Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Reading Plans and My Nightstand Pile: June 27, 2012.

Every month or two, I stand in front of my bookshelves and pull out a pile of books to be added to my nightstand. This books are the ones that I would ideally like to get to in the near future. As I finish titles, I grab from the pile rather than my shelves. I find that when I'm just staring at my shelves, I get overwhelmed with choices. This way, I have a smaller collection of books to choose from.

This morning I decided to pull a new pile, since I hadn't created a nightstand pile for the Victorian Event and the rest of the summer. I decided to give myself until September 1 to read from the pile before creating a new one. Now, it is pretty likely I won't read all of these by then, or I may read books that aren't here, but these are the books I've been eying recently (you'll see quite a few Victorians!).

(I will apologize in advance that some of the titles are blurred out. This shelf is next to a window and I had a hard time getting the titles to be not blown out. This was the best pic of the 5 I took).


From left to right and top to bottom:
  • Kim by Rudyard Kipling: I started this one last year and never finished it.
  • Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell: Really want to get to this one for the event, but I seem to be going at a slow pace...
  • The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell: I've read the first 30 pages or so, but I just need to dive in.
  • Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: I haven't read anything by Anne, and this is the one I have on my bookshelf. It's short, so I should be able to fly through it.
  • Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: I will definitely be getting to this one soon!
  • Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope: I read The Warden just so I could read this one soon.
  • Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy: Another Hardy title...I love this new Penguin edition.
  • The Hero of Ages  and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson: Both of these are for group reads, so I know I'll finish them.
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: LOVE TWAIN! I'll probably save this one for August.
  • Tess of D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy: I might not get to this one, and that's okay. I might "save" it for the end of my project.
  • Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: Just like above, I might "save" this one for near the end of my 250 list.
  • A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett: I've never read this one and just got my copy so...yeah. Definitely going to read this one!
  • Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad: Another one I started and never finished. I'll probably read this one in August as well.
  • Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray: Yet another title I started but never finished. I really want to get to this one for the Victorian event, but not sure I'll have time.
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison: I'm still discovering Morrison, so I know I need to read this one soon.
  • Light in August by William Faulkner: I meant to read this one LAST summer, so I am making it a point to get to it this year. I've also been craving some zany Faulkner!
  • A Passage to India by E.M. Forster: I started this one in May, so I need to finish!
  • The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf: Another one I started in May and need to finish!
I'm also currently in the middle of Middlemarch and Nicholas Nickleby, so we can add those to the pile as well. Oh, and I am participating in Andrew Smith Saturdays (even though I haven't commented yet....oops), so those titles, Stick and Ghost Medicine are also going to be read.

Seems like a lot, right? I know....

I have Thursday and Friday off this week, so besides doing laundry and a few other domestic type things, I am planning on diving into some great books! I'm hoping to finish both of my current Victorian reads, as well as one other title...probably a Hardy. Feel free to join in on my reading spree if you are able!

What are your reading plans for the rest of the summer?

35 comments:

  1. I loved Agnes Grey when I read it this year and A Little Princess was my favourite book as a child. I reread it every few years and it takes me back to how I was like nothing else can.

    Happy reading!

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    1. I'm so bummed that I never read A Little Princess as a child! At least I can experience it as an adult!

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  2. YAY Anne Bronte!!! Also, I just finished A Little Princess. It's very good. :) Hm, I love the idea of pulling out a few titles and working from that pile. As usual, I've begun several books this month, even though I started out with a plan!

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    1. I've been doing the smaller shelf thing, too. I have my large 5-shelf bookcases, and I draw from those sometimes, but I try to keep my "most want to read soon" books on a smaller bookcase that's next to my reading chair... I try to pull from that at least 2 out of every 3 times. Then I refill as needed.

      We're all bonkers.

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    2. Yep, we're all bonkers.

      But I've found that having a smaller pile helps me keep tabs on what I want and need to read. I can also replenish it at any time. :)

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  3. DON'T SKIP "TESS!" It's an awesome book! :) :) :)

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    1. Lol. I won't skip it, just wait until later. :) I have a feeling I'm going to really love it, so I might "save" it until later on in my 250 project.

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  4. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!! Far from the Madding Crowd!!

    YES, YES, YES!!

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  5. Read A Little Princess! I loved that one, I think more even than The Secret Garden. But your whole list is tempting, actually.

