Kidsmum's Reading Log 2013

[Devi]

I really enjoyed The Road by Cormac McCarthy!

[chesilbeach]

Cheerful Weather For The Wedding  Julia Strachey

Good Evening Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter - Downes

Someone At A Distance  Dorothy Whipple

 

These were all in the same charity shop & are  Persephone Classics, i couldn't believe my luck & literally jumped up & down i was so excited when i found them. The covers are absolutely beautiful & are worth keeping just for those alone 

 

Wow, great books! I've read Good Evening Mrs Craven which has a lovely sense of fun and wit, despite the fact there's a war on, and also Someone At A Distance which I felt was the very thoughtful book - one to take your time with and think about.

[Kidsmum]

What a bookful day, Kidsmum. You're going to read some wonderful stories, believe me!

 

Thanks Eleonora, i'm sure i will enjoy them when i eventually get round to reading them. The trouble with having so many books is you all most have too much choice 

 

I'm glad you had a great day, Kidsmum. Have fun reading your books !

 

Thank you Athena, i certainly will 

 

I really enjoyed The Road by Cormac McCarthy!

 

I don't think it's a book i would normally of gone for Devi if i hadn't read & enjoyed Wool so much but i'm finding more & more that it's a good thing to step out of your comfort zone & try different things 

 

Wow, great books! I've read Good Evening Mrs Craven which has a lovely sense of fun and wit, despite the fact there's a war on, and also Someone At A Distance which I felt was the very thoughtful book - one to take your time with and think about.

 

I couldn't believe it when i found 3 Persephone books in one shop, it was such a lucky find & they were only £1 each & in mint condition. Out of the three Someone At A Distance sounds like the most interesting it's my favourite cover as well, now i just need to make the time to read it 

[poppyshake]

What a find!! I love Persephone books I've read Good Evening Mrs Craven and Cheerful Weather for the Wedding and enjoyed both enormously. I have Someone At a Distance too but haven't read it yet. Goodness! why is it I only ever see Lee Child or Wendy Holden at the charity shops Well done KM .. enjoy!!  

[Kidsmum]

What a find!! I love Persephone books I've read Good Evening Mrs Craven and Cheerful Weather for the Wedding and enjoyed both enormously. I have Someone At a Distance too but haven't read it yet. Goodness! why is it I only ever see Lee Child or Wendy Holden at the charity shops Well done KM .. enjoy!!  

 

Thanks Poppy, they really were a find hidden amongst the crime novels 

[Kidsmum]

My order form The Bookpeople arrived today 3 books by Rumer Godden for 4.99, a bargain! They are:

 

Breakfast with the Nikolides

Kingfishers Catch Fire

Black Narcissus

 

Quite a few years ago i saw a programme about her life on the TV & found her quite a fascinating person . She grew up in India, married a man who turned out to be a dead loss & ended up having to support her family by writing. A lot of her books are set in India but she also wrote a childrens book The Diddakoi which was turned into a TV series called Kizzy, i don't know if anyone else remembers this but it it was one of my favourite programmes when i was a child 

[chesilbeach]

Black Narcissus is an incredibly good film - I never knew it was a book first.  It's a 1946 Powell-Pressburger film starring Deborah Kerr, with amazing cinematography by the legendary Jack Cardiff.  If you like the book, I'd highly recommend watching the film at some point.

[Kidsmum]

Thanks Chesil, i didn't know they'd made a movie of it, i'll have to check it out 

[Kidsmum]

My sister's  visiting again & we went on a charity shop trawl in Otley . I came home with some fantastic books:

 

Bring Larks & Heroes  Thomas Keneally

The Greengage Summer  Rumer Godden

Where Angels Fear To Tread  E.M. Forster

Suite Francaise  Irene Nemirovsky

Human Croquet  Kate Atkinson

Staying On  Paul Scott

Snow Flower and The Secret Fan  Lisa See

Grimble & Grimble At Christmas  Clement Freud

 

The Grimble book i bought for the children, it gets rave reviews on Amazon, so at 10p it was a great find 

[Janet]

Greal haul.    I have The Greengage Summer on my wish list, so I'll be interested to know what you think of it when you get round to it. 

