It’s all rather damp and miserable chez Stuck-in-a-Book at the moment. Damp house, damp streets, even a book gone mouldy because I foolishly left it on the window sill (sorry, The Haunted Woman by David Lindsay, mea culpa.) But by next weekend I’ll be back home – with family, cat, log fire, and such. So, my final damp weekend miscellany of 2012, and possibly my final weekend miscellany of 2012, damp or otherwise.
1.) The book – stuck for something to give a bibliophile under the Christmas tree? I was recently sent 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Octopus Publishing. I’m sure a lot of us love these sorts of lists, and this book is far more than just lists, of course. Lots of info by well-informed people (including my supervisor, I noticed!) as well as lovely pictures etc. Since I’ve only read 80 or 90 of ’em, I’ve got plenty to go before I die. More info here. It’s a really nicely produced book, and I think it would make for great discussion on Boxing Day.
2.) The link – will go over (or perhaps under) the heads of most, but I think some of you in your 20s will appreciate this… I was obsessed with R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books when I was about 10. I’m sure OV and OVW can attest to my need to read them ALL, and they generously identified (and encouraged) the love of reading rather than my deplorable lack of taste. For those not in the know, Goosebumps are ‘horror’ books for young children, with cliffhangers every few pages, utterly unconvincing characters, and always a huge, often nonsensical, twist at the end. I loved ’em. Well, some brave soul has re-read them all as an adult, and written hilarious reviews at Blogger Beware. I’ve spent hours there. Enjoy!
3.) The blog post – while quite a few bloggers do the TBR Challenge in the early months of the year, where they only read unread books from their shelves, Ali is spearheading A Month of Re-reading in January. More info here, but the gist is pretty obvious – a month of re-reading books! Lots of us who have 1001 books we want to read before we die (or before book group next Wednesday, as it may be) may feel like we never have time to re-read, so it’s nice to set aside time to do it. It wouldn’t really work with my Reading Presently project, so I shan’t be joining in this year, but it’s something I’ll definitely keep in mind for the future.
By the way, out of interest, are there many of you using the subscribe-by-email option?
Allow me to pre-empt Dad's comment about spending hours on Goosebumps sites before you've finished your thesis.
Gosh, I'd forgotten about Goosebumps. Like you, my two daughters, now in their twenties, had hundreds of them. Well, it seemed like hundreds. I swear those books bred of their own accord and were aiming to take over the entire house.
Yes, Simon, I subscribe by email – which is quite handy apart from the fact the emails I get are in the evening by which time your posts have usually been around all day! It's probably because that was the time I set up the alert – but it is quite useful!
Thanks for highlighting my re-reading month Simon. It's true my TBR suffers as a result – but they'll still be there in February : )
I subscribe by email, and thank you again for setting it up that way. You are right Goosebumps went over my aged head. They sound marvelously awful! Sarah
I'm afraid I missed out on the Goosebumps – I was aware of them, but I think I was in the days of several small children. (That season where I briefly enjoyed sleep above all other pursuits. :) ) I like the idea of a month of rereading, but it does tend to make me crazy to ignore the TBR shelves. Happy weekend to you!
My two eldest (29 on Friday and 27) were equally obsessed with Goosebumps and my daughter (the 27 year old) then went on to the Point Horror books. I can't say I was thrilled but I took the view that so long as they were reading they would get to the better stuff sooner or later – which they have although my son is really only a holiday reader.
The Goosebumps craze seemed to pass the two younger ones (21 and 19) by but I am guessing that we are about due for a revival – I'm sure I saw some copies lurking the last time I was in a mainstream bookshop!
The 1001 Books book looks interesting (I am guessing Memoirs of a Geisha is one of the recommended reads – or is the cover totally misleading?)and if it comes my way I will look at it although I don't need any more encouragement to acquire books as I have hundreds of unread ones on my shelves. Which is the reason why I am very unlikely to be doing any re-reading any time soon!
Another Goosebumps fan! Everyone always made a mad dash for them at the school library. I actually read the Fear Street books more, but stopped after I started getting nightmares. I think it was the one where a teen believed dead after a shark attack comes back unrecognizable to stalk and kill his former friends.
I took a long break from book blogs, but it's nice to be visiting yours again. You've made quite a lot of progress on the Century of Books!