I really think I need to create a schedule for my reading. I have found this helps me considerably to organize it and keep me focused. It has done so in the past. With how uncertain everything else is right now, I am going to need to get one going to put my mind at ease – at least about my reading.
The closure of our libraries for COVID-19 measures means the pressure of any holds coming in all at once has been suspended for the time being. Therefore, all of these books I had put on hold, especially the three I thought were winging their way to me soon, now won’t be, and this relieves a great deal of pressure off of me. Sort of.
Because now it should mean I organize my reading around my Netgalley and books from my own shelf! I have a lot of Netgalley and this is an opportune time to focus on those titles.
Just yesterday I requested The City of Tears by Kate Mosse, even though it is one I have on hold at the library, I’m so eager to read it so I requested it from Netgalley, and it was so quickly approved! AND huzzah! It’s an ePub which means I can download it to my Kobo for ease of reading this 600+ page tome! I’m so happy!
Minotaur Books
This is quite an eye-catching cover and such vibrant colour! I like it. I do like it more than the UK cover (which is a surprise to me since normally I’m endeared to the UK’s covers).
This one will archive in May, so it’s one that is coming up sooner than the other Netgalley titles I have, so I’ll turn to this one first. But that will need to be right after I finish The House of Trelawney. And another book that was sent by Touchwood Editions – the next in the beloved Lane Winslow series, A Match Made for Murder. Match for Murder comes out in April, and I’m super excited to get lost in the wonderful world of Lane, Darling and Ames again! I’ll have to get to that and then, definitely on to The City of Tears!
But perhaps even before I can get to The City of Tears, I will have to read our book club’s pick, The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley. Everyone in the group really liked the sound of this one, so hopefully this is a super successful pick.
Our next meeting is in May. Will we be able to meet in person by then?? :-( I hope so!! We’re hoping the weather is so nice we can sit outside and enjoy a lovely book club meeting around the patio.
I have a few other Netgalley titles requested earlier, but they are now coming in from the library (whenever they can open again!), so I won’t include them here – but there are a good number of others with archive dates later in the summer months like June and July. The most wonderful things about these Netgalley titles is that the are all ePubs so I can download them to my Kobo. So lovely! Thank you publishers for listening to us groan about PDF files! I’m certain it was because of us that these are all coming in as ePub files. ;-)
These are the ones I have downloaded so they are at the top of the list to read:
- Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor. I only keep hearing excellent things about this one.
- Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars by Joyce Carol Oates. This one looks really good! I’m looking forward to digging into this new one by JCO.
- Pale Morning Light with Violet Swan by Deborah Reed (this one will fit nicely with my #ReadingWomenChallenge for a woman as an artist task)
- If Tenderness Be Gold by Eleanor Albanese. CanLit set in Ontario and Manitoba about 3 women coming together the night of a difficult birth that effects generations after.
One that looks like a great Summer read – oh we’ll be there soon enough, where we’ll be sitting outside enjoying wonderful reading time outdoors! – is Jennifer Weiner’s newest, Big Summer. Perfectly titled isn’t it?
I’m hopeful by the time I’ve read through this bunch, the library will have re-opened and the holds will come tumbling down around me. I think this is a decent number of books to schedule for right now. The JCO and Mosse books are chunky, with JCO being super chunky so I’ll be occupied – hopefully happily!
Oh and I of course bought the new Hilary Mantel too. ;-) I think it was Book Riot that suggested books similar to Mantel’s and Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose was on it, so I bought that one too. Nice big chunky historical reads. Bliss. They seem like heavier kinds of books, so I’m wondering if they’ll fit into my Summer reading or if I save them for the cooler nights beginning in the Fall? (Their covers speak to me of nights sitting by the fire wrapped under a warm blanket, so I’m not sure if they’ll be in my Summer reading lists.)
Those are my planned books to read over the next few weeks, couple of months. I’ll admit to being very slow right now with my reading of House of Trelawney. It’s not that it’s not oh so good, I really am enjoying it -the writing has been sublime so far – it’s just that my focus on everything that is happening so quickly with this virus is preoccupying my thoughts and distracting me from reading. I can’t peel my eyes away from the news. (I have to say I’ve been impressed with how CBC has been covering it. But there is only so much you can watch without it all becoming so anxiety-inducing.) Which means getting lost in a good book right?
We’ve started working from home, so I’m looking around at all the books surrounding me and I want to read them all too. It seems like it’s a great time to tackle All The Books, but in reality the distractions are tremendous. (and, well, still have to work right?)
What does your COVID-19 reading look like??
Stay safe everyone!
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