Following on from the 'How many books do you read in a year ?' thread - A first quarter review

[Wheelybug]

Following Poseys thread at the start of the year, some of us decided to keep a record of what we read. So, at the end of the first quarter how many have you read and how does it compare to your estimate (extrapolated of course !).

I said about 50 nowadays.

So far this year I have read 9. So extrapolated that would only make approx 40.

These were:

Can Any Mother Help Me ? Jenna Bailey
Gates of Fire Stephen Pressfield
Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfield
On Chesil Beach Ian McEwan
The Mitford Girls Mary S. Lovell
Playing With The Moon Eliza Graham
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive A McCall Smith
The Virgins Lover Phillipa Gregory
Daughter of Fortune Isabel Allende

Anyone else been a saddo like me ?

Wheelybug. Either she had to carry it or it was the tome I used to whack an alien-sized cockroach in our room! No, I haven't read VS's poem novel - in fact I wasn't aware of it before reading Two Lives.

Just discovered this would like to join but don't keep a list. This would be good as I have been known to buy the same book!

Just finished Gone to Ground -John Harvey

Antony and Cleopatra- Colleen McCullough
Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris
Random Acts of Heroic Love Danny
Notes from an Exhibition- Patrick Gale
In the Woods -Tana French
Friday Nights - Joanna Trollope
Point of Rescue- Sophie Hannah
Little Face - Sophie Hannah
Diary of Demented Housewife

Annoying me that I can't remember any more! Any more crime fiction fans out there?

Sue - this conversation has inspired me to buy the poem book (The Golden Gate) and give it a go....

What have you all been reading lately?

I've read Blood River - Tim Butcher
Call the Midwife - Jenny Worth
Notes from an Exhibition - Patrick Gale (what did others think of this book? I was a wee bit disappointed, tbh)

I am now reading The Road to Nab End by William Woodruff. I've no idea where I picked the book up but it's a good social history type read.

My total for this year so far is 19, which is shocking, really, as I have all the time in world to read at the moment.

since this thread started:-

Silesian Station by David Downing
Prince of fire by Daniel Silva
Man with the lead stomach by Jean Francois Parot
Undercover economist by Roger Harford
Wicked whispers by Jessica Callan
Solea by Jean Claude Izzo
Tamar by Mal Peet
A night's foul work by fred vargas

Does anyone on here LibraryThing? They have a "50 Book Challenge" group which is doing a similar sort of thing (though obviously with rather more people).

When does the second quarter start, then? And do we get a new thread at that point?

I'm reading waaaaaaaay too much at the moment. Still the book about bookselling, but also:

Redemption Falls - Joseph O'Connor (bought in desperation in tiny local Smiths buy-one-get-one-half-price offer after finishing previous book halfway through DS1's chess tournament with nothing else with me in reserve)
Self-Help - Lorrie Moore (a re-read)
Being Emily - Anne Donovan (on second read as have to review and not really sure what I made of it first time through)
The Long Tail - Chris Anderson (because I have been thinking a LOT about Amazon recently)

I need to have the words "I MUST NOT BUY BOOKS" tattooed to my knuckles. It's almost compulsive.

Since starting this thread I haven't read many more. Although I've tried.. honest I Have.

Pillow Talk - freya north (had flu)
31 Dream Street - Lisa Jewell (still had flu)
The Devil and Miss Prym - Paulo Coelho (book club)
Georgiana - Amanda Foreman - found this sooooo hard going even though everyone raves about it and I love historical biogs but it took me about 4 weeks to read even though it was only 400 pages .
Peter Pan - J M Barrie (my book club book this month is 'Peter Pan in Scarlet' - the offficial GOSH sequel so thought I'd read PP first !).

So, now reading Peter Pan in Scarlet, which, as its a children's book isn't taking long.

Not sure what's next though - feel like a few more easy reads (but not trashy).

Total so far this year 14. Terrible.

Flossie - that site looks interesting - will take a look. I think the quarter probably started at beginning of April so will end at end of June which will then also be half way through the year so we can always post our 6 month lists then !

I too buy far too many books and get passed on lots but don't read them quick enough so I have shelves of TBRs (to be reads).

That LibraryThing is good! Thanks for the link.

