February 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 otherwise removed: 3; books in: 7; books on windowsill: 62
In February: books read: 6; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3;  books on windowsill: 61

And here's the breakdown for this month: 

• I read five books from my list (The Book Borrower by Alice Mattison, The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin, The Girl in the Blue Coat, Monica Hesse, Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor, The Wonder by Emma Donoghue)
• I read part of one book on my list and decided that I just really wasn't that into it. It was a quirky book (The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie), perhaps a little too quirky for me. There really wasn't anything wrong with it that I can put my finger on, it just didn't grab me.  Sometimes books are like that.
• I read one library book (Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon)
• I ordered a book into my local Waterstones because I couldn't NOT buy it after reading the first in the trilogy (The Obelisk Gate by N K Jemisin)
• And of course I bought a few more books while I was in there... (The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid)
• I added a book to the Windowsill which Geoff got for Christmas and has now finished reading (The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy) 

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. Andrew Taylor, The Ashes of London (passed to me by Geoff after he read it, April 2017)
14. Mark Haddon (Introduction), States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
15. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (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. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
18. Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor (charity shop, April 2017)
19. Rachel Ward, Numbers 2: The Chaos (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
20. Rachel Ward, Numbers 3: Infinity (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
21. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
22. Linda Grant, The Dark Circle (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
23. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
24. Sally Vickers, Cousins (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
25. 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)
26. Hella Haasse, The Tea Lords (Bookhandel von Rossum, Amsterdam, August 2017)
27. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
28. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
29. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
30. Bi Fieyu, Three Sisters (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
31. Claire Fuller, Our Endless Numbered Days (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
32. Michelle Paver, Dark Matter (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
33. Ali Smith, Autumn (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
34. Maggie O'Farrell, This Must be the Place (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
35. Greg Fowler, T is for Tree (bought for Sarah, Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
36. Ben Marcus, The Flame Alphabet (2nd Hand Shop, Brighton, October 2017)
37. Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
38. Christina Henry, Lost Boy (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
39. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
40. Sarah Pennypacker, Pax (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
41. Samantha Shannon, The Bone Season  (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
42. Ernest Cline, Ready Player One  (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
43. 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.)
44. Grayson Perry, The Descent of Man (December 2017, RA Gift Shop)
45. Sara Guen, At the Water's Edge (Christmas present, 2017)
46. Geraldine Brooks, The Secret Chord (Christmas present, 2017)
47. Sarah J Maas, Court of Thorns and Roses (Christmas present, 2017)
48. Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale (Christmas present, 2017)
49. Emery Lord, The Start of Me and You (passed to me by Sarah, December 2017)
50. Patrick Gale, A Place Called Winter (charity shop, December 2017)
51. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
52. Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders (W H Smith, January 2018)
53. Laline Paull, The Ice (W H Smith, January 2018)
54. Matt Haig, How to Stop Time (W H Smith, January 2018)
55. Bernie MacLaverty, Midwinter Break (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
56. Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
57. Clare Vanderpool, Moon over Manifest (was in the house, moved to my shelf Feb 2018)
58. N K Jemisin, The Obelisk Gate (Waterstones Wimbledon, Feb 2018)
59. Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad (Waterstones Wimbledon, Feb 2018)
60. Mohsin Hamid, Exit West (Waterstones Wimbledon, Feb 2018)
61. Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (passed to me by Geoff, Feb 2018)