New Year, No Bookish Resolutions

Happy New Year! I know that I'm a bit late with my well wishes, but as the say goes...better late than never.

So, how has the new year been treating you, thus far? Have you been reading up a storm or savoring your first book of the year? I started off in a reading funk, but lately I have been gobbling up books left and right. I think I was waiting for something substantial to call my attention and when it didn't, I picked up a chick lit novel.  And then, I read another and now I'm reading nothing but mystery-thrillers. I always find those two genres to be satisfying, fun, and easy to get lost in. I think I needed that to help me get my reading back on track. Luckily, its worked. I'm currently in the middle of:

Of course, now I'm trying to figure out what to read next already. I was thinking of something for the Japanese Literature Challenge that my dear friend, Meredith is hosting over at her awesome book blog, Dolce Bellezza.  The challenge is three months long and all you have to do in that time is read one (or more) book(s) which have originally been written in Japanese. And, that's it. Easy peasy, right? Now, all I have to do is pick a book or three to read. Right now I have Yoshimoto, Ogawa and Murakami swirling around in my head.  Hmm...what do you think? Which writer should I pick? Or do you have one you can recommend? Let me know.

Oh, and before I forget, I just wanted to share that I am not making any bookish resolutions this year. I feel like I always do and I never manage to stick to them. Whether its trying to be "low-buy" with my book buying or writing more blog posts - I just seem to always fall short. So, this year I have decided to just go with the flow. Whatever floats my boat is the way I will read and book blog. We'll see how that goes. What about you? Any bookish resolutions for 2020?

And now, I'm off to read some more of You Can't Catch Me. Hope you have a wonderful week! Happy reading!!

My Vonnegut Addiction

My love for Vonnegut's writing has grown over the years.  I discovered his books in college and was lucky enough to have a BFF who bought me a collection of his works for my birthday.  I devoured everything at once and enjoyed every minute of it. Talk about reading bliss.  And now, decades later, I still love his writing. My favorite, Cat's Cradle, is a book I re-read every few years.  I buy copies of it whenever I come across them. Its an addiction that I can't seem to break.  Luckily for me, there are  more Vonnegut tomes to add to my collection.  Yes, some were published years ago, but they are new to me and I'm excited. 

I also wouldn't say no to these books:

And, I definitely want to get my hands on these:

Pretty cool, eh? I think some of these books and treats will satisfy my Vonnegut addiction. What do you think? Which book would you recommend? My heart wants them all.

And now, I'm off to continue reading The Reader on the 6.27 - its soooo good!!

Nonfiction in the New Year...

I'm taking a cue from The Bibliophile Belle and will be reading at least one nonfiction book a month in 2016.  Pretty nifty resolution, eh?  Not only do I enjoy nonfiction (when I actually read it), but I think its high time to read more of it.  Luckily for me, I already own quite a few nonfiction books - so I won't be breaking my resolution of reading my own damn books.  Hurrah!  In fact, I'm actually off to a good start already. I just finished reading this book earlier this week:

and am currently reading this:

Not bad, eh?  And here are some of the nonfiction books I own that I'll be choosing from:

I think I have a pretty good selection to choose from, so I'm pretty excited about this new resolution of mine - one nonfiction book a month.  Truthfully, the way I'm reading lately, I'll probably wind up reading more than one nonfiction book a month. We'll just see how it goes.  Of course, I haven't mentioned the books that I don't own that I want to read for this nonfiction addiction I'm developing.  Here are those books:

Another good mix of books, eh?  I have fluff mixed in with self-journey/self-help and history and so much more.  There are just so many great books out there lately, its hard not to want all the pretties.  Ack!  Oh well, I will stick to my own books as best I can.  I am only human though, so a purchase or three may happen during the year - I'm thinking the Bronte books, the new Roxane Gay, and the Lauren Conrad (my sis and I are throwing our dad a party next year, so the Conrad will come in handy) are must haves.  What do you think?  Have you read any of these?  Which do you recommend (preferably from my own collection and not the ones I want to buy)? 

Well, I'm off to finish reading the Cisneros.  That book is speaking to my heart and soul in so many ways - its beyond. I am just crushing so hard on it. I am in love with this book. Hope you are enjoying a great read as well.  Happy reading!!

