Cottage Reading

I am soon off to my cottage for some summer relaxation. I'm looking forward to gliding across the lake on my paddleboard on calm mornings and being with family and friends. I'm also looking forward to my cottage pile of books. While top of my pile is Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, my other books are slightly lighter fare. I'm looking forward to Rosa Rankin-Gee's The Last Kings of Sark and Claire Fuller's Our Endless Numbered Days. With my boys I'm hoping to read A Wrinkle in Time and T H White's The Sword in the Stone. I'm especially excited about the latter because I read so much about White in H is for Hawk which was definitely my favourite read of 2015.

As you can tell from the photo many of these books are from the library. Although I really love the library, I do feel a little guilt that I haven't

purchased most these books and supported the authors. I would love to, I really would, but there are several considerations. The first is cost. I read over fifty books a year and that  far exceeds my book-buying budget. The second issue is space. My book shelves are full. I have a small house and have considered turning a wall of my living into book shelves, by I also need somewhere for my kids' toys and other household items, like plates. I once went into someone's house to purchase a second hand table and found her dining room so inundated with books there was nowhere to eat. Whenever I feel the urge to own more books than I can store I think about that house. I like to read, but eating is important too.

I frequently buy books after I've already read them at the library. This way I know the book is one that I have to have, or one I liked so much I want to pass it on to friends.  

Here's a list of books I've had  to purchase lately:

H is for Hawk, Helen MacDonald

Translatlantic -Colum McCann -I would buy this book three more times. That's how many times I've read it.  

The Children's Hour, AS Byatt -Again, a book I`ve read several times. It`s a brilliant portrait of certain kinds of families in early 1900`s England.

My Brilliant Friend and all of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan series. I had planned to write a blog post about this quartet but I was too busy being sucked into her world to write. These long books have also put me way behind on my Goodreads Reading Challenge.  

Girls and Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape, Peggy Orenstein- See my blog post on Orenstein`s book to understand why I had to have this work.

This is Happy, Camilla Gibb- A memoir about family from a writer I`ve always admired.

Age of Iron, JM Coetzee- One day I'll figure out how to write about the brilliance that is Coetzee.