PS I'm reading the Surgeon of Crowthorne by Simon Winchester atm.

Whenever I can fit it in Kama - I used to read loads when I worked as I had a 20 min train journey. Now, I tend to read in the evenings (don't watch much TV so will read if DH is watching something) and read in bed. Depends how the book is grabbing me tbh though - I didn't enjoy Georgiana so was mostly only reading 20 mins or so each night. A book I enjoy I'll snatch 5 minutes here and there when I can and then read a lot in the evening.

Oh and I read more if I keep the laptop upstairs !

Total Chaos,what did you think of Silesian Station?
I loved it and immediately read the previous book Zoo Station.
I adore spy/war fiction.
I f you enjoyed it try a series by Philip Kerr set in pre/post war Berlin.
Have also read
The Leader and the damned by Colin Forbes
The Occupation by Guy Walters
Re read The Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett and The Eagle has Landed .
As I say,heavily into war fiction atm!
Oh,and read Sarah's Key set in occupied Paris which was upsetting.

Good luck with the exams Kama !

Have managed to finish Peter Pan in Scarlet in bed this morning so up to 15 (DH gone for a run and DD needed no persuading to have some time with beebies).

But, what to read next... I usually have them lined up but now I have tooooo much choice. Maybe The Girls.. or The Thirteenth Tale... or Mister Pip... or The Gathering...
Hmmmmm....

Good luck with your studies, Kama! I'm lucky in that I'm leading a pretty leisurely life atm so can read almost any time. I've learnt to read in the car so I can pass the time in traffic jams with a book and I always read before going to sleep. I'd read more if I didn't have internet access.

Just finishing The Road Home by Rose Tremain which I am really enjoying. Also read the latest Nicci French which is a great pageturner.

The horns beep non-stop anyway, Kama. I live in Nigeria, where traffic is crazy - a dual carriageway has been built near us so now vehicles use both sides of the road to travel in both directions! Luckily, I can mostly ignore it as we have a driver, hence my reading in the car.

OK, I calculated completely wrongly before . But since I last posted I've read:
The end of Germinal
John Updike - The Poorhouse Fair
Susanna Clarke - The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories
Alexander McCall Smith - The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
Muriel Spark - The Ballad of Peckham Rye
Paulo Coelho - The Valkyries (how weird was that?)
Lloyd Jones - Mister Pip
Various bits of poetry
Treasure Island (to the boys)

Now reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (can already tell I'll dislike it as much as "The Kite Runner") and, to the boys, "The Jungle Book".

Most of these were very short and didn't take long!

Can I join, I'm currently working my way through the top 100 reads according to the independent... so far this year I've read 7 books:

The Wasp Factory. Iain Banks
A Prayer for Owen Meaney. John Irvine
Rebecca. Daphne Du Maurier
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. Mark Haddon
Atonement. Ian McEwan
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (Not on the 100 best list). Bill Bryson

The Lord of the Flies - Currently reading.

I do a lot of reading on the train - although less since I went part-time as I'm usually desperately finishing off everything I forgot now instead of reading!! 50-minute journey there and back again when I am going into the office rather than WFH.

Also over breakfast (can usually fit in a couple of pages over the slice of toast), waiting for school pick-up (um, as if I am ever on time for school pick-up...), while waiting to pick kids up from chess/swimming/football/etc., instead of TV which I basically don't watch, instead of doing the chores , instead of sleeping...

I do WAY too much of the last bit.

Oh no, you can never sleep too much, Flossie. Sleep is good!

Kama, I'm in Lagos.

My current read is A Prayer for Owen Meany. I didn't realise it was so old (1989) - why has it only been on my radar in recent years? Dd just frightened me out of my skin by leaning over me while I was reading the bit about Scrooge and the Ghosts!

Sue - I love John Irving - they are always refreshingly different. A prayer for Owen Meany is a good one.

Am reading 'The Girls' - only about 50 pages in but enjoying it. ALso somewhat different.

suedonim, really I meant that I do too much reading instead of sleeping. Hence my inability to phrase a simple post on MN

I like Owen Meany. Particularly enjoyed the all-caps device. It really did feel like being yelled at in a booming sort of way.

I have just started a junky piece of chick lit as my brain needs a break after some busy weekends.