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 did not acquire a single new book this week! I can’t remember the last time that happened. Instead, I’ll share with you the audiobooks I’ve recently gotten from the library and am looking forward to listening to. They’re all books that have been on my TBR list.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ovl4TTtQGo
- Flight by Sherman Alexie: Cass from Bonjour, Cass! recommended this one because I loved The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Alexie. I’ve actually already listened to this one and loved it–review coming this week!
- The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent: I have a print copy of this one that I tried a while back and wasn’t in the mood for. I do think I’ll like the book, though, and thought I’d give the audio a try. I’ve listened to the first bit, and so far, I really like it.
- By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham: I loved The Hours but have heard mixed things about By Nightfall, Cunningham’s latest. I thought maybe the audiobook would be good…we’ll see!
- After Dark by Haruki Murakami: Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea has recommended several of Murakami’s audiobooks over the past few months. My library had After Dark, so I decided to give it a shot.
- A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson: This is one of February’s Reading Buddies book (more on that tomorrow!). I have it in print and may end up reading instead of listening, depending on which way is funnier!
TBR Additions
- The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi Durrow: Emily’s review on Eat the Books piqued my interest in this book, the cover of which I’ve always liked.
- Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: After reading a great review on my books. my life., I was convinced to finally add this popular YA novel to my own TBR list!
Read This Week
This week I finally finished both books I’ve been slowly making my way through: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (dense but very rewarding) and The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Ranier Maria Rilke (dense and a little confusing). I’ve been reading the same two books for far too long and was thrilled to start The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carre and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (finally!!).
On audio, I wrapped up Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and tore through Flight by Sherman Alexie. I’m now working on The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent. So far, so good!
Erin Reads Recap
- I started the week with a Sunday Salon post in which I invited Erin Reads readers to be my reading buddies. The response was amazing, and tomorrow I’ll be revealing the project that’s resulted!
- On Monday I wrapped up Bloggiesta by looking back at what I’d accomplished over the weekend.
- Next I shared my thoughts on Delirium by Lauren Oliver, the gripping start to what I expect will be a great trilogy.
- Wednesday’s Classics Reclamation Project post looked at my thoughts on the first half of The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Ranier Maria Rilke, which I read for my book group. Thoughts on the second half will be coming next week.
- Thursday I talked about Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, a sort of prequel to Peter Pan, on audio.
- Finally, yesterday, I looked at Interpreter of Maladies, a beautiful collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Your Turn!
How was your reading week? Do tell!
I didn’t acquire any books this week. I did, however, manage to do a long search of the uni library and found 14 books by various authors which I’ll be reading over the next couple of months. It’s amazing what can happen if you just walk around the literature area of the library and grab any old book.
I’m looking forward to reading Animal Farm in March as it’s a book I’ve wanted to read for a long time but never actually picked it up (for a multitude of reasons: no money, overdue books fine and a useless college library. Thankfully the uni has it and only for £3000 a year tuition fees.
I have library problems — I always have a ton of books checked out and a ton more on order. I rarely let myself browse, because if I do, I end up with more than I can possibly read! I hope you found some good things and will enjoy reading them.
Animal Farm is scheduled for May, not March, but I hope that works out for you as I’d love to have you read along. It’s one I’ve been meaning to read for a long time, too!
Damn years having two months starting with M.
I always end up taken out the maximum amount of books of 15 which is much more than I can read in one month unless I spent full days just reading which I can’t do as I have to be active throughout the day also.
I’m currently experimenting with writers to try and broaden my horizons, so to speak and so far I seem to have found some good books.
Indeed…I figured that’s what happened!
I wish my library had a 15-book limit! I use the city library (not the university), so the limit is like 50 books and 50 audiobooks or something crazy like that. As much as I’d love to be able to read 100 books a month…that’s just not happening. Oh well!
It’s always tough seeking out new authors, I think — it can be so hit or miss. I’m glad it’s working out for you.
My town library used to have an unlimited number of books to take out but as I had so many unread books and worked in a charity shop where I often got first dibs, I only used the library for studying books. Now that I have 80p to my name I have little choice but to use the library for leisure reading.
It’s all fun and games though.
I have to check out Flight as I too loved Sherman Alexies Part Time Indian book!
Oh, do — I think it’s maybe not the best intro book to Alexie, but if you already read and loved Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Flight! Enjoy!
I’ll be reading The Woman Who Fell From the Sky in the next month! I”m really looking forward to it, especially since my sister lived in Yemen for a year.
Oh, nice to have a personal connection! I’ll look forward to hearing your thoughts. I don’t think I’ll get to it for a while, but I do hope to eventually.
I love Haruki Murakami’s novels! I liked After Dark, but it’s not my favorite. Stll, it is quite representative of Murakami’s themes. I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Glad to have another vote for Murakami! Which ones do you like best?
Among my favorites are “The wind-up bird chronicle” and “Kafka on the shore” but I would also recommend his short stories “After the quake stories” for instance.
I recently read “Sommeil”, a short story extracted from one his books, which was strange but really good !
Thanks, Virginie! If I don’t love After Dark, I’ll be sure to try one of the books you listed before I write Murakami off 🙂
I need to read more Murakami…I loved Kafka on the Shore, but that’s the only one I’ve read.
