, to the Falkland Islands. I heard a talk by the pilot of the mission and read the book over the next couple of days. An incredible story.

Three books by Gretchen Rubin that don’t really fit into any of the categories above: Happier at Home, The Happiness Project and Better than Before. The first two are all about what makes people happy and how to improve our happiness. The third book is about how people form habits. I really enjoyed these.

Finding a voice: A Lent course on The King’s Speech. This one was for work. Really interesting and provoked a lot of fascinating discussion.

I re-read The Nine Tailors and Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers.

The Hunger Games trilogy – heartbreaking dystopia – Also did another re-read of the Twilight series.

I read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. It would have been better if it wasn’t plastered in reviews raving about the ‘unreliable narrator’. I would have preferred to work that out for myself.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Yeuch. I couldn’t even remember whether it was a re-read or just so similar to his other books. From the library.

Tiny Stations by Dixe Wills. Quintessentially British travelogue. Rather like Bill Bryson, but without the sense of the outsider looking in. Loved it.