As I said in my last post, I’m in the middle of a bunch of books but hardly finishing anything, so consider this another placeholder until my Love Your Library and January releases posts next week. People often ask how I read so much. One of the answers is that I generally read 20–30 books at once, bouncing between them as the mood takes me and making steady progress in most. A frequent follow-up question is how I keep so many books straight in my head. I maintain a variety of genres and topics in the stack and alternate between fiction, nonfiction and poetry in any reading session. If I’m going to be reviewing something, particularly for pay, I tend to make notes. Here’s a peek at my current stacks, with a line or two on each book and why I’m reading it.
- Myself & Other Animals by Gerald Durrell [public library] – This is a posthumous collection of excerpts from his published work, including newspaper articles, plus mini essays that he wrote towards an autobiography. We own/have read most of his animal-collecting and zoo-keeping memoirs and this is just as delightful, even in unconnected pieces. His conservationist zeal was ahead of his time.
- The God of the Woods by Liz Moore [public library] – It’s rare for me to borrow something from the Crime section, but this came highly lauded by Laila. Set in upstate New York in 1975, it’s a page-turning missing-girl mystery with a literary focus on character backstory, and it’s reminding me of Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll and When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain.
- Gold by Elaine Feinstein [secondhand purchase] – I’ve enjoyed Feinstein’s poetry before so snapped this up on our second trip to Bridport. The first long poem was a monologue from the perspective of a collaborator of Mozart; I think I’ll engage more with the discrete poems to follow.
- Understorey by Anna Chapman Parker [review copy] – Catching up on one I was sent last year. It’s a one-year diary through ‘weeds’ (wild plants!) she observes and sketches near her home of Berwick upon Tweed, where we vacationed in September. I am enjoying reading a few peaceful entries per sitting.
- A God at the Door by Tishani Doshi [secondhand purchase] – Her Girls Are Coming out of the Woods was a favourite of mine a few years ago when I reviewed it for Wasafiri literary magazine. I found this on my last trip to Hay-on-Wye, and it is just as rich in long, forthright, feminist and political poems.
- The Secret Life of Snow by Giles Whittell [secondhand purchase] – I picked up a few snowy titles when we got a dusting the other week, in case it was the only snow of the year. This is so much like The Snow Tourist by Charlie English it’s uncanny; to my memory it’s more meteorological, though still accessible. The science is interspersed with travels and fun trivia about Norway’s Olympic skiers and so on.
- Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice [gift] – Probably my first book by an Indigenous Canadian, which was reason enough to read it. I’m about 50 pages in and so far it’s a plodding story of mysterious power outages which could just be part of the onset of winter but I suspect will turn out to be sinister and dystopian instead.
- Knead to Know by Neil Buttery [review copy] – Another 2024 book to catch up on. It’s a history of baking via mini-essays on loads of different breads, cakes, pies and pastries, many of them traditional English ones that you will never have heard of but will now want to cram. Lots of intriguing titbits.
- Invisible by Paul Auster [secondhand purchase] – Getting ready for Annabel’s second Paul Auster Reading Week in early February. A young (and Auster-like) would-be poet gets entangled with a thirtysomething professor who wants to fund a start-up literary magazine – and his French girlfriend. Highly readable and sure to get weirder.
- While the Earth Holds Its Breath by Helen Moat [review copy] – Yet another 2024 book to catch up on. Authors are still jumping on the Wintering bandwagon. This is composed of short autobiographical pieces about winter walks near home or further afield, many of them samey; the trip to Lapland has been a highlight so far.
- The Blindfold by Siri Hustvedt [review copy] – Also part of my preparation for Paul Auster Reading Week, and boy can you see his influence on her first novel! Iris Vegan is employed by Mr. Morning to record audio descriptions of relics left behind by a possibly murdered woman. Odd and enticing.
- Uneven by Sam Mills [review copy] – A group biography of nine bisexuals – make that 10, as there’s plenty of memoir fragments from Mills, too. I’ve read the chapters on Oscar Wilde, Colette & Bessie Smith, and Marlene Dietrich so far. It is particularly enlightening to think of Wilde as bi rather than a closeted homosexual.
