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Reading report for January 2008

Before I begin listing books:
For 2008, I decided to make a bit of a change in my reading statistics compilation. Instead of writing my reading reports on loose sheets of A5 paper and inserting them into folders in alphabetical order (by author) like I have been doing for the past couple of years, I used my newly learned bookbinding skills and made a hand-bound reading journal into which I write the information I want to keep track off as I finish each book. I decided to do this because the folders take up a lot of space and look ugly on the shelves, whereas an even halfway well-made hand-bound book is a joy to behold and easier to stack. As I put everything except the summary and a one-sentence review into the computer as well, what I wrote about each book will still be easy to find. All I need to do is to open the relevant computer file and then I will know approximately whereabouts in the journal to find what I wrote about the book.

Since the journal is 336 pages long and I am able to fit information about two books (on average) on a page, the book should last me over 4 years. Even if I start writing down more information, like words I learned from reading the book and longer reviews, it should still last over 2 years. To make the books easier to find in the journal without starting up the computer, I plan to tip in an index at the end of each year, with the books alphabetised by author and the month I read them in.

I still haven’t found the perfect covering for the journal, so the boards are currently only bound with blue Rexine (fake leather) on the spine and corners, but I will post a photo of it once I do find the right paper for finishing it (something that goes with blue and has a book theme).

And now for the reading report:

January’s reading was a mixture of mystery and romance, with a couple of other genres thrown in for good measure.

Suzanne Brockmann: Forever Blue
Kristine Grayson: Thoroughly kissed
Tony Hillerman: Dance Hall of the Dead
Miranda Jarrett: The Very comely countess
Nagio Marsh: Colour scheme, Died in the wool, Final curtain, Swing, brother, swing, Night at the Vulcan
Katherine Hall Page: The Body in the Bog
Scott Rice, ed.: Son of "It was a dark and stormy night"
Joyce Stranger: Two's Company
Mark Twain: Roughing It. (The month's classic).

Son of "It was a dark and stormy night" deserves a special mention. It is a collection of opening sentences to imaginary books, entries in the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest. This is a great read for those who can tell the difference between good writing and bad and have the sense of humour to laugh rather than cry when they meet with the latter. As the passages are short it makes perfect toilet reading material for those who go in for that sort of thing.
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