Archive for 'General Bumf' Category
January Summary
While it may not have been the best month in any regular sense, January has been an excellent month on the reading front. I’ve discovered several new authors that I really like and reaffirmed some old favourites. I’ve realised I don’t like Moby Dick, but I’m now more than three quarters of the way through [...]
Eliminating the Review Guilt
It may have escaped the notice of any readers of this blog, although certainly not mine, that I am rather behind in reviewing books. In fact, I’m still writing reviews for books that I read in June of 2011. I recently counted up the number of books read last year that I have left to [...]
A Classics Challenge – January Prompt
If blogging has taught me one thing it’s that I don’t respond well to book lists. I love creating lists of books that I’ve read, arranging them according to theme or author nationality or date, but if I try to read from a list of set books I know I’m doomed to failure. This (and [...]
2012 Reading Resolutions
Now that I’ve officially brought 2011 to a close on Old English Rose Reads, it’s time to look forward to 2012 and all the delightful reading which can take place this year. It seems only appropriate to make a few reading a blogging resolutions at this time of year, although (in the words of Pirates [...]
2011 Wrap Up
The new year got off to an inauspicious start yesterday, when the Old English Thorn and I found ourselves unexpectedly on a coach from Edinburgh to Heathrow after gale force winds meant that the aeroplane we were supposed to be on was unable to take off. What should have been a one hour twenty minute [...]
2011 Victorian Literature Challenge Wrap Up
Back in December 2010, I signed up for my first reading challenge on this blog: the Victorian Literature Challenge hosted by Bethany at Subtle Melodrama. I still don’t think I’ve quite grasped the mechanics to participating and linking posts, but I really enjoyed the books that this challenge prompted me to read. The challenge had [...]
Why I don’t use the library
As someone who reads quite a lot, people often ask why I don’t use the the library more. Before I was married, my answer was that my commute was so long each day that I got home too late to use it in the evenings, and my weekends were taken up with visiting the Old [...]
A Spot of Housekeeping
The observant among you may have noticed that I’ve been shamefully neglecting the blog in recent weeks. This is partially due to time being spent on more pressing needs (I have no idea how the Old English Thorn and I have accumulated so much stuff but, thanks to our loving parents, it is all now [...]
Booking Through Thursday: Hard
What’s the hardest/most challenging book you’ve ever read? Was it worth the effort? Did you read it by choice or was it an assignment/obligation? The hardest book that I’ve ever read is without a doubt by Daniel Defoe. This wasn’t because the book itself was particularly challenging (it’s actually incredibly straightforward, if a bit wordy in [...]
TBR Lucky Dip: October
Those of you with long memories may recall my TBR lucky dip project which I spoke about in my reading plans for the new year. Despite my best intentions, it failed to materialise in August or September as blogging took a back seat and getting married, going on honeymoon and settling into our new home [...]