- Unexpected Lessons in Love by Bernardine Bishop [secondhand purchase] – Every year I pick up at least a few “love” or “heart” titles in advance of Valentine’s Day. Bishop was one of my top discoveries last year (via The Street) and this Costa Award-nominated posthumous novel is equally engaging, even after just 50 pages.
- My Judy Garland Life by Susie Boyt [secondhand purchase] – After Loved and Missed, I was keen to try more from Boyt and this Ackerley Prize-shortlisted memoir sounded fascinating. I love The Wizard of Oz as much as the next person. Boyt, however, is a Garland mega-fan and blends biography and memoir as she writes about addiction, mental health, celebrity and the search for love.
- Poetry Unbound by Pádraig Ó Tuama [public library] – I’m gradually making my way through this set of 50 poems and his critical/personal responses to them. Most of the poets have been unfamiliar to me. Marie Howe has been my top discovery.
- The Shutter of Snow by Emily Holmes Coleman [secondhand purchase] – Another incidental ‘snow’ title; this is autofiction about postpartum psychosis, written in a stream-of-consciousness style with no speech marks or apostrophes. It’s hard to believe it was written in the 1930s because it feels like it could have been yesterday.
- Ravens in Winter by Bernd Heinrich [secondhand purchase] – I’ve long meant to read more by Heinrich, who’s better known in the USA, after Winter World. This was a lucky find at Regent Books in Wantage. It’s a granular scientific study of bird behaviour, so I will likely read it very slowly, maybe even over two winters.
- The Book of George by Kate Greathead [review copy] – Linked short stories about an Everyman schmuck (and my exact contemporary) from adolescence up to today. He’s indecisive, lazy, an underachiever. Life keeps happening around him; will he make something happen? (George, c’est moi?) The deadpan tone is great.
- Stowaway by Joe Shute [public library] – I’ve been reading this off and on since, er, June, which is not to say that it’s not interesting but that it’s never been a priority. Like his book on ravens, it’s intended to rehabilitate the reputation of a species often considered to be a pest. He gets pet rats, too!
- The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness [public library] – It’s even rarer for me to borrow from the Science Fiction & Fantasy section of the library, but I’ve been following the series since A Discovery of Witches came out in 2011. I’m halfway through and enjoying Diana’s embrace of her witch heritage in the Salem area.
That’s not all, folks! There’s also the e-books.
- Dirty Kitchen by Jill Damatac [Edelweiss] – I’ll be reviewing this May release early for Shelf Awareness. The author’s Filipino family were undocumented immigrants in the USA and as a child she was occasionally abandoned and frequently physically abused. Recipes and legends offer a break from the tough subject matter (reminiscent of Educated or What My Bones Know).
- My Marriage Sabbatical by Leah Fisher [from publicist] – She Writes Press is a reliable source of women’s life writing. I’ve only just started this but will try to review it this month. Fisher, a psychotherapist, was sick of her psychiatrist husband’s workaholism and wanted to try living differently, starting with a house share.
- I’ll Come to You by Rebecca Kauffman [from publicist] – Another American linked short story collection, moving month by month through 1995 (does that count as historical fiction?!), cycling through the members of an extended family as they navigate illnesses and fraught parenting journeys. I’m getting J. Ryan Stradal vibes.
- Constructing a Witch by Helen Ivory [Edelweiss] – This feminist take on the historical persecution and stereotypes of witches is a good match for the Harkness! I just keep forgetting to open it up on my Kindle.
According to Goodreads, I’m reading 28 books at the moment, so I haven’t even covered all of them. (The rest include library books that would more honestly be classified as “set aside.”)
Whew. It somehow seems like even more when I write them all up like this…
Back to the reading!
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
Goodness me. The only one here that I’ve read is Stowaway, which I really enjoyed and DID change my mindset about rats. As I’m a keen baker, the Neil Buttery tempts me, though there seems lots to like here.
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I don’t mind seeing rats along the canal path, though they do always startle me. Some neighbours with canalside gardens do have problems with them in their houses, though…
The Buttery is amazingly detailed. So many regional pies and cakes I’d never heard of.
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I wonder if I’ll know these pies and cakes? A bit much to expect you to.
