I apologize for being MIA the past few days! I’m currently out of town, visiting a friend and my sister but with limited blog time and internet access. I am reading comments (and trying to respond!) and will catch up with everyone when I get home on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone!
Welcome to my weekly Saturday feature here at Erin Reads, where I highlight new books that have entered my life, what I’ve been reading, and what’s happened on Erin Reads over the past week.
New Acquisitions
I have a mix of newly acquired books to share today: a few ARCs, a few books I won, and one I bought used, as well as the gifts I received from the Book Blogger Holiday Swap!
From the Book Blogger Holiday Swap (selected and sent by Mary from Bookfan):
- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness: Book 1 of the YA series Chaos Walking and one I’m really looking forward to reading.
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: A book I’ve been wanting to read forever!
ARCs received for review:
- Wither by Lauren DeStefano: The first in a new YA series about a society where men and women, because of genetic engineering, do not live between 25 and 20, respectively.
- Daring to Eat a Peach by Joseph Zeppetello: I’ve already finished this one, so watch for a review coming next week!
- Queen Hereafter by Susan Fraser King: A novel about Margaret of Scotland and my current read.
Won from Jamie at the Perpetual Page-Turner:
- Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield: Sheffield’s memoir about how music got him through a tragedy.
- Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield: Sheffield’s second memoir, this one about growing up in the 80s (yeah!).
Purchased from Half Price Books (only one this week!):
- The House at Riverton by Kate Morton: I enjoyed The Distant Hours, which I read last month, so for a dollar, I decided to give Morton’s earlier novel a try.
Read This Week
After two slow weeks, I feel like I’ve picked up reading momentum again this week. I haven’t gotten a lot farther with The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, but that’s partly because it’s a huge book that I don’t like to drag around with me! I did finish Unexpectedly, Milo by Matthew Dicks and Daring to Eat a Peach by Joseph Zeppetello. I’m now working on Queen Hereafter by Susan Frazer King, which will be published later this month.
On audio, I finished Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. The reader’s slow pace was getting to me, so I tried listening double speed on my iPod. It took a little getting used to, but it turned out to work quite well! On my iPod now is Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby. I love Hornby’s nonfiction, but this is the first novel of his I’ve tried. So far, so good!
Erin Reads Recap
- In my Sunday Salon post, I asked for help filling in the gaps on my Books page. Thanks to everyone who contributed recommendations!
- On Monday I reviewed Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok on audio. I really enjoyed this story, which is partly autobiographical and features the kind of main character your root for all the way.
- Tuesday I announced my intention to read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy over the course of 2011 along with Jillian from A Room of One’s Own. If you have translation suggestions, I would love to hear them!
- I posted my first official Classics Reclamation Project thoughts on Wednesday regarding the first half of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
- On Thursday, I shared the items I received as part of the Book Blogger Holiday Swap and the Book Bloggers Holiday Card Exchange.
- Finally, yesterday, I shared my thoughts on Unexpectedly, Milo by Matthew Dicks.
Your Turn!
How was your reading week? Do tell!
Glad the double-speed thing worked out for you. I hate when the readers are SO SLOW. The readers of Juliet Naked do a pretty good job though. I liked that book a lot.
I’m really enjoying Juliet, Naked! I could probably listen to it on regular speed and be fine, but I’m trying it on double just to see how it goes.
Excellent choices by Mary from BookFan, I have to say. 😀 Hope you enjoy the Patrick Ness! Make sure to have the next two on hand when you read the first one.
I agree! I have a feeling I’ll definitely want to read the second and third Chaos Walking books. It looks like an amazing series!
That’s a busy week! Have fun visiting your sister and friend. 🙂
Thanks! I did 🙂
Wonderful week in books, Erin! I love the rhyming titles ‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’ and ‘Never Let me Go’ 🙂 Hope you are enjoying ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’. I read it sometime back and I loved it!
Wonderful to know that you are planning to read ‘War and Peace’ next year. I was planning to read it this year, but was able to finish only one part. I am planning to continue with it next year. It will be nice to compare notes and thoughts 🙂 I have heard that the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokonsky translation is wonderful. The traditional translation is, of course, by Constance Garnett. I am reading a translation by Anthony Briggs, which is quite good too.
Thanks, Vishy! I thought the titles were fun, once I noticed their similarities! I am enjoying The Chronicles of Narnia, though for some reason it’s taking me a while to get through them. It will definitely be nice to compare War and Peace notes; the more, the merrier! I’ve heard the Pevear and Volokonsky translation is good, too, but I can’t do all the French that’s translated in footnotes. I’m really happy to hear the Briggs translation is good, because it’s the one I’ve tentatively settled on! Good luck with the next parts!
The Briggs translation has the best cover, I think – it looks so beautiful doesn’t it? The beautiful cover nudged me towards the Briggs translation 🙂
Yes, the cover is lovely! One of the better ones, I think. I like when they give classics beautiful covers instead of something boring! It makes them so much more enticing to read.
I forgot to mention a few more things 🙂
Your vlog is wonderful! The premise behind the book ‘The Knife of Letting Go’ is very interesting! I am tempted to get the book myself now 🙂 ‘Talking to Girls about Duran Duran’ looks like an interesting title. I remember Duran Duran singing in one of the Bond movies, ‘A View to a Kill’. Do you like Duran Duran’s music?
I’m glad you enjoyed the vlog! I thought I would hate vlogging, but it turns out I don’t 🙂 I’m hoping to get to The Knife of Never Letting Go next time I need some good YA, which will probably be soon-ish. I’ve heard the whole series is really good — I love starting a book knowing there are more to come! The music memoirs look interesting to me as well. I’m not sure I actually know much by Duran Duran, as I was just a tad too young to be listening to them when they were big. But, I’m pretty sure I’ll be listening to them when I read Talking to Girls about Duran Duran!