I’ve returned a number of books and I’ve “quit” a few challenges and so I’m feeling remarkably free to read whatever I want! I’m thinking I may take a page out of the NaNoWriMo’s book and go blog silent (or at least quieter) while I work on other projects this holiday season.

For example, I have a 750-page book that I’ve always been intimidated by. It’s Jesus the Christ by James E. Tallmadge, and it examines the life and mission of the Savior by turning to the scriptures (including LDS scripture). I think I’m going to dedicate December to reading that; it seems the appropriate month for it. I’ll also read a little bit of other things (such as The Pillow Book), but I’m looking forward to stepping back and focusing on a long (and intimidating) book that I really do want to read.

Until then, the next week will also be slower reading-wise as I get caught up on finishing the Harlem Renaissance studying, reading a shorter really old classic or two (I read one last night!), and reading the Gaskell novel for the upcoming circuit. I started Mary Barton the other day and I am so excited to continue reading it after this beautiful passage:

“It was an early May evening – the April of the poets; for heavy showers had fallen all the morning, and the round soft, white clouds which were blown by a west wind over the dark blue sky, were sometimes varied by one blacker and more threatening. The softness of the day tempted forth the young green leaves, which almost visibly fluttered into life; and the willows, which that morning had had only a brown reflection in the water below, were now of that tender gray-green which blends so delicately with the spring harmony of colours.” (page 7)

How is your reading this week? What are you planning for December? Will you be reading slower? Or are you speeding up to finish all your challenges?

Finished Books

These are the books I did finish this week.

  • Two Histories of England by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens (160 pages; fictionalized nonfiction). FINISHED! For the Everything Austen Challenge. I first saw this on Heather J.’s blog and immediately had to go put it on hold so I could read it too!
  • Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton (285 pages; fiction). FINISHED!
  • Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks (audiobook, on 5 of 5 CDS; nonfiction). FINISHED! For the Science Book Challenge. So MAD to discover on the last CD that all of it had been abridged.
  • The King of Inventors: A Life of Wilkie Collins by Catherine Peters (425 pages; nonfiction/biography). FINISHED! For the Collins Classic Circuit tomorrow.
  • Aucassin et Nicolete by an anonymous author, translated by Andrew Lang (about 45 pages; fiction/really old classic). FINISHED! I loved revisiting this old favorite!

Abandoned Books

I returned unread two books this week.

  • Wilkie Collins: A Biography by Kenneth Robinson (nonfiction/biography). I decided to read the Peters’ biography only.
  • Wilkie Collins : A Literary Life by Graham Law (nonfiction/biography). I decided to read the Peters’ biography only.

Currently Reading

Each week, I list my progress so I can see how my reading compares week to week.

My Books

I’m going to add some other books of mine in the coming week.

  • Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and Their Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson (85 read of 350/455 pages; nonfiction).
  • Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History from Aesop to Harry Potter by Seth Lerer (295 read of 330 pages; nonfiction). For My History of Children’s Literature Project.
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (20 read of 196 pages; children’s fiction). For My History of Children’s Literature Project. I may get to this book this week!

Old Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

  • Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell (35 read of 484 pages; fiction). For the Gaskell Classic Circuit. I’ve read a little and I like it so far!
  • Carmen by Georges Bizet (opera). I’ve just begun this!
  • The Harlem Renaissance edited by Harold Bloom (nonfiction/essays). Background info for the upcoming (February) Classics Circuit.
  • The Harlem Renaissance: An Explosion of African-American culture by Richard Worth (on 40 of 125 pages; children’s nonfiction). Background info for the upcoming (February) Classics Circuit.
  • Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country (Bloom Commentary) (45 read of 115 pages; nonfiction/commentary). For my book club tonight! I may or may not read the other essays in this book.
  • Harlem STOMP! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance by Laban Carrick Hill (on 55 of 135 pages; nonfiction/coffee table book). Background info for the upcoming (February) Classics Circuit.

New Library Loot

The only books I got were a bunch of “remodel your attic and basement books.” I’ll probably return them this week; I was just dreaming. I also picked up another opera for when I finish Carmen this week.

  • Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (sound recording CD).

Finds

I’ll list all the Collins and Gaskell novels I want to read at the end of the Circuits!

  • How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer. The next book by Lehrer.
  • The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. Nymeth reviewed this other Sacks book the same day I reviewed my Sacks book!
  • Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter. Eva reviewed this and it sounds just geeky enough to be delightful.