Well, Christmas is over and another year has begun, so it’s time to review the last 12 months and make resolutions for the future. Looking back, it’s taken me a while to get the blog up and running, in a format that I’m more or less pleased with, but I’ve enjoyed reading, writing, and exploring other people’s blogs.
Worst books that I posted about were, undoubtedly, MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death and Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden – the first was so terrible I forced myself to read the second to see if it really was that bad, and it was. They were closely followed by Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire, A Confidential Report, by Iain Sinclair, which I hated, hated, hated. And The Irish RM, by Somerville and Ross, was pretty dire, as well as being one of the unfunniest ‘funny’ books I’ve ever encountered.
On the plus side I discovered the poetry of Seamus Heaney, Christopher Morley’s enchanting Parnassus on Wheels, which should be required reading for all book lovers and, surprisingly perhaps since romantic fiction is not my usual métier, Love Letters, by Katie Fforde, which was well written and was a lovely, light, frothy, feel-good novel.
I read a lot of old favourites (classics mainly) which I didn’t write about, and had enormous fun racing through six books in seven weeks when I joined CarrieK’s Ireland Reading Challenge 2011 at the point when most other people were winding up. It was so enjoyable I’ve signed up for all sorts of challenges in 2012.
Highspot of my year was an invitation to be a guest blogger at Vulpes Libris ( http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/a-bookish-family/ ). The team there produce such wonderfully readable and erudite reviews that I was really honoured to be given the chance to write about my own love of books, and touched by the amazing response from those who read it.
Now for the resolutions:
- Take the library books back on time (or remember to renew them online).
- Blog regularly.
- Be organised, especially with challenges – don’t leave it until the last minute to read a hefty tome which requires much more time and thought.
- Write reviews (or notes) at the time of reading, rather than typing up a ‘job lot’ every few weeks.
- Stretch! I’d really like to try and read more non-English speaking authors (in translation, of course). I'm looking at modern Russian writers, Eastern Europeans, and Scandanavians, and any suggestions would be very welcome.
Finally, thank you for taking a look in The Book Trunk – and happy reading to you all.
I tried reading AR years ago, and just couldn't get past the first few pages. I do, however, like Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series. It isn't great lit, but I'm fond of Hamish and so I read on. Twenty-some so far.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Scandinavians, my favorite is Arnaldur Indridason who writes of an Icelandic detective called Erlendur. I am completely captivated by the characters and that country.