[Kidsmum]

Greal haul.    I have The Greengage Summer on my wish list, so I'll be interested to know what you think of it when you get round to it. 

 

I'll be sure to do a mini review on it Janet 

 

I've decided that next year one of my resolutions will be not to buy any books for the whole year in an attempt to get my TBR mountain down as even the children are starting to moan at me about how much space my books are taking up. When i got home yesterday with my new books my eldest son said " Mum why are you buying more books when you've got piles of them everywhere , it's ridiculous!" I couldn't argue because he's right i have hundreds of books to choose from so why am i buying more. I figure that if i just keep a wishlist & add the books i want to get to that instead of buying them & i don't go in any charity shops for a year i can do it 

[Janet]

Good luck.   

 

I hope you have better success than me - I resolve that every year! 

[frankie]

Great haul! I just read poppyshake's review on the Nemirovsky book, it should be a good one! I've read her The Ball novel, if that's what it was called (I can't remember the English title for sure) and it was good

 

Edit: Okay now I've got to ask: what's your exact Mount TBR? And how many books have you acquired this year, and do you think it would be a very difficult task for you for next year, to try and not buy any more new books?

Edited August 16, 2013 by frankie

[Kidsmum]

Good luck. 

 

I hope you have better success than me - I resolve that every year! 

 

Me too but this time i've got my determined head on 

 

Great haul! I just read poppyshake's review on the Nemirovsky book, it should be a good one! I've read her The Ball novel, if that's what it was called (I can't remember the English title for sure) and it was good

 

Edit: Okay now I've got to ask: what's your exact Mount TBR? And how many books have you acquired this year, and do you think it would be a very difficult task for you for next year, to try and not buy any more new books?

Yes i was really excited to find The Nemirovsky book i don't think i would have bought it if i hadn't read Poppyshake's review first as i've not heard of her before but i had a quick peek on Amazon & all her books seem to be popular. As far as Mount TBR goes i finally got round to counting them up this morning & i have 557 books - this doesn't include 2 shelves of reference books which are a mixture of mine, Alan's & the childrens' books but it does include some of Alan's books (roughly 10) which i'm not really interested in reading. I'm not sure how many of them i've bought this year as i abandoned my books bought list fairly early on in the year but quite a lot i think   It will be difficult not to buy any books & ideally i'd like to halve that amount but i figure if i set myself a target of getting down to 500 first it wont seem so daunting. So the book buying ban comes into effect as of today 

[poppyshake]

I've decided that next year one of my resolutions will be not to buy any books for the whole year in an attempt to get my TBR mountain down  

It can't be done KM can it?  It would be like winter without Christmas .. and summer without ice cream .. and spring without chocolate and autumn without ... ermmm ... sausages The best of luck though .. that is one serious resolution  and it would make you feel very virtuous I imagine .. but perhaps deprived too Can you actually browse bookstores/charity shops without wanting to buy books? .. I mean I don't always buy books when browsing .. I often don't but I know I can if I want to and that sustains me. Are you good at sticking to resolutions in general? Your determined head will probably make all the difference It'll be a great achievement anyhow.

[Inver]

How are you enjoying Case Histories?

[Kidsmum]

It can't be done KM can it?  It would be like winter without Christmas .. and summer without ice cream .. and spring without chocolate and autumn without ... ermmm ... sausages The best of luck though .. that is one serious resolution  and it would make you feel very virtuous I imagine .. but perhaps deprived too Can you actually browse bookstores/charity shops without wanting to buy books? .. I mean I don't always buy books when browsing .. I often don't but I know I can if I want to and that sustains me. Are you good at sticking to resolutions in general? Your determined head will probably make all the difference It'll be a great achievement anyhow.

 

I know it's a tough call isn't it   but it has to be done i'm afraid we're very short of space as it is with all 8 of us wodged into a 3 bedroomed house.I shall just have to be strong & walk past the charity shops maybe i'll invest in a pair  of blinkers  I had my first real test yesterday when we  took the children to Harewood House for the day, they had a lovely little second hand bookshop & i did manage to browse without buying mainly because i left my purse with Alan for safe keeping. If i add books to my wishlist then it'll be almost as good as buying them & at least they'll be there ready for when i reach my target & can i treat myself again 

How are you enjoying Case Histories?

