Nearly half-way but running out of time.

After last year's poor attempt at a reading challenge, I lowered this year's limit to 100 books. 

I'm not quite half-way (although I feel like I deserve a medal for some of the books I actually managed to finish).

Partly I blame the new Animal Crossing game - that game has taken over my life! But, then again, I'm responsible for my own slackness...and for the amount of gardening I do in that game.

I recently finished A Passage to India by E. M. Forster as one of my book club reads. I didn't go to the book club evening, but I'm glad I finished the book. Most of the others seemed to really dislike it. I actually enjoyed the style and, although many of themes frustrated me greatly, I felt that the story was quite satisfying in the end. 

Currently, I'm re-reading/listening to The Fifth Elephant by the incredible Sir Terry Pratchett. I've been going through the City Watch books and hope to re-read the Moist Von Lipwig ones before Raising Steam is released. So close - yaaaay!!!

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to read next, to be honest. I slogged my way through the Knitting mysteries by Maggie Sefton, the latest of which did not live up to the standards of the others, sadly. However, even though I didn't enjoy Close Knit Killer as much as the others, I was still sad to have reached the end of the series. I'm never good at that and if Forster's novel hadn't been on my "to read urgently" pile I would have felt this sense of loss and ennui much sooner, although much of it has to do with other life factors than finishing a series of books.

It would help matters if I hadn't spent all afternoon and evening looking at Animal Crossing fan art on tumblr, though...

Not Reading So Quick-ly...

Sorry, terrible pun. Anyone who knows me personally should really be aware of my addiction to bad puns by now, though.

The last two books I read have been keeping within the theme of historical romance. Both were by Amanda Quick, and both were ebooks checked out of the library. Have I gushed about how much I love overdrive media yet? It's a brilliant system that I use frequently for both ebooks and audiobooks. It's fabulous for those of us who don't like to leave the house.

Book 1 was Desire by Amanda Quick. The story centered around a landless knight, Gareth of Wyckmere - the Hellhound, bastard son of the liege-lord to manor on the island of Desire, and the female protagonist, the only remaining member of the family from Desire, Clare. To sum up, Gareth is presented as a suitor to Clare, who is, of course, not convinced at first that he's suitable. The usual sort of story ensues, etc, etc. I don't enjoy the medieval settings as much as I do the Regency/Victorian ones, but there were certainly some very funny moments in this book that made me laugh out loud. 

Book 2 was Mischief by the above author. I really enjoyed this particular books, perhaps because the main characters, Imogen and Matthias, were involved in the study of an ancient civilisation, and I am a Classics nerd so I can relate to that fascination. There were a few parts that seemed a little redundant, but on the whole I thought that the story was fairly well crafted and that it was perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon - exactly the time when I read it. I always like reading books about society in London during the Regency period and the events in this book involving balls and house-parties, and the incongruous behaviour of the main characters, were quite enjoyable.

Now that I've finished my big knitting project I shall hopefully read a few more books this week. Perhaps I might even read something that's not by Amanda Quick!