Merry Christmas, one and all! I trust everyone had a safe and happy holiday. Christmas was a strange event down here in the South, as temperatures pegged the 80s and we've had a rash of tornadoes and flooding the last two days. Instead of seasonal sweaters, people are wearing tank-tops and shorts! I never saw the first Christmas movie, and never really felt the bug until witnessing a woman lost in reverie listening to "O Come All Ye Faithful" on Christmas Eve. Christmas brought very little bookish news; I gave a couple of books as gifts (
The Last Goodbye, Reed Arvin;
Four, Veronica Roth) and received John Grisham's latest,
Rogue Lawyer. I probably won't be reading that until the new year, as my mental faculties have been taken up processing
Emma. I am roughly halfway through. It will probably be the last book I read this year, but I nailed my annual target back in November. Finishing
Emma will complete that 2015 Reading Challenge in the nick of time,
and mark my first entry down for the Classics Club. The book itself has given me a challenge:
"And then, her reserve—I never could attach myself to any one so completely reserved."
"It is a most repulsive quality, indeed," said he. "Oftentimes very convenient, no doubt, but never pleasing. There is safety in reserve, but no attraction. One cannot love a reserved person."
As someone who lives in a reserved state most of the time, that statement cut a little close to the bone. Perhaps it will inspire a New Year's resolution on my part.
I hope that you persevere with Emma. She's worth it [grin].
ReplyDeleteA Merry Christmas to you & Yours. I have some interesting books to review in 2016. No doubt you do too! I do find it funny though that as we share an interest in many things that we hardly end up reading the same books - and definitely not at the same time. I mean... what are the odds?
Oh, yes! January should be fun. I'm going to be keeping it more balanced than the last couple of months have been, reining in history so to speak.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of books we share in common, recently you did "You Are Not a Gadget", which is one I've been interested in for a couple of years now. I haven't gone for it for the same reason I haven't watched "The World According to Monsanto" -- it would be preaching to the choir at this point!
I know what you mean. I feel the same way about Atheist polemics. I've read some and have a few more in my TBR pile but I either find them incredibly dull or really annoying.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading my 3rd technology book presently and have one more Titanic book (on finding the wreck) then two 'off topic non-fiction before a triple on Germany and a contrasting triple on Humanity in general. That and my fiction reading should see my well into the New Year.
Will the German triple include "Ring of Steel"? I have access to that now, and will be reading it in the coming year.
ReplyDeleteGoodreads just reccommended "1901" to me. It's an alt-history tale about Germany deciding to attack the United States to gain its ill-gotten booty from the Spanish-American order. It's not something I'm going to try, but Conroy has a few other books, too.
I have two science books lined up to start the new year with, neither of which were on that TBR list. One of them was worth buying just for the title.
No 'Ring of Steel' yet - though I'll probably be reading it next year too.... The 3 books include a history of Prussia, the hyper-inflation of the Wiemar Republic in the 20's/30's and Berlin in the 1960's.
ReplyDeleteRichard Conroy has written LOTS of alt-history. Not read any of them (or own any of them) but they do look interesting.... [grin]
Definitely need more Science in my life next year. This years haul was pitiful.