Greetings and hello from Charlotte! I hope everyone's week is going well! I flew in last night and sadly spent the flight studying for the CFA instead of reading for pleasure like I usually do. Getting my study hours in while traveling is NOT easy, plus I have a busy weekend ahead of me that will include a baby shower and a birthday lunch for a friend, so I decided to sacrifice the flight times to studying to make it easier to hit my goal of 15 hours of studying/week!
Each month I share the books I have read with my thoughts/opinions, but this month I thought I'd share a list of books that I am hoping to tackle, and the reason why I am reading them! My to-read list on goodreads is ridiculously long (399 books!) so it's sometimes tough to decide what to read next! Here are some of the books I am hoping to finish over the next couple of months!
Right now I am reading the penguin classics version of Little Women (and am loving it!). I love how the penguin classic version has a little ribbon for marking your place! I wish more books had that so I wouldn't have to track down a bookmark each time! I had this marked as read on goodreads, but I honestly think I might have marked it by mistake when I first started adding books to the site years ago as I do not recall reading it. It is SO good so far!
Next up I will read Those Who Save Us, which is the book club book for the club hosted by
Emily each month (all are welcome to join!). I have owned this book for YEARS but never got around to reading it, so I am glad I now have a reason to pluck it from my shelf! It's partially set during WWII, which is one of my favorite genres to read about, so I think I will really like it.
I totally fell in love with John Green's writing after reading The Fault in Our Stars and Looking For Alaska, so I decided to check out some of his other books. One of the books I want to read is An Abundance of Katherines. It's about a guy who dates a bunch of girls with the name Katherine. You may not know this, but I have dated A LOT of Brians (and a Ryan), so reading the synopsis of this book made me smile as I can relate to being "stuck" on a name. Luckily my current boyfriend is not a Ryan or a Brian. And his birthday isn't on April 28th (I've had 2 serious boyfriends with that birthday).
I am reading this book, Bonfire of the Vanities, due to the insistent prompting of my boyfriend. He said he is 100% certain that I will love it, so I am excited to check it out. It was also recommended to me by a senior leader that I met back in November when I was in San Francisco. Can I just say how much I love dating a guy who reads and is able to make book recommendations?
My friend
Erin recently started a book club on facebook and I am hoping to finish this book in time to join the discussion later this month! I have read and enjoyed a couple other books by this author, and
Nora and I got to see her talk when I was in St. Louis for Nora's wedding, which was a really cool experience!
All of these books I either own or am borrowing from the library, so I have yet to break my book buying fast!!
What are you reading these days? And how do you find your next great read? I get most of my reading suggestions from friends, often by seeing what they are reading on goodreads (seriously, you should join that site if you haven't already!). I also peruse the bestseller lists.
I am reading this book, Bonfire of the Vanities, due to the insistent prompting of my boyfriend. He said he is 100% certain that I will love it, so I am excited to check it out. It was also recommended to me by a senior leader that I met back in November when I was in San Francisco. Can I just say how much I love dating a guy who reads and is able to make book recommendations? 
I have that edition of Little Women. It has been a favourite book of mine for years, this year I was given this edition for my birthday. You'll love the Bonfire of the Vanities. If you haven't read it, can I also suggest Vanity Fair?
ReplyDeleteI'm reading The Life of Pi at the moment, and have the new Kate Morton waiting!
Yay, I love your book posts!
ReplyDeleteHow did I not know Erin started a book club on facebook? I swear facebook has a mind of it's own sometimes and I was just saying I haven't been seeing her posts as frequently in my newsfeed. Wah. I will go look into this now.
I am about to start Those Who Save Us and I just finished Divergent last night which I loved! I'll have to look into these other books!
I love Little Women--both the books and the movie with Winona Rider. It's such a good story!
ReplyDeleteI get my books from Goodreads.... and your posts :)
ReplyDeleteI actually have a growing document of "what to read next" books, haha. It's freakily organized, too. I'm reading Little Women right now for twookclub, and I think my next read is going to be The Hunger Games. I've never read it and want to see what it's all about! Also need to read "The Age of Miracles" for my local book club.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fun post idea!
Right now I'm reading "In the Shadow of the Banyan", in addition to several spiritual books that I read slowly so I can reflect on them as I read. The books you have picked to read sound so interesting! Enjoy the rest of your trip!
ReplyDeleteLittle Women has been a life long favorite of mine. First reading it in grade school and again many times later. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteAlso a former roommate of mine has dated four consecutive Ryans.
I remember you saying that you haven't read MWF Seeking BFF... well I'm giving it away on my blog so you should go enter! And then even if you don't win, you should buy the book because it's awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteI started reading my nook at the gym, and totally love it. Now I'm up to(nearly)1/2 Lisa paced book reading! I just finished The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks, a memoir about her journey through schizophrenia. It is excellent. I would highly recommend it! I'm thinking about reading An Unquiet Mind next (which is about bipolar disorder). I'm reading "seating arrangements" right now, which is actually pretty stupid :) I might use your blog from now on for suggestions! Glad the bf is a reader, that's convenient :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome idea for a blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about the Katherine book; look forward to hearing how it is.
