Well. This was a better month for reading, if I do say so myself. I think the only change between June and previous months was that I started reading before bed again, and that has helped immensely in making progress on a few books I had stalled out on. At the end of the month, I’ve wrapped up five books, two of them children’s chapter books I was reading to Bug, and three that have been lounging on my “to-read” list for a while. (*As of this writing, I’ve still got the rest of the week in June, so I miiiiiiight be able to finish Bored & Brilliant, too, which just needs a bit more focus to be done and off the list.*)
Five books is right where I want to be month-to-month, so I’m thrilled. Now just to keep it going! I’ve got
Notes:
Making Your Own Days – I just started reading this one (I’ve literally finished the preface and first chapter) a couple days ago, but already I really like it. I have very little poetry training (at all, unless you count a little via osmosis while reading Dahlgren), and already it’s been a welcome glimpse into the world of poetics in an easily accessible, yet enchanting, way. This one was recommended to me by Peter M. Ball.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – My favorite of the Narnia chronicles, at least as I remember it, we started this one last night before bed. Bug is super into Narnia at the moment, so it’s been fun revisiting the series as an adult. I expect this one will be wrapped up by the end of the month (probably even half-way through, since we read about a chapter a night).
Damn Fine Story – I’ve been meaning to get back to this one, but Worlds of Wonder kind of took over my mental slot for “writing books.” Still, I am looking forward to digging into this one, and if it’s anything like Wendig’s other writing-related texts, it won’t be long until I’m absorbed and flying through it.
The Year’s Best DF & Horror 2014 – Just need to make some time for this one. I’m actively writing more short fiction now, and I need (NEEEEEEED) to digest more of it on a regular basis. May make this my before bed reading, though eeeeeeee, horror before bed is not always a good combination for me…
Bored and Brilliant – This one may actually be done in a couple days, because I’ve got less than half left, and I’ve been focusing on it a lot lately, so give me a few days…
The Everyday Parenting Toolkit – Haven’t made aaaaaaany progress on this one, even though it’s so short. I just need to make it a focus book, because it does have a lot of interesting thoughts in it.
The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony – Just cruising along on this one. Got out of the habit of my two-page-a-day goal, which was encouraging progress without losing that dreamy contemplativeness it stirs up, which I so enjoy. Need to get back to the 2/day, and this one will move along nicely.
Clockwork Angel – This one’s really just a matter of a before-bed read. I made some great progress on it in June, but then got sidetracked by other reading. It’s time to get back to it. Maybe I’m just too old or cynical or something, but this one hasn’t quite done it for me. It’s fine, writing-wise, but really it comes down to feeling the author’s puppet-strings a liiiiiittle too obviously. And the “wide-eyed heroine in the throws of will-he/won’t-he?!” thing is getting a bit annoying, but that’s probably just me. I imagine as a teenager I would have really loved this book…maybe…
I need to read more fiction this month, though. And I’ve been thirsting for a classic, since it’s been a while. So something of that nature may pop up on my reading list next month. That, and more graphic novels, which I find so interesting…
Maggie Slater 