Friday 6 July 2018

Reading through 2018 - part 1

As we were growing up, my dad loved to tell the story that when I started school a letter was sent home asking that my parents stopped me reading, because I was too far ahead of the other students.


I have no idea how true that actually is, but it has become part of the story of me

Cate is a precocious reader

As you'd expect, my reading ebbs and flows, the quiet month of January saw me finish 8 books, but in May and June I only finished 3.*

January reading doesn't often start until well into the New Year, after browsing the online book sales and seeing what's available from my wishlists at good prices.

Discovering new authors via the "other people have also bought" recommendations brings out a treasure trove of books that I may never have found otherwise, and I devour back catalogues while trying to decide what I'll read for the 2018 Modern Mrs Darcy Reading Challenge.

In no particular order

The River is Deep - Joe Hart
The Night is Dark - Joe Hart
The Barefoot Summer - Carolyn Brown
Allie and Bea - Catherine Ryan Hyde
When We Were Worthy - Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
The Hideaway - Lauren K Denton
I Am Watching You - Teresa Driscoll


February is all about settling back into routines - school starts, book club meets again, time to read slows down to weekends and sneaky late nights.

The Silent Corner - Dean Koontz
Since We Fell - Dennis Lehane
The Lullaby Sky - Carolyn Brown
The Hypnotist's Love Story - Liane Moriarty
The Thing About Jellyfish - Ali Benjamin


March starts the birthday stories for the year. Reading time is relegated to weekends, especially Sundays on the couch. Multiple books are started and discarded, and eventually something is finished.

Before I Let You Go - Kelly Rimmer
Friend Request - Laura Marshall
A Wrinkle In Time - Madeleine L"Engle
The Party - Robyn Harding


By April, I have almost as many started-but-unfinished books as I do finished. It is often said that you can tell if a book is worth reading in the first 100 pages, but if I'm not going to read a book, I can tell in the first 20 pages. 

Close To Home - Cara Hunter
Coffin Road - Peter May
The Lilac Bouquet - Carolyn Brown
Wimmera - Mark Brandi


Sometimes I'll go back and try to finish a book that had previously been discarded. The winners get finished, and added to the finished reading last, and the losers are discarded again.

The Next Girl - Carla Kovach
Origin - Dan Brown
The Sometimes Sisters - Carolyn Brown


It's rare for books to linger in my brain after reading. But sometimes, gems appear and gain traction, making me stop and think and wish there was more. June's books were such as these.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart - Holly Ringland
Perennials - Julie Cantrell
The Dry - Jane Harper

I've already read 2 books in July, school holidays and ill health work in my favour to allow plenty of reading time in our days.

What books have lingered in your mind long after reading?
Have you read any of the books on my list so far?

* I don't tend to do book reviews, because I only ever finish good books. Life is too short for bad books.
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1 comment

  1. That's quite an impressive list of books! Is it possible to read too many books? I don't think so! I was interested to see The Dry on your list; my son works at the company who published that one and he was responsible for the marketing campaign for it!

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