I hope you enjoy Queen of the Big Time. Such a great read, maybe one of my favorites apart from Shoemaker's Wife! (Kind of fun that we sat behind the ladies who had a relative in that book, eh?)
I'm on GoodReads but I don't think I've logged on for probably over a year and a half. I get a lot of my recommendations from friends on FB since a number of my friends are English professors or voracious readers I often get some good leads on books I wouldn't have otherwise heard much about. Right now I'm reading the last Harry Potter in Spanish, but I think I'm also about to start The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.
ReplyDeleteI have Little Women on my kobo and also picked up a copy when that book store was giving away free books last month. I definitely want to read it in 2013, I read it as a kid and loved it!
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm simultaneously reading three books! But two are health/food related books and not actual stories so I don't really count them. I'm hoping to have the book club book from the library in time to read it. I'm currently #2 on the waiting list!
I get many of my book suggestions from YOU :) :) Of course, I think you already knew that!!!! I'm so glad you are going to try and participate in my little facebook book club! I really love "The Queen of the Big Time"--and I think it's awesome that you and Nora met Adriana Trigiani!
ReplyDeleteOh---also, I didn't date guys with the same name---but I have dated a LOT of guys with "J" names. And actually---all of my siblings (and ME!) married a spouse with a "J" name.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Little Women right now, too. I've read it several times before, all at different points in my life, and I love how each time I read it I glean something new. It's such a wonderful story!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like Bonfire of the Vanities. Tom Wolfe is one of my all time favorite writers. Can't wait to hear what you think!
Ha there have been a lot of Brians in my life too :) And usually I have a list of books running also due to going into stores and then I either capture pictures or add them to a note in my Iphone. I have about 20 unread books on my shelves so I'm trying to make it thru those but the cheap books at Costco also call me every time.....
ReplyDeleteI mostly read non-fiction, and I find my next book by wandering around Chapters reading the backs of any that spark my curiosity :-)
ReplyDeleteI get recommendations from co-workers, friends, and I also read magazines, such as Poets & Writer, The Writer, and Writer's Digest that has features on a lot of different authors and upcoming books. Not to mention all the book review accounts I follow on Twitter from Book Page to LA Review of Books to Barnes and Noble Review to the NY Times Bestseller list. Then I see recommendations on Amazon from recent virtual bookshopping trips, so there's that. I am never hard up for a book to read, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI will also be reading Little Women this month for Twook Club! I just got finished with Rachel Bertsche's MWF Seeking BFF and am currently reading The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold at the request of a friend. I've had it on my bookshelf for a while, but she wanted me to read it to see if I thought it was just as weird as she thought it was. Lol.
Happy reading this month, Lisa!
I haven't read Little Women either. I know I started it at some point while I was growing up, but don't think I got very far. (And that version of the book is what I gave out as one of my bridesmaids presents.)
ReplyDeleteI have read Those Who Save Us, enjoyed it, and think you will as well. In a way it kind of reminds me of Sarah's Key, and it's one that I wind up thinking about randomly.
And finally I've heard great things about An Abundance of Katherines, but still have yet to read anything by John Green. Although would love to finally get to The Fault in Our Stars.
I just finished The Fault in Our Stars two days ago and started Those WHo Save us tonight.
ReplyDeleteI just finished Little Women, and I cannot believe I didn't read it before now! It was so good, and now I want to read the sequals.
ReplyDeleteOhhh Little Women - I LOVE that book! I was try to read a book about Mary Todd Lincoln, but it's just too dense for me right now. I just picked up The Wednesday Sisters but I also may need to check out Those Who Save Us - it sounds good!
ReplyDeleteHappy reading!
I usually find my next great reads from the bestseller lists at Amazon, then push them straight to the kindle. fwiw.
ReplyDeleteI hope to also read Little Women this year. I am finishing up the Penguin Classic Christmas Carols. I also love the ribbon bookmarker. I also have Sense and Sensibility on the agenda. If I can make it thru these 3 classics along with reading Gone Girl I will be happy with myself. Have you read Gone Girl? It's apparently "the" book to read!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good list -- I love WWII era also -- I may have to check that one out and am eager to hear how you like it.
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm reading a mystery by Nicola Upson and I can't remember the name of it but it has as characters the novelist Josephine Tey, Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville. I am also looking at the essays in 365 days of art. What I really should be doing is the art!
Some of my books are my book club reads, others recommended by friends here and elsewhere. Sometimes I'm just captivated when I go to the book store. All depends!
I have read Little Women several times. It makes me cry every time. In fact, the last time I read it I was on a plane and I had to turn away from my seatmate so they wouldn't see me. Be careful! I have not read any of the other books on your list, but I can't wait to hear how they are. I am really not doing very well on the reading front these days. I have read about 1/2 of a book in 2013 so far! I have 226 books on my To Read list on Goodreads. I always get my recommendations from friends!
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