A few recent(ish) acquisitions…
The book blog world is currently abuzz with people publishing their Summer Reads lists. I won’t be doing this. I am rubbish at this kind of structuring. Especially when its sunny and the tiniest hint of heat makes just getting out of bed a Krypton Factor-esque battle with nature.
It is tempting though, tempting to see if I could join in with something and perhaps learn a bit of self-discipline.
But just two seconds after writing “self-discipline” I know it isn’t going to happen.
I can see why people make lists at this time of year. Holidays are abound and kindle-free decisions have to be made as to which books will make it into the baggage allowance.
But weight restrictions aside, I can’t help feeling that listing books in this way is giving yourself unnecessary boundaries; self-imposed, teacher-less homework.
Everytime I finish something I know I will be spending the next couple of days, picking stuff up, turning it over, putting it down, picking it up again. And that’s what I love about that period between putting one book down and starting another. I sounds horribly corny, but you do need to root about for a while to find the book that feels right.
I’ve spent a while now going from one proof to the next in release date order and it hasn’t felt as organic (oh yuk! “Organic”?! Really, we’re going there?!) a process as spending those moments thumbing through a stack to find the book that fits.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate every proof I receive and am grateful for them, but my urgency to pay back publishers and authors for their generosity means I miss out on one of the simple pleasures of being a book-lover – those moments of browsing your own personal collection for a gem.
Sure, I always have a few titles that I’m eyeing up, but when I pick something up to start, I (hopefully) don’t know how its going to end, I can’t possibly anticipate that Book B will follow Book A as perfectly as my would-be list anticipates.
So with all these book lists going on I think it’s about time that I steered my blog back to its initial purpose – to focus on charting the books that have lain neglected on my shelf for YEARS, with proof reading as an added extra. Perhaps I shall try for one of each a week.
So with that in mind, and inspired by #BookadayUK’s topic from Tuesday (Favourite Great War novel), I have started a book I have wanted to read for years, but constantly browsed passed – All Quiet on The Western Front.
