January Book Summary

So, in 2018, I'm taking a slightly different approach to blogging about my reading - I'm not really worrying about the in/out balance or how many books I read each month versus how many have been removed from the list. My only goal in 2018 is to read at least 100 books (as usual), so I'll be counting towards that, and noting books I read, acquire, get rid of, etc, but only for interest. I'm tired of feeling guilty if I acquire new books!

In January:  books read: 7; books in: 7, books out: 5; books on windowsill at end of month: 62

And here's the breakdown for this month: 

• I read 2 books from my list (The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody)
• I read one book which my class at school is reading (The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird) and one book which another class is reading (Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell) because I work on writing with a lot of children in that year, and it helps to know the model text
• I removed two books from my list after reading a chapter or two and deciding I wasn't really interested in them (The Railway Detective by Edward Marston; The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills)
• I removed one book from my list which I know I'm just never going to read (The Complete Stories, Flannery O'Connor)
• I re-read two books we already own after visiting the Winnie the Pooh exhibit at the V& A Museum (Winnie the Pooh; The House at Pooh Corner - A A Milne)
• I read one book which was on Alex's TBR shelf which looked good (we were having a clear out of his shelf) (The Girl Who Could Fly, Victoria Forester)
• I bought one book from AbeBooks after a discussion with my sister-in-law
• I bought three books in W H Smith 
• I bought three books in Waterstones in Piccadilly, when I went in with Alex so he could spend some vouchers

Here's the updated list of Books to Read in 2018. These are the books hanging out on my windowsill upstairs, waiting to be read. Or discarded. But hopefully, read. I started the year with 60 books on this list - you can see how long the books have been knocking around by the dates in brackets.

1. Ford Maddox Ford, Parade's End (Nov 2012 - birthday present - bought after the BBC adaptation - but I knew I wouldn't read it straight away as I wanted to let time pass from the adaptation.  Enough time has probably passed now...)
2. Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (2014)
3. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (would be a re-read, bought shortly after his death - spring 2014 - as I was reminded how much I enjoyed it and I didn't seem to own a copy - think my old one fell apart, probably...) 
4. Philip Baruth, The Brothers Boswell (Waterstones Canterbury bargain bin, July 2015)
5. Daphne du Maurier, Frenchman's Creek (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
6. Daphne du Maurier, Jamaica Inn (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
7. Alice Munro, Runaway (Waterstones Piccadilly, March 2016)
8. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
9. Susan Barker, The Incarnations (charity shop, July 2016)
10. Neil MacGregor, Germany: Memories of  a Nation (birthday present, Nov 2016) (This book isn't technically on my windowsill, it's downstairs because I keep thinking I might have a go at reading it, but haven't really got around to it yet...)
11. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
12. Jessie Burton, The Muse (Waitrose, January 2017)
13. Elizabeth McKenzie, The Portable Veblen (Mother's Day, 2017)
14. Andrew Taylor, The Ashes of London (passed to me by Geoff after he read it, April 2017)
15. Mark Haddon (Introduction), States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
16. Lynn Knight, The Button Box  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017) (This book is actually not on the windowsill either, as I've started reading it, but as it's non-fiction, it may take me a while to get through it; I'm reading it in little bits...)
17. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
18. Alice Mattison, The Book Borrower (Used Book Depot, Vero Beach, April 2017)
19. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
20. Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor (charity shop, April 2017)
21. Rachel Ward, Numbers 2: The Chaos (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
22. Rachel Ward, Numbers 3: Infinity (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
23. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
24. Linda Grant, The Dark Circle (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
25. Emma Donohue, The Wonder (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
26. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
27. Sally Vickers, Cousins (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
28. Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017, bought with my trip to Amsterdam in mind, though not necessarily to read before or during the trip)
29. Hella Haasse, The Tea Lords (Bookhandel von Rossum, Amsterdam, August 2017)
30. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
31. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
32. Monica Hesse, The Girl in the Blue Coat (Oxfam Bookshop, Kingston, August 2017)
33. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
34. Bi Fieyu, Three Sisters (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
35. Claire Fuller, Our Endless Numbered Days (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
36. Michelle Paver, Dark Matter (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
37. N K Jemisin, The Fifth Season (AbeBooks, Sept 2017)
38. Ali Smith, Autumn (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
39. Maggie O'Farrell, This Must be the Place (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
40. Greg Fowler, T is for Tree (bought for Sarah, Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
41. Ben Marcus, The Flame Alphabet (2nd Hand Shop, Brighton, October 2017)
42. Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
43. Christina Henry, Lost Boy (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
44. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
45. Sarah Pennypacker, Pax (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
46. Samantha Shannon, The Bone Season  (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
47. Ernest Cline, Ready Player One  (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
48. Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient (November 2017, book was in the house already, added after I read Divisadero and realised I'd never actually read this one.)
49. Grayson Perry, The Descent of Man (December 2017, RA Gift Shop)
50. Sara Guen, At the Water's Edge (Christmas present, 2017)
51. Geraldine Brooks, The Secret Chord (Christmas present, 2017)
52. Sarah J Maas, Court of Thorns and Roses (Christmas present, 2017)
53. Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale (Christmas present, 2017)
54. Emery Lord, The Start of Me and You (passed to me by Sarah, December 2017)
55. Patrick Gale, A Place Called Winter (charity shop, December 2017)
56. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
57. Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders (W H Smith, January 2018)
58. Laline Paull, The Ice (W H Smith, January 2018)
59. Matt Haig, How to Stop Time (W H Smith, January 2018)
60. Bernie MacLaverty, Midwinter Break (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
61. Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
62. Jon MacGregor, Reservoir 13 (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)