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Such fun to get a behind-the-scenes tour of what you’re reading! I’ve been interested in Bernardine Bishop ever since you mentioned The Street, so am keen to hear what you think of this one. Waubgeshig Rice is on my radar (but “plodding” doesn’t sound so good…), and I’ve loved the Hustvedt novels and essays I’ve read (What I Loved, Memories of the Future, The Summer Without Men, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women, and the slightly less enjoyable Mothers, Fathers and Others). Constructing a Witch’s cover is quite reminiscent of that for Sarah Moss’s My Good Bright Wolf! And—a book about baking by a man whose surname is Buttery? Nominative determinism in action!
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Hopefully the Rice will pick up; it feels like dystopia-by-numbers thus far.
My favourite Hustvedt has been The Blazing World; What I Loved was also terrific. I DNFed Memories of the Future and The Sorrows of an American, and didn’t think much of The Summer without Men. So I guess you’d say she’s hit or miss for me. I haven’t read her nonfiction but would be keen to try some of her essays. Do you know Auster at all? This one is quite a bit like his New York Trilogy.
Ah, well spotted. I’m more familiar with the U.S. cover of the Moss, but you’re right that it’s reminiscent of the UK one.
Indeed, for the nominative determinism and the punning title, Dr Buttery earned himself a spot on my random 2024 superlatives list!
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As a strictly One Book at a Time person this is fascinating!
I agree with your comment about Oscar Wilde. I think a lot of people don’t realise he was a married man with children.
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Yes, Mills is keen to stress that he wasn’t a closeted gay man but happily married to a woman (and then less happily so).
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My maximum is four on the go!
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Eminently sensible. Do you strive for a mixture of genres, or backlist vs. new?
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I usually have something new for review on the go, a novel that’s become backlist (!), a short story collection and some non-fiction.
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Ah, if I read short stories year round, I’d get through many more collections. As it is, I can only seem to force myself to read them in September (with a handful for paid reviews other times of year).
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Four books is about my limit as well
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Whoops, sent that before I finished! Anyway, it’s truly remarkable how many you keep on the go at once. I’m glad you’re enjoying God of the Woods. Moon of the Crusted Snow is on my TBR, but it’s not great to hear the word “plodding,” ha ha!
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That seems like a practical limit! I’m hoping the Rice will pick up soon.
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I read in a similar way to you but rarely go above five or six books. I’m a big fan of Tishani Doshi (Who came to HomePlace back in 2018) so good to see her work getting a shout out!
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She’s fantastic! Lucky you to get to see her live.
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Love that you’ve found Marie Howe; her collection, Magdalene, is a favorite of mine.
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He highlighted “My Mother’s Body” — fantastic.
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You should see the piles of books on my bedroom floor! Then you could look at my bed stand and see three more piles. Then open the bed stand door and see two rows of books in there! And lately, I’ve only been reading the middle pile of books on my bed stand, because they’re for years I haven’t filled in my A Century of Books project. The rest of the piles are just growing.
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These are all books you’re “currently reading”? That sounds very much like my situation! I haven’t shown my “set aside” shelf of part-read books — about 40 of them.
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No, I only read one at a time, but they’re my queue.
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Moon of the Crusted Snow is great! But yeah this many books is overwhelming. But it helps you find all those great serendipity connections, so, keep it up 🙂
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True, it does account for all the Book Serendipity! I only get overwhelmed if I look at all the part-read books on the set-aside shelf…
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According to Goodreads, I have 34 on my ‘currently reading’ shelf, but only 2-3 actively. I’ve read part of maybe six of them within the last 6 weeks. Currently I’m nearing the end of a digital ARC, so I’m nibbling at Murakami short stories and read the first few pages of a memoir by a Dutch ex-expat in Japan. I’m also tempted to pick up another Japanese novel that I bought last year (Butter), but I’m constantly aware that I have three digital ARC to read by the first week of February, so I’m torn…
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Ah, interesting! My Goodreads currently reading shelf tends to be more true to life in that I am regularly reading from at least 20-24 of the 28.
How do you find Murakami in the short story form? I’ve DNFed his latest two novels (after loving (Wind-Up Bird and Kafka) so either need to go back to the classic era or try him in a slightly different way.
