Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
The Hunger Games movie is well under way, and my dismay has been growing with each casting announcement from the production. While I’m eager for a Hunger Games fix, I’m not so sure the film will live up to my expectations.
I received an electronic ARC of the book, The Girl Who Was on Fire a few months back, and I’ve been reading bits and pieces of it a few times each week.
Back in December, the Filipino book bloggers met up with Marianne Villanueva, who is one of the most delightful authors I’ve ever had the chance to meet.
I got a signed copy of her book, The Lost Language: Stories (and in nice paper, too!) and I finally got to read it earlier this year.
I’m working double time on my A-Z challenge, as I only have until the end of the year to finish it. I’ve done 14 books so far, and I figured I better make a serious dent in the list so I can finish the challenge by December.
I’ve finished two more books for the challenge so far this month, and am lining up more in the coming weeks. A is for Margaret Atwood’s The Tent, a collection of short works, while J is for Kate Jacobs’ Comfort Food.
I must admit that I’m not a big fan of short story anthologies. When reading fiction, I like full-length novels I can really sink my teeth into, because I like the reprieve they provide from the real world.
Sometimes, though, practicality does get in the way. When you don’t have the luxury of time (which is generally how I’ve been ever since 2010 kicked off), it’s difficult to squeeze some reading in. For me, the general problem is that when I start reading I can’t stop, and I end up putting off the work I was supposed to be doing, or worse — forgoing precious sleep. Hence I’m reading thinner books and more anthologies this year.
Since I joined the A-Z Challenge, I’ve crossed out three names on the list already. I first crossed off Trenton Lee Stewart with the first two books of the Mysterious Benedict Society, which I enjoyed tremendously. I managed to cross off two more: Emile Zola with For a Night of Love (Z); and F. Scott Fitzgerald with The Rich Boy (F).
The two books are published by Hesperus Press, a sophisticated imprint I’m growing fond of (I have Jonathan Swift’s Directions to Servants and a couple other books from Hesperus Press). Hesperus specializes in hard to find novellas and short stories of famous authors, with each book running to only 100 pages or so. I got a bunch of them on sale last year, and while I don’t normally like mass market paperbacks, Hesperus books are a welcome addition to my library — I love the concept behind the imprint and the elegance of the book design.
