I feel I’m finally getting a balance back between reading and blogging. It felt very good to be unplugged for nearly five days, and I think I may have to do that more often. I’m also trying to shy away from challenges in the coming year. There are so many that have tempted me, but I think I’d rather have freedom to read whatever I want to once I close a book and want to pick up the next. I have enough structure as it is, with the Classics Circuit and book groups and so forth.

Fiction and Nonfiction Reviews

In November, I reviewed a few things I finished previously.

• Macbeth by Shakespeare (190 pages; play and essay of commentary).
• Jane Austen: A Biography by Carol Shields (5 CDs about 5 hours total; nonfiction/biography).
• The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (550 pages; fiction).
• Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonas Lehrer (200 pages; nonfiction).
• Too Many Cooks by Emily Franklin (360 pages; nonfiction/memoir/cookbook).
• Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom by Julia Child (110 pages; nonfiction/reference/cookbook).
• North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (425 pages; fiction).

I also read or reviewed the following:

• Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton (285 pages; fiction).
• Jane Austen’s Little Advice Book by Jane Austen, edited by Cathryn Michon and Pamela Norris (125 pages; quotes from Austen’s fiction).
• My Life in France by Julia Child (300 pages; nonfiction/memoir).
• The Secret Life of Wilkie Collins by William Clarke (205 pages; nonfiction/biography).
• Two Histories of England by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens (160 pages; fictionalized nonfiction).
• Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton (285 pages; fiction).
• Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks (abridged audiobook, on 5 of 5 CDS; nonfiction).
• The King of Inventors by Catherine Peters (425 pages; nonfiction/biography).
• Aucassin et Nicolete by an anonymous author, translated by Andrew Lang (about 35 pages; fiction/really old classic).
• Medea by Euripides, translated by Rex Warner (about 50 pages).
• Harlem STOMP! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance by Laban Carrick Hill (135 pages; nonfiction/coffee table book).
• Carmen by Georges Bizet (opera on CD, plus commentary).
• Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (opera on CD, plus commentary).  I’m tired of opera this week!
• Carmen by Prosper Merimee (about 60 pages, from Project Gutenberg; fiction).
• Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History from Aesop to Harry Potter by Seth Lerer (330 pages; nonfiction).
• Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell (484 pages; fiction).
• The Harlem Renaissance: An Explosion of African-American culture by Richard Worth (115 pages; children’s nonfiction).
• My Antonia by Willa Cather (265 pages; fiction).

Other Posts

Not all my posts were reviews this month.

• October in Review
• Reading Journal (4 Nov): Reading Progress and Library Loot
• Reading Journal (11 Nov): I Am a Quitter
• Reading Journal (18 Nov): Planning for a Quiet December
• Reading Journal (25 November): Unplugged Edition

Challenges Update

As I mentioned in my I Am a Quitter reading journal, I decided to quit a few challenges early. I will be incorporating some of those books in to my monthly plans, but I think I need to step away from challenges. I’m hoping I can revisit my monthly goals at the beginning of each month and play it by ear a bit more.

Past and Ended Challenges

• 9 for 09 challenge [ends 27/12/09] 4/9 QUIT EARLY. I decided not to put the necessary effort into this challenge.
• BiblioShakespeare Challenge [ends 31/12/09]. 4/6 QUIT EARLY. I decided not to put the necessary effort into this challenge. I will do better at reading Shakespeare next year!
• Science Book Challenge [ends 31/12/09]. 3/3 FINISHED.
• The Spice of Life Challenge [ends 31/1209]. 8/6 FINISHED. I loved this, as it was my own challenge!
• World Citizen Challenge [ends 31/12/09]. 5/7 Postponed. I’ll probably read the last few books next year!
• Dewey Decimal Reading Challenge [ends 31/12/09]. 10/10 FINISHED. I read Children’s Literature for the 800’s century.

Challenge Progress

Some projects appear on more than one list because part of the challenge is timed, but the overall project is not. I’ve made a note if I’m currently reading a book that applies to a particular challenge.

See the list of books I’ve read and what I’m planning on reading for each challenge on my Current Challenges page.

Timed Challenges

Everything Austen Challenge [ends 31/12/09] 5/6 (Coming up: a Jane Austen-ish moive)
The Japanese Literature Challenge [ends 30/01/10]. 0/1 (Currently in progress: The Pillow Book. I will read this over the next few months.)
Really Old Classics Challenge [ends 28/02/10]. 2/4 + 0/1 retelling
Women Unbound [ends 30/11/10]. 2/8

Personal Projects

HTR&W project: poetry. 0/21 poems I’ll begin this project in earnest come the new year.
Nobel Challenge. 15/101 authors
Pulitzer Challenge. 12/82
Newbery Medal. 29/88
Caldecott Medal.  44/72
My History of Children’s Literature Project. 6/15 chapters (I’ve finished the book, but I am reading novels from chapter 6 still. In progress: Treasure Island)
U.S. Presidential Reading. 2/44 presidents
Presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1/15 presidents.
My Short Story Author Project.
My Poets Project.
Favorite Authors to Read.

Classics/Must Read Lists

Beowulf on the Beach Challenge . 16/50
101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers. 45/101
Martel-Harper Challenge.  20/59

Reading Journal (2 Dec)

This weekend I unplugged from blogging. I also indirectly unplugged from reading too as I watched more TV, played with my family, and otherwise enjoyed the holiday. I did finish one book, and I made good progress on some others. This week I hope to get the two children’s books finished, as well as the Harlem Renaissance criticism finished. I also hope to continue to make progress on Jesus the Christ and begin The Pillow Book.

I didn’t go to the library all week (amazing!) and I will hold off on posting “finds” until next week, since this post is already quite long.

Finished Books

This week, I finished one book.

• My Antonia by Willa Cather (265 pages; fiction).

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 455 pages; nonfiction).
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (60 read of 196 pages; children’s fiction). For My History of Children’s Literature Project.
• Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (about 150 pages, from Project Gutenberg; children’s fiction). For My History of Children’s Literature Project.
• Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage (130 read of 735 pages; nonfiction). My December priority. I’m making steady progress and I was right: it’s perfect for immersion during the month of December!
• The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon (about 350 pages; fiction/really old classic).  I haven’t begun yet! I hope to make some progress 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.

• The Harlem Renaissance edited by Harold Bloom (160 read of 300 pages; nonfiction/essays). Background info for the upcoming (February) Classics Circuit. I’m hoping to finish this in the coming week.
• Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather.
• One of Ours by Willa Cather.
• O Pioneers by Willa Cather.
• Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Fenyman by Robert Fenyman (on disc 6 of 10, about 11 ½ hours total; nonfiction/science). I’m enjoying this very much!
• A Son at the Front by Edith Wharton. For the Wharton Classics Circuit. I’m first in January, so I’d better get reading!