That was the only one I’d heard of for a long time! I’ll add Kafka on the Shore to my list.
Looks like you had a really good week. I think I am joining you for A Walk in the Woods (it’s the one Bryson I have sitting on the shelves and it’s unread), but we’ll have to see how much of my time Ulysses takes up since I’m doing the readalong for that.
Well, I do think Bryson would make a nice picker-upper in between long sessions of Joyce, no? It’d be great to have you along, but I certainly understand if Ulysses takes over all your reading time!
I’ve never been much for audio books, but it looks like you’re in for a good week in reading! I’m currently reading A Walk in the Woods, and I am loving it. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you think of it!
I had to sort of train myself to like audiobooks, but I know they’re not for everyone. I’m pretty fussy about the narration, so it’s hard to find ones I’ll really enjoy! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on A Walk in the Woods, too. Feel free to jump in once we start discussing!
I loved Walk in the Woods … you’re in for a treat.
Excellent! Judging from the little Bryson I’ve read, I’m really looking forward to it!
Wonderful acquisitions, Erin! I haven’t read any book by Michael Cunningham, but one of my friends highly recommended ‘A Home at the End of the World’ by him. It seems to be a beautiful novel on an interesting theme and I want to read it soon. Bill Bryson is always wonderful! Have you read his ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’? It is the best book on science for general readers that I have ever read and it is told with Bryson’s trademark humour. Hope you enjoy ‘The Spy who came in from the cold’ by John Le Carre. I think it is one of the best literary and realistic thrillers of the cold-war era.
Enjoy reading your new acquisitions!
Ah yes, I always forget about A Home at the End of the World! I’ll look forward to your thoughts — if it’s anything like The Hours, I’m sure you will love it. I’ve read a bit of A Short History of Nearly Everything; I started it a long time ago, when I didn’t have much time to read, and I never got all the way through, even though I enjoyed it. I think my husband owns a copy — I should pick it up again! As for The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, it’s not the sort of book I read, but a quarter of the way in, I’m really absorbed in it. I’m looking forward to reading the rest!
‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ is really wonderful! Hope you get to read it. I still remember the Reverend who hunted for supernovae and the big secret behind Yellowstone national park and the scientist who was so shy that he ran away from home when one of his admirers knocked the door. (Am just tempting you with all these anecdotes :))
Glad you are enjoying ‘The Spy who came in from the cold’! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
I’ll have to be sure I get to it. I’ve started A Walk in the Woods on audio, and it’s a lot of fun. How cool that Bryson can make bits of history and science stick in your head so effectively! (Your tempting is working 🙂 )
I haven’t listened to any audiobooks yet, but I have a few of books I want to read, so I’ll see how I like audibooks.
A Walk in the Woods is brilliant and hilarious. I am a huge Bryson fan but I cannot imagine you won’t enjoy this! I hope you do!
I am not familiar with Flight by Sherman Alexie or the author, actually. I’ve listed the book and author on my TBR page since you enjoyed it so much and read it after reading a positive review. Thank you for introducing me to a new author!
I, too, loved The Hours. I haven’t read anything else by Michael Cunningham and need to get on that. I look forward to your thoughts on By Nightfall.
Murakami is high on my TBR list. Alas I haven’t read any of his books yet despite thinking about reading his books for more than a year. Pathetic, uh?! It’s going to happen this year! lol Again, I look forwsrd to your thoughts on After Dark.
I used to read a lot of Rilke in college and then after law school but, sadly got out of the habit. It’s so hard to find time for everything I want to read!
Great week – you sure made up for not receiving any books in the mail!
~ Amy
I hope you find some audiobooks that work for you! I love how they double my reading time (at least!). Even cleaning isn’t so bad if I can “read” while doing it!
I’ve started listening to A Walk in the Woods, and so far, I’m really enjoying it. Bryson is so funny, yet so good at weaving in just enough fact that you learn something while giggling at his adventures.
Maybe Murakami will have to make an appearance as a Reading Buddies book — what do you think??
I think I”ll have to try another Rilke, as I liked the writing in the one I just read, but the story kind of lost me. I’ll definitely give him another shot, though! I know — it’s frustrating to want to read so much but to have so little time!
I am totally excited about all the great audiobooks you got this week, and can’t wait to hear what you think of them all! I do really like audio, but I find I don’t always have a lot of time to listen, and sort of gravitate towards the print versions more often. I will be interested in hearing about The Heretic’s Daughter, as that one has been languishing on my shelves for the longest time! Happy reading and listening to you this week!
I’m the opposite — I have a lot of travel time plus a lot of time home alone, so audiobooks let me be productive while still reading! Otherwise, I’d never get off the couch 🙂 I can definitely understand the reverse situation, though, and anticipate it’ll be me there someday. The Heretic’s Daughter, at about halfway through, is very absorbing and well-done. I’m anticipating a positive review…though who knows what the second half will bring!
That’s awesome that you’ve put The Girl Who Fell From the Sky on your TBR list. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
I may not get to it for a while, but I’ll get to it eventually! Thanks for the great review!