What I'm reading - March

Sometimes I'll read a whole book in a matter of days, and others it will take me months because I simply don't sit down and read in that period, or I completely forget I've even started that book. At home I have several unfinished books, and at uni I already have 3 and I've only been here 6 months (that doesn't count textbooks... of which I haven't read anywhere near enough!)

The three books I currently have on the go here in Plymouth are The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkein, South of the Border, West of the Sun - Haruki Murakami and Anna Karenenina - Leo Tolstoy.

I started the Murakami novel in the Autumn after reading recommendation after recommendation Becky. I've read barely any of it, but I enjoyed what I've read so far. This book was in my handbag for the bus journeys to work, and unfortunately it stayed in the handbag and got rather neglected! Have re-read the blurb, I really want to read the rest of the story!

I downloaded Anna Karenina onto my kindle because it was either free or dirt cheap on Amazon. I started reading it about a week before War & Peace started on the BBC, and promptly became very confused and they've merged into one snowy, high-class, Russian blur. I think I'll have to start re-reading this one from the beginning again, as I'd have no idea what was going on! I've heard from a friend that its "the most accurate representation of love and the human condition [he's] ever encountered" so I know I must finish it one day (in the near future).

Aaand... The Hobbit. Now this one I'm nearly half way through. It looks like a fairly thin book, but I feel the amount I've read I should be further through it than I am! Lord of the Rings is a funny one for me; I've never seen any of the films the whole way through, I've only seen odd bits when they've been on the telly and nothing else is on. I saw the first Hobbit film at the cinema, and was really confused at the end as they hadn't got anywhere - I only later realised it was going to be a trilogy, and I haven't seen the rest! My cousin and my brother love this book so I thought I should get round to reading it, and I was advised that I should read The Hobbit before reading Lord of the Rings.
I read most of this on the train back to Wales from Plymouth - a 6 hour journey, and the man with the drinks trolley said how good it was. I'm reading my Mum's copy form the 70s, and its full of annotations from her teacher training days. I can tell that this is written for children - but its also a book adults can thoroughly enjoy. I don't read a lot of Fantasy (apart from Harry Potter, which I've not actually re-read since they first came out). My problem with fantasy is that the situations aren't realistic - which I suppose is a given - but the author can put the characters in a sticky situation and then lo-and-behold a giant bird flies along and rescues them out of a tree that's on fire with angry wolves and goblins at the bottom. But I'll stick with it - Tolkein is an author I feel I must read ( and I'm not counting his Oxford English Dictionary entries).

I've noticed all these books have been recommended to me by someone who really loves them, which can only be a good sign. I know they're worth finishing.
Have you read any of these? Is there anything else I should be reading?

Oxfam Bookshop

Charity or second hand bookshops are the perfect places to find absolute gems. Whilst visiting my friend Ruth in Manchester last weekend, we popped into the local Oxfam shop. They had one room for clothes and things and another room full of books.

My first find was a Collins 30 minute Watercolour book - with lots of tips and instructions on different watercolour techniques - hopefully I'll get a bit more arty with this!

I also picked up Polly by Freya North - I think all my Freya North books are second hand, and I've read the others in the series so I'm glad I've found this one.

Now for the interesting bit... beautiful old books!

The first is this stunning leather hard back edition of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. I love the gold filigree detailing on the cover. Inside are pen-and-ink drawings of scenes from the story. I already have a copy of Wuthering Heights, having studied it for AS Level English, but I couldn't really leave this one on the shelf.

I deliberately found this section to feature - this was scary before horror films were around! If you haven't read Wuthering Heights I thoroughly recommend it. Also, listen to Kate Bush's song of the same name - one of my favourite shower hits ;)

The second wee beauty I found was Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and features the famous poem The Jabberwocky, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Like the Wuthering Heights book, this has beautiful illustrations. This edition was published in 1931.

 I love how worn the cover is - it looks well-loved.

What do you think? Where are your favourite places to browse books? If you love everything book-ish, check out the youtube channel of Ness from Wanderness. I recommend her library/bar tour video (you'll be so jealous that this isn't in your home!) and her cover buys video, if like me you like pretty covers!