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Monday, July 21, 2014

What On Your Nightstand - August

What's On Your Nightstand

Oh, Nightstand, how I love and hate you. You remind me of all that I want to read and all that I was not able to get to. Yet I still cannot resist participating in this monthly meme, hosted by 5 Minutes for Books. Although it's almost like torture, I'll continue to plot a course and see how closely I can stick to it.

This past month I have focused almost exclusively on Narnia. I absolutely love The Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge, hosted every year in July right here at Reading to Know.

This year I read The Horse and His Boy aloud to my kids and we just finished reading The Last Battle (review forthcoming). It's been a lovely month in Narnia and, if possible, I love it more than I ever have in the past.


Also in conjunction with the reading challenge, I read Live Like a Narnian (linked to review). I can't say it was my favorite or that it was completely awful. It's just not my first choice. It's worth noting.

Currently, the kids and I are reading 101 Dalmations together along with the classics book club group.

In July I also managed to read the following, all titles linked to my reviews:




I am currently in the middle of the following titles (slowly poking my way through):

How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books


Remember, Remember (The Fifth of November): Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About British History with All the Boring Bits Taken Out (Only $0.99 on the Kindle. But I am not reading it on the Kindle. I have a hard copy.)


Other Books I plan/hope to read may include, but are not limited to:



Beyond that, we shall just see what happens!

Now I'm off to see what you mentioned your nightstands so that I can make my own reading list longer and more complicated.

16 comments:

Sarah said...

What a diverse list! I have to say The Last Battle is definitely my favorite Narnia book maybe second only to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe... but if a second, it's a close second.

I'm intrigued by Remember, Remember. I'll have to look for that one.

Read 101 Dalmatians several years ago, will add it to my list to read aloud soon. It was such a good read.

I read The Brothers Karamazov a few years back for my book club. It was a tough read, but I was very proud of myself for finishing it. I will say this, don't feel bad if you need to grab a copy of the Cliff Notes. There were a few chapters I got bogged down while reading and having the Cliff Notes helped clear things up and kept me reading. Some day I will go back and read another of Dostoevsky, if only because I love to say his name. What a fun word. :)

I also read The Forgotten Garden some time ago. I had such mixed feelings about it. Love Kate Morton's way with words... but there were some things I really didn't like about that book. I have this gut feeling you won't like the book, but guess we'll wait and see.

And yay! For getting to the Goblet of Fire. I'm impressed you've made it thus far. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on that one. :)

Sarah said...

Follow up comment. My Nightstand currently holds:

I just finished re-reading Miss Buncle for our book club. (Love that series) and The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (read aloud to my eldest)

Current nightstand reading:

* Freddy Goes to Florida by Walter Brooks (re-read for me, read aloud to eldest)

* Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons (author of Cold Comfort Farm)

* The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge (author of the Little White Horse, but this novel is for adults)

* Chateau of Secrets by Melanie Dobson

* The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

Unknown said...

How the Heather and Remember, Remember sound interesting. Adding to my ever-growing library list.

We read 101 Dalmatians a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

Anonymous said...

I thought for sure you would get to My Antonia by Willa Cather before me. I'm 3/4 of the way through and find it's an okay read. I don't know if I'd recommend it. I don't see a point in keeping it. I have so many others that I truly LOVE. I can't keep them all.

Barbara H. said...

I'm tempted to get Remember, Remember, but I think I'll wait to see what you think of it. Sounds interesting!

I didn't think I had a book for the Narnia challenge but just started one today that might qualify. It'll be a push to get it done by next week, but we'll see!

Annette Whipple said...

I also wonder if you'll like The Forgotten Garden. I did, though it had it's flaws.

I don't think my library has Miss Buncle. Will be looking for it though!

Bluerose said...

I have The Forgotten Garden on my shelf, but I keep hearing such mixed things about the content of her books. I haven't read it yet, so I'll be curious to see what you think.

Kelly Polark said...

I need to revisit The Chronicles of Narnia. Also, enjoy the Harry Potter series. I read them with my oldest about four years ago. Loved sharing it with him, then with my daughter and my youngest read the series last year.

Sharon said...

I just finished the first Harry Potter book - for the first time!

I enjoyed the Miss Buncle books several months ago. They were great late night reads when I couldn't sleep.

Heather VanTimmeren said...

How the Heather Looks is simply enchanting - first hand descriptions of literary locations in England! You'll find old favorites and perhaps make new friends.

I would like to reread it now that my children and I have fallen in love with the Swallows and Amazons series, but, alas, our library got rid of their copy.

Enjoy!

Shonya said...

So, did you not get I Am Messenger read? I was waiting on your review to see if I should read it. . . :D

Michelle said...

I keep thinking I need to re-read the Narnia books

Lisa notes... said...

I loved The Last Battle but I've only read it once. I look forward to setting aside time to soak it in again in the future.

I never thought I would be a Potter fan, but I loved the books. I hope you enjoy them too!

Cassandra said...

Argh! The Nightstand posts keep coming at a very inconvenient time! I keep missing them... right now I am reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and loving it! I will also shortly be reading 101 Dalmatians as it finally came available at the library TODAY. No idea what's next... Good luck with The Brothers Karamazov! I read it a couple years ago and have no plans to reread it. ;) It was interesting, had some great discussions and quotable lines, but was a tough read.

bekahcubed said...

Gotta love reading in preparation for a trip - I recognize it in your "slowly plodding" titles.

I'm proud of myself for at least having read along with the RTK classics challenge this year - even if I haven't always written up my thoughts or remembered to link up. The Brother's Karamazov may stretch me, though, since I'm still busy in baby reading and have just started my (rather homework intensive) childbirth preparation class. Nevertheless, I plan to read along - and get it DONE!

BerlinerinPoet said...

*sigh* I need to do this again. I love reading your upcoming reads. Er, that is, I love reading their titles. I don't actually read them.

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