 

Hi Inver   I really enjoyed it lots of interesting characters in it & i liked the ending as well i have a few of her other books on my shelf which i'm looking forward to reading now that i've imposed a book buying ban on myself  Have you read any of her books? 

[Athena]

Good luck with your book buying ban! It sounds very difficult, to me.. So I hope you'll do really well !

[Inver]

Yes I have read Case Histories, One Good Turn , to read When will there be good News (Jackson Brodies)

 

Behind the Scenes at Museum, which was her first one and the first I read, which was a good read. Still have Emotionally Weird on my shelf (been there for years...lol) to read.

[willoyd]

Yes I have read Case Histories, One Good Turn , to read When will there be good News (Jackson Brodies)

 

Behind the Scenes at Museum, which was her first one and the first I read, which was a good read. Still have Emotionally Weird on my shelf (been there for years...lol) to read.

 

That was the one book of hers that I struggled with, and didn't finish, whilst Case Histories was one of my all-time favourite detective novels.

[poppyshake]

I know it's a tough call isn't it   but it has to be done i'm afraid we're very short of space as it is with all 8 of us wodged into a 3 bedroomed house.I shall just have to be strong & walk past the charity shops maybe i'll invest in a pair  of blinkers  I had my first real test yesterday when we  took the children to Harewood House for the day, they had a lovely little second hand bookshop & i did manage to browse without buying mainly because i left my purse with Alan for safe keeping. If i add books to my wishlist then it'll be almost as good as buying them & at least they'll be there ready for when i reach my target & can i treat myself again 

I know Claire felt really good when she banned herself from buying books until she'd read all her TBR's so it can be done and I'm sure you can do it   I even walked through Waterstone's and other bookshops with her myself when we were out having coffee and she didn't show the slightest sign of wavering. That's a good ploy to browse when you're purseless We're getting short of space here too and I have too many on the shelves unread but I'm too weak willed (same with cake ) .. I know I'd crumble. I have been buying less and less though and so that's progress of sorts  Good luck!!

[vodkafan]

I'll be sure to do a mini review on it Janet 

 

I've decided that next year one of my resolutions will be not to buy any books for the whole year in an attempt to get my TBR mountain down as even the children are starting to moan at me about how much space my books are taking up. When i got home yesterday with my new books my eldest son said " Mum why are you buying more books when you've got piles of them everywhere , it's ridiculous!" I couldn't argue because he's right i have hundreds of books to choose from so why am i buying more. I figure that if i just keep a wishlist & add the books i want to get to that instead of buying them & i don't go in any charity shops for a year i can do it 

 

You can do it Kidsmum ! But don't forget if there is a book you really want you can always try to get it from someone as a swop, that way the number of books in the house doesn't increase.

 

I don't agree with browsing books when you have no money though that just makes you feel miserable like you are denying yourself.

[pontalba]

You can do it Kidsmum ! But don't forget if there is a book you really want you can always try to get it from someone as a swop, that way the number of books in the house doesn't increase.

 

I don't agree with browsing books when you have no money though that just makes you feel miserable like you are denying yourself.

 

I am not a browser.  If I browse, I buy.  Hands down.  What I actually need to do is remove the Amazon quick link from my favorites.......

 

But it can be done. /sigh/  It really can. It really can.  It really can.  It really can!

Edited August 24, 2013 by pontalba

[chaliepud]

Good luck with getting your TBR pile down KM, I tried to do the same last year, with some success. My rule now is that all my TBR's must fit on one shelf.. It's a crowded shelf but it does limit numbers somewhat.

[Devi]

 

Good luck with getting your TBR pile down KM, I tried to do the same last year, with some success. My rule now is that all my TBR's must fit on one shelf.. It's a crowded shelf but it does limit numbers somewhat.

I think i need to start doing this! seems like the best of both worlds.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Devi