Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Reading Update [January - April]

You might think it's funny, but I always feel that the first four months of my reading year is the most important one. If I screw up, the entire year would be a failure. But, if I somehow manage to strive, I'd be relieved, because I know it's going to be okay. That's why, I usually post my first (if not only!) reading updates in early May (or sometimes I call it 'post Zoladdiction'.) Now let's see how I've managed so far...

JANUARY

Original plan:
1. Eugene Onegin ~ Pushkin - for #CCSpin25 (⭐⭐⭐1/2) ✔
2. The Conquest of Plassans [reread] ~ Zola (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) ✔

==DONE==

Addition:
3. Death in the Clouds ~ Christie (⭐⭐⭐⭐) ➕

FEBRUARY

Original Plan:
4. Nicholas Nickleby ~ Dickens - for #NicholasNicklebyReadalong2021 (⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2) ✔

==DONE==

MARCH

Original Plan:
5. Things Fall Apart ~ Achebe (⭐⭐⭐1/2) ✔
6. The Tale of Genji ~ Shikibu ❌ - My copy is curiously missing from the bookcase!!?
- replaced by ➡️ Murder in Mesopotamia ~ Christie (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) ✔

Addition:
7. The ABC Murders ~ Christie (⭐⭐⭐1/2) ➕

APRIL

Original Plan:
8. The Sin of Abbé Mouret [reread] ~ Zola - for #Zoladdiction2021 (⭐⭐⭐1/2) ✔
9. A Biography of Émile Zola ~ Zola ~ Alan Schom - for #Zoladdiction2021 (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) ✔

==DONE==

SUMMARY

Books read = 9 of 8
Challenge/readalong accomplished = 2
Most favorite = A Biography of Émile Zola

WHAT'S NEXT?

MAY

My Ántonia ~ Cather
One of Ours ~ Cather - for #CCSpin26
❌ Originally: Return of the Native ~ Hardy

JUNE

The Beautiful and Damned ~ Fitzgerald - originally for #JazzAgeJune2021, but unfortunately Laurie and I are not able to host, so I'm going to do this 'quietly'.
The Hunchback of Notredame ~ Hugo - for #hunchbackreadalong (Nick's Chapter-a-Day-Read-Along)

JULY

✳ (continuing) The Hunchback of Notredame ~ Hugo - for #hunchbackreadalong
❌ Originally: His Excellency Eugene Rougon [reread] ~ Zola - my least favorite of Rougon Macquart, can't stand it, so.. SKIP!
✳ (non classic/non fiction) Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co. ~ Jeremy Mercer

AUGUST

✳ (continuing) The Hunchback of Notredame ~ Hugo - for #hunchbackreadalong
Pilgrim's Progress ~ Bunyan
Return of the Native ~ Hardy

Wish me luck for the next four months! I had a feeling it would be awesome.

4 comments:

  1. I loved One of Ours, I hope you enjoy it. And I am sorry to hear about Eugene Rougon, I was thinking about tackling it this summer! I hope I haven't read all of Zola's best work already, I still have about five left.

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    1. So far, I'm enjoying One of Ours, and I think I have a hint on what makes it won Pulitzer.
      Eugene Rougon is my least favorite from the family - a man without personality - and thus uninteresting and boring. But good luck, Karen, maybe you'd enjoy it more than I do :)

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  2. Hopefully I'll see you for Nick's Hunchback readalong...if I ever finish The Mirror and the Light!!!!

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    Replies
    1. I think you'll catch it up nicely, Brona. My method usually read the chapters required within the week, then I can read something else. Not necessarily reading one chapter a day, as long as you can get along with the other. ;)

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