Sunday 4th February - Sexagesima Sunday and Books

Which doesn't mean what some readers might be thinking it means...

It's the Sunday after Septuagesima Sunday (and before Quinquagesima Sunday) and are the Sundays in the run-up to Lent.

If I'm going to take Lent seriously, then I need to be thinking about it before Ash Wednesday. I normally give up Free Cell (that's actually quite a toughie for me, as it is my main way of unwinding after teaching!) and speeding, by which I mean that I pay close attention to keeping to the speed limit, which then lasts me the rest of the year.

They are the basics; I usually add something else. Maybe, this year, it will be the book mountain. As in, NOT buying books through Lent, and donating the book-budget (an as-yet undecided figure) to charity might be a thing to do.

So, here's the pile of books that I am currently reading;

on Kindle;

The Artists's Way - Julia Cameron, nearly finished. I've found this a fascinating program; I haven't followed it exactly, but have got a lot out of pondering the questions and writing theb'morning pages' most days.

A Far Cry From Kensington - Muriel Spark, halfway through. I started this, my first ever book by Muriel Spark, after reading a blog post which described the book as 'almost a manual on How to Write'. I'm finding it very amusing, in a quiet, 'Barbara Pym' way.

Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K Jerome, part way through. I can't remember why I started re-reading this, oh, yes. It was because a description of 'towing' which I read in 'Country Bunch' below made me laugh out loud.

The Diet Myth - Tom Spector, half way through. Interesting investigation of food, digestion, diet-debunking, speculation, gut microbiology.

Letters to a Young Poet - Rainer Maria Rilke, a 'dip in and out book'
Selected Poems - U A Fanthorpe, 'dip in  and out'
Flame and Shadow - Sara Teasdale, 'dip in and out'

and 'real' books;

The Secret Life of Cows - Rosamund Young, part way through. Popular bestseller about - cows. Good bedtime reading. Gently written.

A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind - Shoukei Matsumoto. I'm starting Chapter 2 so it is a bit soon to come to conclusions. The cover is a beautiful shade of blue; a possible contender for the bathroom walls.

Country Bunch, an Anthology - 'Miss Read'. a 'dip in and out' anthology of poems, extracts, diary entries.

On Writing - Stephen King half way through. Fascinating, enlightening, inspiring


And then there's the list of unread books... hey, you might think this isn't such a sacrifice, NOT buying new books for a couple of months. But don't forget, I will have given up playing Free Cell....