Butter won the Waterstones Book of the Year and has been very popular … which means that the hype has put me off, though I’m still willing to be persuaded! Were it shorter, I’d suggest it for book club.
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I’ve really only just begun the Murakami, but I suspect I’m going to enjoy it. I’ve read exactly the same two as you, with Norwegian Wood in the wings. As for Goodreads, I also have a ‘half-read’ shelf which tends to be books I virtually finished, but left 20 pages at the end, though there’s some overlap with my ‘currently reading’ shelf there. I’m thinking of declaring next month ‘Finish it in February’ month and getting them ready to pass on, but I’ve got so many ARCs to read, I might never get to them. Perhaps ‘focus in February’ would be more apt!
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I also have a copy of Norwegian Wood, plus a couple of other older ones.
“Finish It February” is a fun idea! I will certainly be using Read Indies as an excuse to get through some languishing review copies from small publishers.
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OMG, I am anxious thinking of more than 2 books at once… your list is huge!
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I was a two-books-at-once person for years, but when I left traditional work to go freelance the piles grew and grew. I guess it was because I was at home all the time, not just taking a book or two in my backpack commuting.
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I still find (at my great age) reading more than one book at a time difficult. I have two novels on the go at the mo, and have to do large chunks.
I’m delighted you’re reading two books for Paul Auster Reading Week. Thank you! I shall look forward to your thoughts hugely.
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I hardly ever manage large chunks at once. If I’m so invested in a novel that I have to keep reading it at the expense of everything else, then I know it’s a good’un!
In fact, I’m aiming for 4 — I got two more short Austers, including the buddy read, out from the library yesterday.
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Despite your initial thoughts, I’d like to try Moon of the Crusted Snow. Maybe I’m just too into power outages haha.
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I would say I’m only around p. 50 … but then again, it’s not much more than 200 pages. I’m hopeful that it will improve!
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If you think of him as a short story writer, concerned with landscape and relationships and community and voice, then the beginning of this novel wouldn’t seem so slow. But the description and the categorisation (although you’ve not found it shopping for yourself so perhaps didn’t see its section/shelving) sparks a different set of expectations. I’m very tempted to say something else about the book that I feel sure is going to annoy you (probably both of you, if you read it too Laura!), which could either be a creative decision or a mark of inexperience with booklength works, but hopefully describing his other work will help shape expectations without treading into general-spoiler territory. He is a must-read-everything author for me, but I do understand why this book doesn’t fit expectations of a dystopian story.
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Oh no, more talk of Bernardine Bishop, whose works I’m sure I would love as much as you have! There are a few Tishani Doshi novels in the branch library, I’ve been tempted. The Coleman I read about twenty years ago and I said exactly the same thing: what a wonder is that little book, eh?! And I am curious about the 1995 linked stories: I suppose they ARE historical. heheh
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I’ve not read Doshi’s fiction but would love to give it a try.
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I’m on five at the moment, but one of them is my Reading Together book with Emma which we only read on a Thursday evening. And five is quite a lot for me. Hoping I’ve sorted out my problems with comments …
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Yay, you got a comment to work! (There was no need to apologize, though I do appreciate it.) What tends to be your print/e-book division? And fiction/non?
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I will typically only read one e-book at a time, although I was alternating between two recently (Boy in a China Shop and The Healing Season of Pottery, as the former had some oogy bits in and I tend to read on my Kindle at mealtimes as it’s easlier to eat while reading it with it in its rest). The Reading Together book is always nonfiction as it would be too confusing to read fiction that way. The other ongoing book is nonfiction as it’ll be something I’m having to read in bits (currently The Penguin Modern Classics Book) or I’m struggling with (Shadows at Noon). Then my bedside book tends to be fiction if the e-book is nonfiction and vice versa: they’re the two books I’ll be reading most. Oh! I have another on the go, my page-a-day book, which is the Olusoga Siblings’ Black History for Every Day of the Year.
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A good balance! I also tend to read my e-readers mostly at breakfast and lunch.
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I can’t cope with more than two books at the same time and then, only if they are different genres. But if you can handle more than that, go for it!
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That was my reading life for many a year!
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