So, the Booker shortlist was announced yesterday. Y'know the funny thing? It completely passed me by. I didn't even realise it, and even while writing out my $0.02 worth of thoughts on The Slap, I was half-wondering when the shortlist was going to be announced. I could've googled it, but laziness took over.
I don't really have an opinion on the shortlist. Spent much of August reading books from the longlist, and barring a couple (Room and Skippy Dies), I was disappointed. Typically, only two of the six books I read made it to the shortlist which comprised of:
- Peter Carey - Parrot and Olivier in America
- Emma Donoghue - Room
- Damon Galgut - In a Strange Room
- Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question
- Andrea Levy - The Long Song
- Tom McCarthy - C
And as some of you might already know, I'm not a big fan of Peter Carey (despite only reading the one book by him - is that wrong?), so I will be quite disappointed if he becomes the first author to win the Man Booker Prize three times, specially considering I was rooting for Coetzee last year. Oh well, que sera sera... shout out your favourite(s) for this year's Man Booker Prize?!
I had big reading plans for August. Thought it would be fantastic to do this whole around-the-world thing. Turns out, I didn't read a single book from the list! Not a single book! See, that's the problem with plans - they just never turn out as they're supposed to (for me, at least). It's almost embarrassing, but heigh ho! Sometimes that's the way it goes!
I am still reading The Master and Margarita, and am feeling quite proud of myself that I've passed the 300 page mark, and am continuing on, despite long phases of complete bewilderment. I'm going to have to re-read this book someday, but... let me finish it for the first time first. Have you read Bulgakov's classic? Did you feel completely lost at times too, or is it just me?
So, what's my reading plans for September? Well, I can't expect any of you to take me seriously after the August I had... I'm just keeping it open! I've given up on the whole hundred books for the year thing - it's too much effort, and it's not worth it. Not for a statistic! So, at the moment, I'm focusing on finishing The Master and Margarita, which I'll probably follow up with either The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay or Specimen Days. I'm in the mood for a book set in the Big Apple, and these are the two I have on my shelf, so they'll definitely make the cut. Do you have any other recommendations on books set in New York?
So apologies for this completely random rambling post, which seems to be a just bits and bobs tossed together in a lame attempt at sounding coherent. I blame the insomnia - I've gone from being a girl who could sleep eighteen hours a day to one who can't sleep at all. You'd think that would increase my reading time, right? Well, it does, and here I confess my latest guilty pleasure - fan fiction! It's annoyingly addictive, although some of it is so worrying! Are any of you fans of fan fic? Recommendations please!
And with that little confession (which does beg the question: what's your guilty pleasure?!), I'm going to sign off for this evening. Toodle-oo!