Tuesday, September 25, 2012

What's on my Nightstand?

What's On Your Nightstand

Last month I decided to try an experiment. When I read through each of the Nightstand posts, I kept track of how many books were added to my to-read list due to others' recommendations. Normally there are three or four. Last month I added 16! Nine nonfiction books and seven fiction.

Throughout the month, I kept track of how many books I finished off my to-read list, as opposed to those I picked up randomly at the library or those I was mailed to review. I finished one nonfction book (I am Nujood) and two fiction books (Evelina and William Henry is a Fine Name).

And this, my fellow readers, is why my to-read list keeps getting longer each month in spite of the numerous books I finish.

This month I read:

Bible
  • Genesis
  • Exodus
  • Leviticus
  • Numbers
  • Deuteronomy
  • Joshua
  • Judges
  • Ruth
  • 1 Samuel
  • 2 Samuel
  • Job

Christian Fiction
  • Whence Came a Prince by Liz Curtis Higgs - 2.5 stars. Mixed feelings. The writing is terrific. But this retelling of Jacob and Leah and Rachel is SO far off the Biblical story that it should be its own story. I was very unhappy with the ending.
  • Love's Sacred Song by Mesu Andrews - 4 stars. Fantastic book! I am anxiously awaiting Andrews' next book publication.

Memoir
  • Mr. CSI: How a Vegas Dreamer Made a Killing in Hollywood, One Body at a Time - 3 stars. Not really about CSI but an interesting and inspiring account of a man trying and trying and trying again until he succeeds.

Secular Fiction
  • South of Superior by Ellen Airgood - Barely 3 stars. It's an adult coming-of-age book where nothing happens. I felt it was saying that life is hopeless.
  • Evelina Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance Into the World by Fanny Burney - 3.5 stars. One of my favorite September reads. Very witty lines and it's obvious why Jane Austen was inspired by Burney. I can't wait to read more of her works, especially since I've read Evelina is one of her weakest novels!

Currently Reading
  • Time and Again by Jack Finney - I am almost done with this story and thoroughly enjoying it. I've not read many time travel books but I've seen a ton of movies. Once I finish the book, I'll dig around to see if they ever made it into a movie.
  • The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade - My current classic. I'm not sure how I came across this book but it's interesting thus far (pg 50 out of 785).

Happy reading!

6 comments:

Lisa notes... said...

I love your experiment. I used to sort of keep track of where my reading suggestions came from, but haven't done it in awhile. Would be interesting to note though. Also would be interesting to note how many come off my original to-read list. That statistic might not be pretty though. ha. I'm not as much a random library reader as I used to be, but I still love to dabble with it. Thanks for the inspiration.

Enjoy!

Beth said...

I tried reading Higg's first book in that series and gave up.

I'm off to check out Mesu Andrew's books.

Annette Whipple said...

I really like Liz Curtis Higgs, though I never read that series.

I also liked William Henry. :)

Tonia said...

I end up adding so many books from my library list after reading everyone's nightstand lists! I had never heard of Fanny Burney before - my library has a few of her books. Guess I'll have a new author to read!

Carrie said...

You always come up with an interesting twist to this. :) So.....I don't know if I WANT to know how many books I add to my wishlist via Nightstand. Although that would also be an interesting exercise. :P

The Studio said...

Interesting list and the tracking is something I might try....maybe it will explain why I am still struggling with a few book stragglers.