Books by my bedside...

There are too many!!!

Tom's got a pile of books on the go.  We're moving onto Dick King Smith, but still enjoying Terry Jones' The Lady and the Squire, and have a Charlie Small lined up, and there's a Jennings collection underneath Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.  All that to look forward to and he's not yet six years old!  He's also got a sturdy Waitrose bag which we keep the library picture books in - there's usually a dozen or so, and we'll have a couple of those a night as well.

I've actually tidied my pile of books up recently.  Some got relegated to the shelves downstairs, unread as yet, but I eye them up longingly when I'm in the front room... About to join them is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby.  What a pleasure that book was, so well written, so easy to read, short chapters (perfect for me) that painted such vivid pictures, but immensely moving.  I could read it over again, and probably will, but there's so much waiting.

I have now finished The Ghost Road (Pat Barker, 3rd of the Regeneration Trilogy).  Compelling, troubling, satisfying and has been returned to the Library.

I have a system when it comes to reading.  I'll have a 'good' or 'serious' book - something that will stretch me, a classic maybe, a translation, something worthy which I'll feel has enriched my life and educated me a little, or made me think....  Then I'll reward myself with a favourite author, someone comforting, easy, humourous, Terry Pratchett, Janet Evanovich or Alexander McCall Smith are my usual fallbacks.

And I can only read one book at a time.  Just can't keep more in my head, and it would feel like I was being unfaithful somehow, if I didn't give them my full attention....  So I've just started the latest (to me) Mma Ramotswe The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency story - The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, by Alexander McCall Smith.  I deserve something light - after the 1st World War Trilogy of Regeneration!

Recently moved downstairs unread, (but longing to be back by my bedside) are:

• Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H.Lawrence (I've not read it!  I know... I feel I ought to have by now); 
• St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, short stories by Karen Russell (found this in children's section of Douglas House Charity Shop in Abingdon.  Thought it may do for Phoebe, but on closer inspection it's more adult and is likened to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I have read all his books in the past and have adored the 'magic realism' genre); 
• The Bookseller of Kabul, Asne Seierstad (I've become fascinated by Afghanistan/Pakistan and want to read around to understand the culture/situation - hence my love of Greg Mortensen's Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools and appreciation of Khalid Housseini's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns); 
• One Day, David Nicholls (to see what the fuss is about); 
• March, Geraldine Brooks; 
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne (will read it first before Phoebe gets it)...  there are actually more, but they're more wedged on the shelf.

Still under my bed - so more likely to be read this year!

• The Return, Victoria Hislop (I'm told not as good as The Island, but will give it a go, and looking forward to The Thread in paperback); 
• Natural Alternatives to HRT, Marilyn Glenville (I dip into this when I need it); 
• Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor (loved If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things); 
• Before I Go To Sleep, SJ Watson (Simon passed this on, to see what the fuss is about);
• Diary of a Dog-Walker, time spent following a lead, Edward Stourton (he's a columnist and Radio 4 sometime presenter/current affairs) it's diary/column format, and I'm actually half-way through it, but then got involved in the Regeneration triology, so put it down.  Should finish it really, quite easy going, so won't take long!

So much to read, so little time!!!  And the problem is, I'm a compulsive book buyer.  So combined with me being a slow reader - by way of I enjoy spending time reading, hopefully immersed in the wordcraft of the author - it's apparent that there's a lack of space in the house for the books I already possess and continually add to!  Is there a Book Buyer Anonymous organisation out there?   Maybe I should start one....  Luckily I'm also a skinflint, so I never (almost) buy books new - mainly in charity shops, which as we all know is a win-win situation, or Amazon if I'm looking for something specific.  And I do donate to charity shops as well, so it all goes around...

All this talk of reading's making me hungry to be back with my book. So I'll bid you all a good night, and will sneak off to bed for my next chapter of The Saturday Big Tent Wedding.  Can't wait!

Thanks for reading, keep it sweet.  Kat  :)