via Mrs Darwin
What book(s) are you reading now?
It’s kind of a ridiculously long list, but I’ve picked up all of these and read at least a page or two within the past week or so.
The Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliff
I’m working my way through all of Sutcliff’s Romans in Britain novels. This one is a little slow at the outset, so I’m picking it up and putting it down. I suspect that once I get to the second half I’ll polish it off in an evening.
The Prospect of Lyric ed by Bainard Cowan
A gorgeous book of essays about lyric poetry, part of a series about the four (Aristotelian) genres of literature: tragic, comic, epic, lyric. Rooted in the scholarship of Louise Cowan, my favorite professor at UD, whose visionary genius really is the heart of UD’s literature department. I suspect I’ll have several blog posts about this one, if I ever get around to writing them.
Human Chain by Seamus Heaney
Finally getting around to diving into this volume which has been on my shelf for years. I read a big chunk at the allergist yesterday.
A Meaningful World by Benjamin Wiker and Jonathan Witt
Hamlet and evolution.
The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin
I’m about two thirds of the way through this one. It’s big and meaty and makes me think. I tend to gobble a chapter or two in between each novel.
The Art of Reading Poetry by Harold Bloom
This is not an easy intro to poetry, it’s a rather knotty essay, that’s sent me on some lovely poetry reading binges.
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
I want to hand this to Bella, but wanted to have it fresh in my memory first. I forgot how annoying and arrogant Johnny is. Did I see that when I was younger?
2. What book did you just finish?
Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge
Read it in a day. Dark post-apocalyptic version of Romeo and Juliet with zombies. Really, but not really. I’m hoping to write a review soon.
3. What do you plan to read next?
These books are sitting around in my book piles, staring at me and asking me to read them. But I’m waiting until I’ve finished one or two of my currently reading books.
The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester
Little Sins Mean a Lot by Elizabeth Scalia
4. What book(s) do you keep meaning to finish?
Books that I’ve started but stalled out on. I haven’t picked them up in weeks or months, but they’re somehow still in the mental holding pattern of books I haven’t given up on.
St Pius V by Prof. Robin Anderson
He’s the saint the Saint Name Generator picked for me this year. I really want to read this book and it’s super short. I’m not sure why I keep dragging, except have you seen how many books I’m currently reading?
Stripping of the Altars by Eamon Duffy
Really good, but dense and all the passages in medieval English are not translated into modern English. Slow going. I need to get back to it.
The Soul of Elizabeth Ann Seton: A Spiritual Portrait by Joseph I. Dirvin
My saint for last year. I really like this book, I’m just stuck in a tough chapter or something.
The Office of Assertion by Scott Crider
A great little book about writing critical essays, meant as a handbook for college students, a rhetorical approach. I want to write about this one, but I keep getting sidetracked.
God in Search of Man by Abraham Joshua Heschel
Got this for my birthday and the bits I’ve read have been fantastic. Another book I want to blog about and that’s bogging me down as I don’t want to read more before I write and process.
5. What book do you keep meaning to start?
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
I’m not allowing myself to acquire it until I clear some of those tomes off of my keep meaning to finish list.
6. What is your current reading trend?
Eclectic. A bit of this and a bit of that. Multiple books going at a time with nibbles from more than one most day. A lot of nonfiction punctuated by quick, easy to read fiction. Lots of Rosemary Sutcliff novels.
Oh, thanks for playing! I have many books recently that have inspired blog posts that I’ve been too busy/worn out/what have you to actually write. At least the thoughts exist, right?
I really do love this meme. I’m so glad you posted it again. In previous years I’ve tracked my reading, but this year I let the ball drop and have been regretting it. Next year I’m going to resolve to return to the monthly reading diary. I always underestimate how many books I’ve read if I don’t keep track. So many books to write about, so little time and energy. Alas.
Awesome. I love seeing what people are reading and if the book is worth picking up. One of my friends said that Rosamund Hodge was a classmate of hers, so I picked up one of her books. I think it might’ve been one of the first she wrote. There were was some interesting ideas, but overall I was not very impressed. It felt like a mess. I’ll be looking forward to your review of Bright Smoke Cold Fire.
Yeah, I know quite a few people who went to UD with Rosamund. And I know her brother too.
I loved Cruel Beauty. Crimson Bound I found somewhat less compelling as a story, it didn’t grab me the way Cruel Beauty did, but I still enjoyed it. Bright Smoke, Cold Fire is only the first half of a duology, so I kind of feel like I can’t have a final say until I read part 2, but so far it has a lot to recommend it. I’m having a hard time gathering my thoughts.
Ha ha! The Catholic world is kind of small sometimes.