Monday, August 14, 2017

To Be Read



I have multiple ways of finding out about books I think I would like. Obviously, as a book blogger, I read other book blogs and get loads of ideas that way. I also pick up Book Notes from my library each month and go through it, reading about all sorts of new books in various genres. And then there's chatting with friends and scanning the feed on GoodReads. I rarely browse bookstores as there aren't any near me, but that's still fun when I travel.

Here's my list of the 12 most recent additions I've made to my GoodReads To Read shelf. No telling if or when I will get to these. Their order is simply most recently added to my potential reading list.

  1. The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, E.M. Forster and the Year that Changed Literature, by Bill Goldstein - btw, the year was 1922. Source - Book Notes
  2. Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult, Bruce Handy - I like to read books I think I should've gotten around to writing. I love rereading children's books and I love talking about children's books that impacted me personally. Source - Book Notes
  3. A Very French Christmas: The Great French Holiday Stories of All Time - my friend Lucy at Fictional 100 reviewed this and I put it on my December reading list. With stories by Guy de Maupassant, George Sand, Victor Hugo, et al, how could I not love this? Source - book blog
  4. Happy All the Time, by Laurie Colwin - I loved her Home Cooking and part of it was her excellent writing, so I thought I would give one of her novels a try. Source - book blog (Lakeside Musing for Home Cooking) and then GoodReads for which novel of Colwin's to try.
  5. The Wayfarer's Handbook: A Field Guide for the Independent Traveler, by Evan S. Rice - I love to travel...on my own terms. This book appeals to the wanderlust I harbor. Source - Facebook ad.
  6. London Belongs to Me, by Norman Collins - Karen at Books and Chocolate reviewed this and it appealed to me at the time but I'm not entirely sure I'll ever actually get to it. Source - book blog.
  7. Bruno, Chief of Police, by Martin Walker - first in a series set in the French countryside with a policeman as the detective. Seems a bit like the Donna Leon Guido Brunetti novels. I love the premise and good series are great fun and always good when you don't know what to read next. Source - I can't remember!
  8. The Widow Nash, by Jamie Harrison - everyone seems to be reading and reviewing this lately, and I like to read newly released books as well as the tried and true.  Historical fiction - Europe, New York, Africa, Montana - perfect! Source - many blogs.
  9. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, by Matthew J. Sullivan - another 2017 book and this one by a Colorado author (I think it's set in Denver but not 100% sure on that). I can't resist bookstore books. Source - Book Notes.
  10. Vindolanda, by Adrian Goldsworthy - yep, it's another Hadrian's Wall (Reading Northumberland) book, but brand new and set in the time period just before the wall was started. I first learned about it from Margaret at Books Please, and then saw it in a few museum shops during our walk last month. I plan to read it very soon--just need to finish up a couple of other books first. Source - book blog.
  11. Seven Stones to Stand or Fall, by Diana Gabaldon - a collection of short stories, probably to tide us fans over while she works on her next Jamie/Claire tome. I'm reading Voyager right now, but these short stories will be fun as filler. Source - GoodReads newsletter.
  12. A Piece of the World, by Christina Baker Kline - a novel inspired by the Andrew Wyeth painting Christina's World. I have always loved this painting and I like the subgenre of telling a story about how a particular painting came to be. This is another that appealed enough that I wanted to remember it, but not sure I will ever actually get to it. Source - can't remember.

Let me know if I should push any of these to the top of the TBR pile, and how do you find out about good books?

Happy reading.




13 comments:

  1. Besides friends' blogs and online book clubs, I read book catalogs from publishers I like and subscribe to their email mailing lists. This makes more sense for smallish publishers that have a manageable number of new titles a few times a year. I used to find new books via NYTimes book review, New York Review of Books, but less so now since my interests have shifted. I am a library and bookstore browser still, but I often find books these days online through the network of similar books on Amazon. And I listen to a few podcasts and cable shows that recommend books. When I list all the sources, it's easy to see how my home stacks of TBRs mount up! I'm intrigued by several of your travel and history books!

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    1. Okay, Lucy--fess up. Which podcasts about books do you love?

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  2. Finding new books that I want to read is easy--on bookish blogs, at the library, at the bookstore, on Goodreads, etc.--it's finding the time to read them all that's hard. :D

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    1. No kidding. There is no dearth of great books, just of ample time! I did read something over the weekend that totally resonated--you cannot find time, you can only make time :)

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  3. Hi JaneGS

    When I hear about a new book that I am interested in I check Publisher's Weekly to see what they have to say about it and if the book has a starred review that's a sign it might be worth reading because PW doesn't give out stars easily.

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    1. I like that approach! I've never looked to see if PW is available online, but I assume it is.

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  4. It looks like you have some very interesting books on deck.

    I have so many books that I want to read that I almost do not want to add any more to my list! Of course I read about books on blogs or hear about books in conversations that I want to read.

    I cannot even imagine starting a GoodReads "To Read" list.

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    1. My GoodReads To Read list is the best way I know of to keep track of books that interest me but maybe I don't want to get right away :)

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  5. Adding the World Broke in Two to my wishlist now - thanks!

    My boss loves the Bruno series - he's a Francophile and apparently Bruno loves to eat well too :-)

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  6. Lark at Lark writes... blogged about A Piece of the World, by Christina Baker Kline, maybe that is where you heard about it? It is also on my list as it the London Belongs to Me.

    I also listen to a ton of Book related podcasts and can recommend Reading Envy (if you like it, contact Jenny and be a guest...I've done it and it was a great experience), The Readers, Literary Disco, Tea or Books, So Many Damn Books and Book Fight.

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  7. These selections all look fantastic. I am constantly adding to the list of books I want to read . . . it would take me several years to get through the entire list. My favorite high school English teacher once said she realized she would never read all of the books on her must read list, but she would keep on trying! That is my philosophy as well.

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  8. Now adding The World Broke In Two to my TBR!

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  9. Hi Jane, my husband has read all the Bruno / Martin Walker series and likes them. I think if you know southern France /the Dordogne area especially you will like them a lot. I will likely have to check out the Widow Nash as I don't know that one but it looks intriguing. thx for the list!

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