This post is brought to you by the word “Oops”. I was doing quite well with my reading, getting through a fair few good books, and then I went to Macclesfield and the TBR ballooned again. On the plus side, I can see the books I got for Christmas, on the minus side (shhh) I had to commandeer a bit of Matthew’s TBR shelves for my Pile. Oh well, all good books, anyway.
I’m currently reading a couple of good if slightly edgy books – Helen Cross’ “My Summer of Love” (yes, the one that was made into a film) is starting off well but redolent of murder and heavy with the blood of the tannery across the way from where the protagonists live (so not one for teatime, perhaps) and “How’s Your Dad” is a much more carefully researched and serious book than I’d expected about rock stars’ offspring (although it’s sadly a little out of date, so some of the subjects are no longer with us).
Coming up, I’ve got a slightly uneasy mix of what I might venture to call Hard Books and then some nice novels. The Hard Books aren’t all hard, really – the Iris Murdoch interviews promise to be great reading, but I will have to concentrate properly and have the old post-it tabs at the ready for anything that will link up with my research, and the Iser book is also one for my research. The other two are more Of Interest than For Research, though, and then there’s a Maeve Binchy I’ve inexplicably not yet read and the grand treat of a Robertson Davies trilogy.
Oh, and finally, just in, but not to be read as such – the lovely Kaggsy, LibraryThing Virago Group and blogging friend, had been in touch to check which Iris Murdoch first editions I had, and then produced this one, found in a local charity shop! Thanks so much, Kaggsy! I’ve got eight of them now – they’re not super-valuable but they’re very special to me. I did find her a lovely early edition of one of her favourites a while back, so book karma strikes very nicely. Still haven’t met her in the flesh, however …
That’s all for now. How are your TBRs looking, dear readers? And that’s not even counting the ones on my Kindle …
Adventures in reading, running and working from home 
Apr 01, 2015 @ 19:24:11
🙂 I’m sure we’ll meet eventually, Liz!
LikeLike
Apr 03, 2015 @ 07:40:25
I do hope so!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Apr 04, 2015 @ 20:32:26
Oh great find from Karen there, I love that vintage Murdoch cover. You will have to collect them all now! 😉
LikeLike
Apr 05, 2015 @ 07:03:45
It’s great, isn’t it! I’ve got 7.5 now (the 0.5 is a first book club edition of Under the Net) and the covers are all fab.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Apr 14, 2015 @ 20:39:31
Nice to find your blog. Nice also to find a charity bookshop shopper! The Practical Criticism sounds interesting, but I’ve just (not entirely) read a theory book, so being overloaded, I shall ask you instead if you’re going to report back here on the Murdoch interviews (on the assumption that these might be lighter!).
LikeLike
Apr 15, 2015 @ 08:53:03
Thanks for dropping by and saying hello. Have you a special interest in Iris Murdoch? I do review everything I read (and finish) and I will be starting these soon, however, they might take a while to read, as I’ll be noting stuff for my research project as I go along, so doing active reading with a pencil and sheaf of postit notes to hand. I also have to start another Trollope novel (and finish the book and saga that I’m currently reading). So, watch this space!
LikeLike
Apr 15, 2015 @ 10:33:00
Reading a theoretical text brings back memories of taking philosophy modules. I may have read a bit of ‘Sartre: Romantic Rationalist’ for something, but I know I didn’t pursue it any further, though years later I wrote something or other about the supposed ‘conflict’ at the heart of Sartre. I’m about to return to charity bookshop volunteering and I’m aware of her novels passing through. I also barely looked at Wittgenstein (only the ‘continental’ thinkers appeared in the subjects in my humanities degree). Didn’t she write something on Wittgenstein?
LikeLike
Apr 15, 2015 @ 14:51:46
Yes, she did – I get a bit lost in the philosophy side of things. Those texts coming up are to give me some background for my studies, in part, but I have plenty of novels to leaven things, too!
LikeLike
State of the TBR – May 2015 | Adventures in reading, writing and working from home
May 01, 2015 @ 16:15:59