Look! Look! My TBR is definitely going down! I think I only read five books from the actual TBR (plus two from the Pile and two (one DNF) that I bought specially within the month) and removed one large one (the Kynaston social history, which I’m half way through), but I didn’t add any. Well, sort of.
I did add these two lovely hardback biographies. But they’re for review, for the lovely Shiny New Books, and they have to be read and reviewed by the end of this month, so they’re not exactly joining the TBR as such. They do look good: I wonder who else has review copies of them at the moment. It’s fortunate that I like a good biography, and especially a mid-20th century arts-and-letters sort of one. I’ll be starting these lovely treats soon.
I’m also still working my way through Dorothy Richardson’s “Pilgrimage” series, and this will continue through the rest of the year. I do sometimes get a bit downcast, because they’re Quite Hard, so I took this photo to comfort myself. See that sliver of Volume 3 after my bookmark? That’s July’s volume, just over 100 pages. And then Volume 4, while quite a substantial-looking volume, contains ALL THE REST OF THE BOOKS! So that’s five – FIVE – books in one volume. We can cope with that over five months, can’t we?!
I’m currently reading, alongside the Kynaston and a light novel I’ve just finished, my book on volcanoes in Icelandic – luckily, a children’s book, but with quite a lot of text still. Working my way on with my notebook and dictionary, it took me an hour to read the front cover, map legend and the first paragraph of the first page, but I’m getting there, and I’m remembering quite a lot of the grammar from Old Norse, which makes it easier for looking up (one day, if you’re lucky, I’ll share the wonderful order an Icelandic dictionary goes in – it does make sense, but it’s a bit hard to pick up!
These are the next books up on the front of the TBR (do you think I can read them all this month and reach One Shelf TBR? Not sure, as one is a George Eliot with thin pages and small print …). They’re all taking part in my #20BooksofSummer project – not all of the books on the back row are, so that might be interesting – and we’ve got a nice variety, I think, with two classic novels, two mid-century novels, a light mystery, a sports autobiography and an exploration autobiography. Read any of these? Anything catch your eye?
Before I go off and get on with my July reading, a quick mention of a resource that might be useful to some of my fellow book bloggers: over on my professional blog this week I published a piece on driving engagement with your blog. In other words, how to encourage people to read, comment on and share your posts. It’s written for everyone, not just full-time bloggers or business bloggers, and I hope it helps some of you in some way.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jul 01, 2016 @ 19:51:04
I am encouraged about the Richardson now – thank you for the photo of the thinness of the next story! š
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Liz Dexter
Jul 02, 2016 @ 06:05:08
I can report that it starts off comprehensible, too!
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heavenali
Jul 01, 2016 @ 21:24:17
I can’t imagine having a tbr as small as that – well done. Looking forward to your thoughts on Mill on the Floss. I think I read The Lighthearted Quest – I certainly read the first of those Ann Bridge novels.
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Liz Dexter
Jul 02, 2016 @ 06:05:59
It has been that small in the past so I see no reason why I can’t get it there again. Ha ha as I’m visiting a couple of different towns this month and they’re bound to have charity shops …
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FictionFan
Jul 02, 2016 @ 17:29:36
Woohoo! You’re doing well! But don’t you think that empty space is just crying out to be filled? Imagine what fun you could have in the bookshops… š
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Liz Dexter
Jul 02, 2016 @ 17:31:56
I might have been in a bookshop, clutching some book tokens today. I might have added some more books to the TBR …
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FictionFan
Jul 02, 2016 @ 17:32:49
Haha! Good for you! š
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Ste J
Jul 03, 2016 @ 13:59:11
Space, what a terrible thing on a bookshelf! Although well done for clearing space with your reading, it must feel good to have a manageable TBR pile…
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Liz Dexter
Jul 03, 2016 @ 16:07:55
Hm, see comment above, I appear to have removed some of the space now …
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Tina
Jul 06, 2016 @ 08:03:47
Why is everyone reading the Richardson?And i get the impression its not an enjoyable read?
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Liz Dexter
Jul 06, 2016 @ 17:19:30
Thank you for dropping by, Tina! A few of us decided to tackle them together, month by month. It is a challenging read – it’s an early modernist masterpiece, although actually what a lot of us are getting is a new appreciation of Virginia Woolf, whose writing IS a lot clearer. It’s fun reading along together, and it will be good to have read the whole lot. It is very interesting, too!
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