Happy Bookish New Year! May it be joyful, prosperous healthy and filled with great reads.
Before I introduce the first completed book of 2020, yes I’ve already got one, I wanted to mention some good reads of the end of 2019. Two books were actually standouts for my end of the year reading forays.
Continue readingChristmas is upon us and I am yet to reread Christmas Carol…but I’ve been pondering a few other things. There is an impressive list by ProWritingAid team here: https://prowritingaid.com/art/814/best-christmas-books-ever-written.aspx
I am reading things off this list and just some thoughts.
And also, I want to wish everyone a Happy Christsmas / Happy Holidays / Season’s Greetings.
I’ve read Cormac McCarthy’s the Road – I really am rather taken with it, it is dreamlike, drearily poetic and bleak but I loved the father and son, very much so. In that bleak, dead world they are two figures who bring colour into it. The boy is meant to be more, I guess, a symbol of renewing love and forgiveness. He is decidedly opposed to his father resorting to violent means – which he does to protect the boy. Great contrast there, I thought, i loved them and felt for them. I couldn’t pick up another thing for a bit but after moping around for some 48 hours, I decided to get on with Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man.
Curious premise. A man whose skin is full of pictures that come alive at night. He has stories in them.
The year 2019 has brought me back to reading after a period when I neglected it. The work that had the most impact on me in recent time was Fahrenheit 451 and its original version, the Fireman. It was THE book that made me realise that I should read as much as I can. The photo on top, the quote is how I feel about books and reading. I want to share what I read via blog and via Instagram, – trying to make photo sessions for books has become something of an engaging activity for me. I like it, it’s fun. There is much to be said against social media, but I believe in their good sides. They enable sharing.
So, below are some highlights from my 52 books challenge. I am looking for new reading challenges for 2020. Reading 52 books can get tricky. Sometimes, you get too busy, sometimes too tired…I do find that I Iose focus. Also, I think I need to reread a lot of my older faves and some classics. I already can’t wait until I reread some books in the list below! But there also still so many new. exciting, lovely books to read.

A lyrical short story about a disfigured man, an artist helping birds and making friends with a young girl. The sanctuary he has created for himself does not last, however. It’s a quick but lovely, albeit sad, read and one that’s forever a keeper too.
Margot Meanders 