    I was thinking of a heavy reading weekend this week as well--we're supposed to have a heat wave, so that's about all I'll feel like doing. I'm trying to finish The Silmarillion and then I'd like to reread The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings yet this summer. Then of course there's Victorian reading: definitely some Sherlock Holmes and then maybe some Gaskell or Trollope, if I have time!

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    1. Some good plans in there! I definitely want to re-read The Hobbit before the movie comes out... loved that book so much!

      And I'm planning on reading the next Sherlock Holmes book as well (Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes), as that's where I am in the sequence.

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    2. Yes, just why I'm rereading The Hobbit! I'm only on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but I enjoy them so much I'm happy to drag them out.

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    3. I want to get to The Hobbit too....I sense a group read?? ;)

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  6. This is a great way to get some books read and a lovely tradition if you keep it.

    Keep me posted on Far from the Madding Crowd because I read a modern comic strip adaptation and watched the movie adaptation of that comic strip! (Tamara Drew).

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    1. That one will definitely be coming up soon (as soon as I finished Middlemarch and Nicholas Nickleby!).

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  7. That's really ambitious, but it looks great! I loved both Tess and Huck Finn. Great novels! I don't think I've read any of the rest...man, I should get on that.

    My plans are to read any books that I have lying around that I don't want to take with me when I move at the end of July. This is the practical "I Don't Have Enough Space in my Car to Take Everything" reading plan. I'm going to patent it someday.

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    1. I doubt I'll get through that pile by September 1st, but it's worth a shot!

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  8. I do that too. My shelves just get too overwhelming. I have one shelf for review books and then one small shelf under with three or four to choose from. (Plus a couple on the coffee table! hehe)

    Good luck with your reading!

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    1. Thank you! I do find that smaller piles are easier to choose from than a whole bookshelf!

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  9. I studied Thomas Hardy a few months back for a university module and really enjoyed it especially Return of the Native. The descriptions in it are just so haunting and evocative.

    I really like your idea about putting books aside. Right now all my books are either in boxes (building work) or on my kindle so all over the place really. I think I'll either do as you have or make a list and keep to it for a certain amount of time then change it again. Thanks for the great idea :)

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    1. Hardy is relatively new to me (I've only read The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure), but he is one of those authors I really admire and love. I just think that he's going to remain a favorite.

      You're welcome! I hope it works for you!

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  10. I love your selection, so many I want to read within it too. Wives and Daughters is a favorite of mine. :) My Summer reading plans are very small in comparison. Eliot's Mill on the Floss, Sherlock Holmes, Bantam's vol 1. of Novels & short stories, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, and Howard's End.

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    1. The Mill on the Floss is SO GOOD. Get to that one soon!!

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  11. I'll also be reading Vanity Fair two months from now (I'll be reading it with my real life friends). A Passage to India? I am not too crazy about it. It actually bored me. But to be fair, I read it during a very hectic part of my life. :D

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    1. I wasn't too thrilled either, which is why I set it aside.

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  12. Lovely list - I find it so hard to know what to choose next but I'm about to start both Tess and Barchester Towers.

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    1. I always struggle to pick something too. Looking forward to your thoughts on both!

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  13. Fantastic pile! You made me want to read some books I hadn't been thinking about in a while (like Vanity Fair). Thanks. And I think that's a great idea to have a nightstand pile! I may have to steal that idea (although my selection of books has drastically decreased since moving in with the boyfriend).

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    1. It really works for me, so I hope it does for you too!

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  14. I adore Toni Morrison and Beloved is my favorite of all her work. It is quite complex with so much to ponder. I hope that you enjoy it and all your other books.

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  15. Good luck getting through them. It's winter here rather than summer, but I have no season specific reading plans :-) My little bubba is now 4 months old, so my goal at the moment is to start reading new books rather than doing all the re-reading I have been doing lately. I am keen to read Agnes Grey as well, hopefully I get to that at some point i the future.

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  16. I love Tess! If by love, I mean 'am seriously depressed by but I like to cry over books so it's all good' and obviously I do! Also, I'm a bit of the way through Vanity Fair and I'm really liking it so far, so I definitely recommend it if you do have the time!

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  17. a weekend of reading for me as well & looonnng anticipated!
    successfully, so that's a plus :)

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  18. Lovely list - That's really ambitious!

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