Bookish Resolutions

Photo from i can read tumblr.

Its a new year and you know what that means - resolutions!  I've already made a few personal ones ( you the know the kind I mean - eat healthy, try to be patient, practice Spanish speaking skills, etc.), but I haven't made any bookish ones, until now.  I was visiting the blog Savidge Reads and reading his latest post, 'Blogging & Blogging Resolutions 2013' and something just clicked.  Simon was describing how he felt during the holidays - fed up with books and blogging, and I realized that I had been feeling the same way.  I wasn't reading as much as I used to and I wasn't blogging about the books I had purchased, but rather the books I had agreed to review.  I wasn't feeling bookish at all. And I didn't like feeling that way - it was making me rather irritable.  So, like Simon, I've decided to make some bookish resolutions - ones that will make reading and blogging fun again.  And here they are:

• Read books that catch my fancy - meaning, whatever strikes my mood. It could be Vonnegut (which I'm reading now) or Kinsella or even King.  Anything goes.
• Only accept books to review that I truly want to read.  I sort of let myself get caught up in all the free books made available to me, that I didn't even really stop to think about what I was agreeing to review (this didn't happen all of the time, but it did happen).  And now as a result of my greedy behavior, I have a huge TBR pile of review books waiting to be read and reviewed; thereby leaving me with little to no time for my own books. Hence, the goal to make wiser choices.  Don't get me wrong, there was some new to me authors that I was happy to find via review books (Jetta Carlton - Clair de Lune; Richard Lloyd Parry - People Who Eat Darkness; Chris Pavone - The Expats; and Michael Schofield - January First) and I am thankful to the publishers for providing me with copies of those great reads.  However, I don't want review books to dictate what I read.  
• Read more books.  Seriously! I feel like I barely read anything last year.
• Enjoy blogging again.  Have fun writing reviews and don't stress over what to write.  I swear, I get all stressed out when I have to write a review for a book I agreed to review and it drives me bonkers.  It makes writing reviews rather tiresome.  From now on, I plan on just writing what comes to mind regarding the book (like I used to do in the very beginning of my blogging days) and just go from there.  If I love a book, then I will expound on the reasons why I was captivated by it.  If I don't like a book, then I don't like it - the end.  No more worrying about whether or not I'm the only one who DNFed the book - if so, big deal!  We can't all love the same books, right - or, what would we have to discuss?
• Blog when I want to.  Although that really isn't a resolution, since I do that already. 
• Respond to comments.  I've gotten rather lazy about responding, so I'm going to try to work on that this year.  Also, I plan on leaving more comments on the blogs I follow.  I've gotten into the bad habit of only leaving comments on specific blogs and just lurking on others. I'm going to try and break that habit and just start commenting. No more lurking!

And there you have it - my 2013 bookish resolutions.  What do you think?  Its not such a bad list, right?  At the end of the day, I just want to read more books and enjoy blogging - its as simple as that.  I'm confident I can stick to these bookish resolutions - in fact, I'm already on my fifth book of the year and its only January 8th.   Not too shabby, eh?  Now I've just got to write the reviews.  Wish me luck!

A Booking Through Thursday Meme

I found this meme on several other book blogging sites and wanted to give it a go.

Which do you prefer? (Quick answers!)

• Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? Mostly serious, sometimes frivolous (depends on my frame of mind).
  
• Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Hardcovers.
  
• Fiction? Or Nonfiction? Fiction.
  
• Poetry? Or Prose? Prose.
  
• Biographies? Or Autobiographies? Only read them if it is about a favorite writer.
  
• History? Or Historical Fiction? Historical Fiction.
  
• Series? Or Stand-alones? Stand alones (sometimes an occasional series).
  
• Classics? Or best-sellers? Classics, unless the best-seller is literary.
  
• Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? Straight-forward, basic prose.
  
• Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Stream-of-Consciousness is nice once in a while, but I usually prefer a good plot.
  
• Long books? Or Short? Long.
  
• Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? Non-illustrated, of course there is always an exception (depending on the book).
  
• Borrowed? Or Owned? Owned.
  
• New? Or Used? New, unless the book is hard to find, then Used is perfect!

Take part in this meme if you want. Its quick and fun! Cheers and Happy Reading!!!