The Reading Nook

I'm trying something a little new here.  Once a month I thought I would dedicate a post to the book I have most recently finished reading.  I love reading and always have done.  I managed to make myself severely short sighted by reading under the bedclothes with a torch when I was little and ended up with thick, heavy glasses from the ages of about 10 to 16.  I am also a very fast reader - on a 2 week beach holiday it has not been unheard of for me to finish 16 books (Kindle, you are a lifesaver on the luggage allowance!).

Recently though I have been too tired at night, my usual reading time, to knuckle down and work my way through some good literature and I am missing it if I am honest.  I find I sleep better, I am less stressed and much more relaxed if I have spent even just half an hour immersed in the world of someone else.  Knowing I need to write about a book once a month will keep me on track, without being too onerous on me as a book a month is more than achievable.

My degree was in Classical and Archaeological Studies with English and American Literature but I am ashamed to admit that I still haven't read some of the books I was supposed to have studied!  I want to broaden my reading scope beyond my usual genres (which are fairly mixed anyway but lean heavily towards fantasy, chick lit and the classics) and find some new gems.  Goodreads is wonderful for this and I nearly completed their reading challenge last year.  The plan is to mix up some of the books I have had on my bookshelf for years (Don DeLillo, I'm coming to get you) with others that I have never heard of and those that I return to time and time again (Tolkien, it may be time to dust you off once more). 

So that is the plan.  I want to catalogue my reading exploits here, find new authors to love and worlds to explore.  I want to lose myself in adventures in far off lands and travel to places born from another's imagination.  I want new characters to scream at and cheer on and want to hold my breath with barely constrained excitement as my eyes flicker over the page as fast as I dare to find out what happens next.

I want to murmur "just one more chapter" knowing that the alarm going off in the morning will be all the more painful for it and not really care.

I want to lose myself in ink and paper, the sound of a newly cracked spine and that scent of words and stories that only real books can provide (sorry Kindle, you come up short here).  The fragrance of a library or bookstore, especially one filled with antique books, is like no other on earth. 

I also want to hear from you, the books you love and the books you hate and the books I have to go and get my paws on now.

Hopefully you will like this addition to the blog.  I won't be reviewing - I'm not a reviewer but I will just be open and honest about my opinions.  I hope you will too.