Well I’ve done it. I’ve gone and picked up my copies of the next five novels I’ll be reading from the Time list.
Dare I say we’re getting close to the homestretch here? I’m currently working through my 69th novel, Possession. The numbers tell me that my next five novels after Possession will be 70 through 74.
You’ll notice that The Lord of the Rings is included in this batch. Yes, The Lord of the Rings. All of it. I’m estimating I’ll start that one in early June. So with its hefty length, The Lord of the Rings is just asking for some kind of summer read-along. I’ll oblige. More to come on that in the next few weeks.
So here are the next five novels that will likely take me well into summer, listed in no particular order.
The Lord of the Rings: As I said, I plan on timing this one up to start in early summer, so it will likely be the last novel I read from this batch. Summer read-along anyone? I’ll come up with a plan for that and post more about it in the coming weeks.
The Death of the Heart: Hello Elizabeth Bowen. This will be the first time I’ve read anything from Bowen. The Death of the Heart is a 1938 novel, set between the World Wars, about a 16-year-old orphan girl.
Red Harvest: Haven’t heard of it, but in just a few minutes of reading about Red Harvest by Dashell Hammett, I’m very intrigued. Apparently the novel has influenced the Coen Brothers.
The Sportswriter: I don’t gather that The Sportswriter has a lot to do with sportswriting, but the title intrigues this sports fan. The novel, written by Richard Ford, is the story of a novelist-turned-sportswriter and the grief he deals with after his son dies.
Appointment in Samarra: Another novel I’m unfamiliar with except in name. Written by John O Hara, Appointment in Samarra has actually been compared to The Great Gatsby. It’s about the slow self-destruction of a member of the social elite in small-town Pennsylvania.
So that’s what I’ve got this time around.
Stay tuned for these novels after I’ve finished Possession.
