Happy New Year to you all!
It’s traditional to set out one’s stall with reading plans for the year ahead. I was aiming to keep them as fluid as possible, yet have managed to sign up for 5 blog tours in January, how did that happen? I am aiming to do fewer blog tours this year, because I have other plans too.
For January, I’m hosting a readalong of Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum which I didn’t get at all on first reading when it was published back in the late 1980s. There is no set timetable to get through the 641 pages of my PIcador paperback edition – it may carry over into February, but the aim is to read a chunk a week in Jan. You’re welcome to join me if you want, and I know some of you have already said you will – thank you. I’m aiming to do a first post early next week. #EchoesofEcoII
In my post introducing Echoes of Eco II back in November, I expressed my quandary in whether I should ‘unshrinkwrap’ my prized Folio Society copy of the book – even if only to admire Nick Packer’s illustrations. It was bought for a three-figure sum and has doubled in value since. Well, I’ve done it! Life’s too short, (it only knocks a small amount off the value). The illustrations are lovely. But I shall probably read mostly from my paperback.
Then in February, I’m hosting a second Paul Auster Reading Week, beginning on his birth date: Monday Feb 3rd and running until the 10th. He died last April, so it’s a good time to celebrate his writing once again, and we’ll include his wife Siri Hustvedt too, who wrote so eloquently after his death.
Other than that I will take part in as many reading challenges and weeks as I can; prioritise books from my TBR; and try to acquire slightly fewer books.
