Every time I post my month's summing up it seems to be shorter and shorter a gap since the last report and the year is simply flying by. Elaine's Personal Challenge which I began in January 2007 has been successful and because I set myself an achievable target (ie - one book a month written by a 21st century writer) I can feel pleased with myself that I have managed to get this far and be well in credit. Over the next month or so, as it is winter and I tend to revert to biographies and history when the nights are dark (don't ask) I can allow my challenge to slip slightly if need be as I have already achieved my 12 books for this year.
This month, as in September, I actually found myself reading a novel on the Booker Longlist and while I enjoyed the Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davis, though not as much as others, this month's Winne and Wolf by AN Wilson I found tedious and dull, despite the fact that large chunks of the book were to do with Wagner opera and Bayreuth which I thought would have me totally hooked. Alas, no. The September of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer, set in post Shah Iran was a sobering read; I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of Speaking of Love, a first novel by Angela Young which I enjoyed very much, lots of murders and mystery including those by Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Reginald Hill, Captain Wentworth's diary by Amanda Grange and I look forward to that of Edmund from Mansfield Park coming up soon, a couple of Dick Francis, a fun mystery set in Italy, The Florentine Revenge by Cristabel Kent and finished up with In the Cage by Henry James, about which I have written at length.
Not so much time for reading once again this month as a new job has just started and am back to crashing out on the sofa when I arrive home, but as I had a huge chunk of the summer to devote to reading, I am not complaining. Just have to make sure I carve out a little more time that is all as my To Be Read pile is now assuming the proportions of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. So is my ironing which is another story...
