An unexpectedly busy month, even beyond the expected busyness.
Here’s how it shook out as far as reading went:
Started and stopped
Stress Less, Accomplish More – Emily Fletcher
All The Names – José Saramago
Reading
Write Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within – Natalie Goldberg
Earthflown – Francis Wren
Death With Interruptions – José Saramago
You’ll note none were finished, which was disappointing. What I’m finding, though, is that there are certain books, like Write Down The Bones, which are best savoured in small bits. Even as I tried this month to buckle down and get through more of it because it’s definitely holding out longer in being done than I expected it would, the chapters still ask — almost demand — some time to sit back and mull over their lessons, which seem to be about 2/3 about writing and 1/3 about life, brilliantly somehow done at the same time. Books like that will take the time they take to be read, and trying to rush it won’t do myself any favours.
The José Saramago books came up because he seems to have the reputation as being Portugal’s most famous writer. So in preparation for an upcoming trip to Portugal, I thought I could probably do worse than check out some of his stuff. As a side note, I’m wondering if that may become something I do for other international travel: Find who their most famous writers are and see what their writing is like. All The Names unfortunately wasn’t to my taste, but in its early pages, Death With Interruptions is certainly engaging. Hope that keeps up.