New Year, New Reads

20170107_103122We’re snowed in today in Virginia! My hometown is known for its peculiarity in such conditions and the bread and milk run seems to only be synonymous with this place. Oh, well… I’m just glad to be stuck in the house today with my stack of books. It’s the start of the new year and I’ve nearly completed one: Imitation of Death, a cozy mystery written by Lana Turner’s daughter, Cheryl Crane. It’s part of a trilogy – number two to be exact – and I’ve already read #1 and #3. (Don’t know why I skipped this one.) Sadly, it’s the last of the three for me and I hope she writes another soon. They’ve been fun reads.

I’m still polishing off my thesis before I send it off to be bound next week. Hallelujah! Last year, according to my Goodreads challenge last year, I only read nine books. Mighty low number indeed, but since I spent more time on my own work, it’s understandable, but I’ve really missed reading some good stories. So, this is what I’ve got lined up for the rest of the month:

  • The Perfect Find by Tia Williams
  • A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story by Elaine Brown (a gift I’ve been dying to get to!)
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (her birthday’s today, too)
  • My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The Funk and Wagnalls’ thesaurus at the bottom of my stack is perhaps my all-time personal favorite non-fiction book. Copyright 1947, it’s a no-holds barred collection of words and I love it! It’s my writing companion, so it stays on the list. I know there are others on my Kindle I’ll be reading, too, so I’ll happily add them when completed, along with a couple of others that I’m wrapping up from last month.

I’ve got The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis on hold at the library now… really looking forward to that one. It features the Barbizon Hotel for Women in New York. As a Jacqueline Susann and Rona Jaffe fan, it’s right up my alley. The literary and corporate setting of the 1960s, 20161230_123815an interesting time, is what also drew me to The Wife by Meg Wolitzer. Which reminds me, I’ve got to get to The Group on my bookshelf by Mary McCarthy.  My treasured paperback find, H. M. Pulham, Esquire by John P. Marquard – the inspiration for one of my favorite classic films (with Robert Young and Hedy Lamarr) – is also on the list for the year. So, so many more to reach…

My Goodreads challenge this year is set at 10 for now. Still low for me, but I’ve got a sequel planned for the thesis and my reading time might be impacted again, but not as much.

If you’ve got snow your area, be safe and have fun with it. I’ve gotta go out to get my cat’s food… I left it in the car and as usual, he’s got a look for me when I don’t meet his intellectual expectations for the day.

Happy Reading!

17 thoughts on “New Year, New Reads”

      1. Ooooh….hope you enjoy it!
        I’ve got Comanche Moon (also McMurtry) on my list, together with Erebos, Pride and Prejudice and then all the things that just inspire along the way. I had such a bad reading year last year that I just want to take it as it comes and read, read, read 😉

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      2. Me too!! 🙂 I can’t wait to let you know when I’ve read it. I haven’t even seen the miniseries… refuse to until I read the book. Did the same thing with The Thorn Birds (swoon). Happy Reading!!

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      3. Oh yes…I still need to read The Thorn Birds – have it waiting patiently. I still haven’t watched the Lonesome Dove mini-series – after reading the book, I have no desire to – scared it will ruin something for me.

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      5. Yes..my mother keeps telling me the same. I have been meaning to read it for ages. Maybe that’s what I need to kick-start my reading again – I’m in such a slump. It is driving me crazy – so unlike me.

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      6. It’s difficult when so many books keep making thrir way to the pile. LOL. We have to put our feet down on which ones we wish to tackle and dive right in. I can’t do more than one at a time, although I know some folks do.

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  2. Ah…We think alike, Tonya. Snow here in Pennsylvania, too, and I just finished reading my first book of the the “When the Heart Cries” by C. Woodsmall. It’s about an Amish girl and was unexpectedly riveting. Glad you had a day to chill out and read. Thanks for sharing your TBR list – I may steal a few ideas from it.

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    1. Hi Rita! Please do. I’m intrigued by yours too – really popular on Goodreads 🙂 Thanks for sharing. Stay warm and dry and thanks for visiting!

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  3. Haven’t had a snow storm yet in my part of the woods. 😦 But I actually was able to make it to the library twice this month. :-O
    Good luck with your Goodreads reading challenge and happy writing! 😀

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  4. I’m a bit late to the party, but how did everything turn out with your thesis? (Maybe you have a post on that and I overlooked it?) What happens next?

    We’re having a VERY snowy day where I am, and I’m currently making my way through Leni Riefenstahl’s memoirs. I’m a bit skeptical of some of her material, but she does offer fab insights into German filmmaking back in the day.

    I’m pleased to see “H.M. Pulham, Esquire” on your reading list, although I’ve never read the book or seen the movie. But both are on my To Watch/Read lists!

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    1. Glad you stopped by! I haven’t yet posted on the aftermath of my thesis….which reminds me that I should. 🙂 I got it bound, sent it off, and now I’m drafting query letter after query letter to find an agent. It’s not easy to write! (Think I’ll post that update later today.)

      H.M. Pulham, Esquire is one of my all-time faves and I’ve long been anxious to read Marquand’s original tale. It’s good ol’ fashioned classic reading: long prose in tiny fonts of an 1940’s paperback. When it comes back on, do catch it. Lamarr is so charming in it too and Young eventually led me to an addiction of Father Knows Best reruns. LOL

      How many memoirs does Reinfenstahl have? Interesting to get an artist’s take in things during such a time. Hmm, hadn’t thought of that before…. so please share!

      How’s all with your novel from NaNoWriMo too? Quite a few bestsellers have come from that feat!

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      1. Leni Riefenstahl’s memoirs are interesting, but one gets the feeling that only half the story is being told. But I think that happens in a lot of memoirs, no? I’m reading her book because I foolishly decided to review her Nazis party documentary, “Triumph of the Will” and I wanted to learn more about her.

        Thanks for asking about my NaNo novel. I’ve edited it and gave it to my mother to read. (She reminded me that she IS my mother, after all.) But she always has terrific feedback, and after I go through her suggestions, I have conscripted a couple of readers.

        I hope you find a fabulous agent who connects you with a top-notch editor – someone like a Max Perkins!

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      2. Very good idea to get her memoirs to help round out somewhat the documentary info.

        Keep up the good work with the novel!! Glad you’ve moved forward with it. Please keep me posted too.

        Yes, wouldn’t that be just awesome! 🙂 Sigh… I’m sure there’s a Perkins clone in this era! I pray, too, to find him/her.

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