Books to read before the end of 2012

This is a post purely for me really, in the sense that if I 'publish' this on here I am more likely to achieve my aim, silly as that is.

I went camping in France for the last few weeks of August and it was really wonderful.  I took my Kindle and whirled through books the whole time I was there.  It made me feel productive and pleased with myself to look back on the week and think I had used my free time to read two or three really great fiction books and this is something I don't want to stop.

Quick stop in the French and Spanish Pyrenees mountains

So, although this may seem a silly challenge as I am about to start a full time PhD, I have decided that by the end of the year I want to have read ALL of the 'novels' by two of the authors I claim to be my favourite.  (As it seems a bit false to claim someone is your favourite author when you haven't even read all of their books.)  After this maybe I will continue the list with their poems and short stories.

I will cross these off one by one, updating the list which will be hopefully complete by the end of December.

Margaret Atwood

• The Edible Woman (1969) 
• Surfacing (1972)
• Lady Oracle  (1976) Read August 2012
• Life Before Man (1979)
• Bodily Harm (1981)
• The Handmaid's Tale (1985)
• Cat's Eye (1988) 
• The Robber Bride (1993) 
• Alias Grace (1996) 
• The Blind Assassin (2000) 
• Oryx and Crake (2003) *currently reading*
• The Penelopiad (2005)
• The Year of the Flood (2009)

Haruki Murakami

• Hear the Wind Sing (1979)
• Pinball, 1973 (1980)
• A Wild Sheep Chase (1982)
• Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the Edge of the World (1985)
• Norwegian Wood (1987)  Read September 2012
• Dance Dance Dance (1988)
• South of the Border, West of the Sun (1992)  Read August 2012
• The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1995)
• Sputnik Sweetheart (1999) Read August 2012
• Kafka on the Shore  (2002)
• After Dark (2004)
• 1Q84  (2009)
• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Non Fiction) (2007)

Sorry this probably won't be of much interest to anyone else - but these are two truly fantastic authors if you haven't heard of them and are fancying something new to read in the Autumn!

July

Hello neglected blog.  I haven't uploaded my pictures yet, or talked about my trip to Germany in April.  But time seems to have fast forwarded recently.  Life is good though.  I have taken a few days off work this week to try get a little more organised with the towers of paperwork and mountains of clothes that need Ebaying in my room.  But I seem to have spent my whole day making involved meals, a la dippy egg breakfast with my new Eric Carle set off my boyfriend, and wandering around the country side:

 

Horse! Cow!

I am enjoying the pace of summer, I spent most of Saturday grating carrots and toasting almonds for tasty summer food:

I also have lots to look forward to over the next few months, hurrah: a trip to Devon, a long weekend in London for the Olympics (hand ball and volleyball) and then at the end of August spending two weeks with friends flying to Paris and then hiring a car and floating our way along the Atlantic coast to Bordeaux (wine tasting), down to the Spanish border for surfing and sunning, and then along the South of France to Cannes.  We are camping and I.can.not.wait...

ALSO in October I will be moving to LONDON.  I can not wait for all of the food/museums/exploring.  The reason for my London move is that I will be doing a History PhD.  But more about that when it sinks in a little bit because right now I can't believe I am going to be allowed to spend the next three years doing something so wonderful!

Bzz bzz

I went to a very pretty garden centre at the weekend.  It made me want to buy so many flowers and plants to put around the house.  But I managed to stop myself for now!

Busy bee

Golden bee

It was structured but a little ramshackle as well - perfect!

Recent tasty treats

I like getting presents in the mail

Commuter breakfast

Batches of blueberry muffins for brunches

I have been eating a lot of chocolate &  icecream recently!

Sunshine

Hello

Not long till I go to Germany!  I've got German class this evening but we are doing inseperable verbs at the moment and I am not very good at it.  I've been loving the weather in England, it has been so hot here in the North West.  I've been volunteering in a local art gallery on Saturdays, wandering around garden centres & eating lots of icecream (current fave two scoops: blackcurrant cheesecake flavour with eton mess flavour).  I can't wait to go away on Saturday morning.

Lately:

The only piece of jewellery I wear everyday, it's a chrysanthemum.  Best Christmas present ever - off my boyfriend.   

Lazy sleepy pigs that have spent the day in the sun eating fresh grass.

Healthy(ish) breakfasts of greek yoghurt, berries, grated apple and museli. 

Healthy(ish) tea times... I've been eating pitta with avocado and salad every day. 

You can't drink anything else when it's hot...

Blossom near the art gallery where I volunteer.

I can finally wear my sunglasses again!  They don't suit me at all but I love them anyways. 

GERMANY

It's exactly ten days until we go to Germany.  Starting off in a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, hopefully nipping for an afternoon to the town of Hameln, the location of the German fairy tale the Pied Piper, and then spending the rest of our time in Berlin! I CAN'T WAIT.

Nail nibbling

Sad it might sound, but I am on a real kick at the moment to stop nail biting.  Or more specifically chewing my nails and skin (sounds so gross when you write it down).  This picture is of my efforts so far - two weeks and no biting!  I REALLY think I am managing to kick the habit because of this nifty little pot of AMAZING that I was given recently: 

I am ADDICTED.  I take this everywhere.

If I keep going I am going to treat myself to pretty spring polishes, such as the newly released Chanel Spring 2012 collection below:

I think I will treat myself to the pink one called 'May' which is also my birthday month.

I know this is all a bit silly, but anything to stop the biting! 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was the best! We went to a grade II Georgian Mansion in the Lake District for afternoon tea and spent the afternoon lazily looking out of the huge bay windows onto the lake... I felt very plump and content.  Spring is definitely coming, the sun beamed down all afternoon. 

Daily commute

My commute is 1 1/2 hours each way every day by train and bus.... sometimes the little things make it so much better.

It's Spring!

Spring has arrived.... here is my wishlist for this month:

Essie's 'nice is nice' polish.

Korre's wild rose lip butter... yum, yum, yum! 

Aubin & Wills Lyontte jumper - sadly out of stock but the perfect Spring jumper.

Aubin & Wills Rathvale tee.  Simple and clean.

Bobbi Brown rose shimmer brick

Still on the quest for the perfect nautical tee.  This one is Hobbs Whitebirch tee.

Buying bunches of peonies...

Rose diptyque candle...

I LOVE Spring!

Spring is coming...

Hello Spring!