Weekly Update - 9-21-12

I like how some bloggers give a weekly update/wrap up that generally shares what they read that week, what they've got coming up, what readalongs and other events they're looking forward to, etc. I think that's a good way to keep from posting review after review with nothing more personal. So, here's the first of what will hopefully be a weekly feature here!

This week I caught up a little bit in my posting and got a few posts scheduled for the next few weeks since I was so far behind in my posting.

• Books I'm currently reading:
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen
• The Rise of Rome by Anthony Everitt
• The Greek Myths by Robert Graves
• The Convert by Deborah Baker
• Upcoming reads:
• Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
• The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
• Penelope by Rebecca Harrington
• No Easy Day by Mark Owen (this may be more of a skim - I'm just curious)
• City of Women by David Gillham
• And the rest of my gigantic library pile...
• Books finished: (Reviews of those not linked coming soon! Also, I don't usually have that many in one week!)
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Why Have Kids
• Forever
• Dare Me
• Every Day
• The Song of Achilles
• January First
• Other posts this week:
• Classics Club Check In #1
• Books abandoned:
• Color by Victoria Finlay. Eva and Sam both loved this one, but I just wasn't feeling it. It relates to art and travel, two things I like reading about, but I felt like the writing jumped all over the place and annoyed me. I liked the idea of learning the origins of our colors, but her stories of going to the depths of Africa, Australia, and South America seemed repetitive and uninteresting to me. I also thought it was misleading where she talked about the blood from insects still being used in food products today, but I looked into and that's banned in the US and some of the EU but she doesn't mention that part, although to be fair the author's from the UK and she may have only looked at it from that perspective. I got almost halfway through and realized I was started to skim and not enjoy it so I decided not to finish it. It just wasn't for me.
• Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil. I tried this one since it's on the Booker shortlist, but I wasn't in the right mood. It starts with a seven-page sentence. It does switch to a more standard style in the first two chapters, but it still felt like someone trying too hard. I would consider giving it another shot at some point though. I had to return it to the library and didn't want to rush through it, plus I just wasn't in the mood for that type of book. Maybe another time.

I've also made what I think are my final edits to my first novel before I start submitting it. I'm planning to finetune my first query tomorrow and send it off, then start researching more agents and customizing. Woohoo! I've also started on a new novel and I'm discovering I'm the type of writer who makes bad things happen to their characters. I'm not sure what that says about me.

Tonight, I'm off to the Oklahoma State Fair, which should be interesting since I've been gluten-free for six weeks now, so no Indian Taco for me. I tried this diet because of the book Wheat Belly, and am surprisingly happy with it. I feel better, more energetic and less bloated and sluggish. I never thought I would give up bread and pasta and all the other yummy stuff containing wheat, but it hasn't been that hard because I've been so pleased with the results. I've lost weight, but I'm more excited about feeling better. I'm still planning on indulging tonight, just without wheat. I hope you have a great weekend, whatever your plans are!