slog review progress

I’m now even further behind writing up what I’ve read since I continued to consume books these past few weeks. I’ve lost count on all that I’ve read, I’ve plugged them into Goodreads, so I know that I’m quite far ahead in my 2011 Reading Challenge. As of the drafting of this post, I had completed 82 books toward my goal for 2011 of 111 books. I’m curious — when do you think I’ll finish my 111th book this year? What genre will it be?

I’ll include three short draft reviews with this post, but beware, they are terrible! I should pause my consumption and take an hour or two to write up thoughts about what I’ve read. A day or two after those drafts I should edit what I’ve written, but the intake volume is outstripping my speed reading. I’d love to clear off my nightstand area before the cat causes too much havoc or the wind from all these drafts knocks everything to the floor in a messy heap again.

Part of the problem is that I should not be allowed in used bookstores when I’m hungry or tired. I was both last week and hit three (or four, I’m not sure) different used bookstores and the result was that about 15 books came home with me. On the plus side, I don’t think I spent over $20 in total for them, but that’s quite a lot of reading to add to my list!

Without planning I tend to group books together with similar themes. I have a fourth of similar thought trails to add to this list, but it’s from the library and not due for a few more days so it is waiting.

The Handmaid’s Tale
by Margaret Atwood @MargaretAtwood
How had I not read this already? It’s been on my to-read list for years. I picked up a paperback last year at the Mark Twain Library Book Sale and started it but set it aside after a few pages for reasons unknown. Friends recently made comments based on the story and mirrored my quizzical expression with one of their own when they discovered I hadn’t read all of it. I wanted to just finish it so I finally looked and discovered an epub edition at my awesome library so I checked it out and quickly finished the story on the train. I now obsessively confirm my continued unhindered access to all my financial accounts. Combine that with the most recent economic turmoil for fun and exciting adventures.

The Onion Girl
by Charles de Lint @cdelint
This story is not for the faint of heart and for many will unfortunately be difficult to get through touching on hurts deep but never forgotten. I think this is the first novel I’ve read in de Lint’s Newford Series, but it quickly felt familiar to me. I don’t recommend this particular story as your first, but I do highly highly recommend de Lint’s writing. If you want to read more about what you might be in for please read de Lint’s page for The Onion Girl.

The Lady
by Anne McCaffrey
I think I picked this up at the Pequot Library Summer Booksale (Maybe I should keep track of these things?) This title has been on my to read list for a long time in my quest to read all of McCaffrey’s writing. Similar themes and elements to her stories shine through yet it is placed in a locale that is comprehendible enough to this American child of the 1980s that I love it even more than I expected to. McCaffrey’s passion for horses shines though and combined with her characters kicks this title up a notch.

Are any of these three easy? No. Did they each make me stop and think? Yes. Now I have to figure out how to Do and not just Think about them.

What have you read recently that made you stop and question your world?

• Category: books