Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you're enjoying this regularly-sized weekend as much as last week's extended holiday. Those of you who know me well know I hold immense contempt for summer. Why? Because I detest the heat. If it's above 80 degrees, I'm inside. If it's 75, I'm probably in the shade. I find the heat defeating and exhausting. The half-mile walk to my bustop is excruciating this time of year. I know I'm in the minority. Many people love summer, but when they are complaining about the cold in the winter, I am reveling in it. I find the cold invigorating and thoroughly enjoy winter. I even caught myself listening to a little Christmas music this week to pretend while in my windowless office it was already winter (or at least fall.)
While I hate the weather this time of year and avoid the 10-day forecast as much as possible, I do love that summer affords me so much time to read because I don't want to be outside. This July, I'm having a blast participating in
Orange July. While I read the Orange Prize year round, in January and July Jill from
The Magic Lasso puts on a festival of Orange Prize fun. She hosts giveaways on her blog almost every day. The
LibraryThing group is at its most active as we discuss books and offer suggestions on our next read. In short: it's a fun and social way to talk about books.
It's not too late to join us. All you have to do is commit to reading one book nominated for the Orange Prize (
my full list of longlists with review links is a great place to start.)
Today I'm (finally) finishing
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht, which won this year's prize of course. Then I'm starting
Grace Williams Says It Loud. As soon as I finish that one this week, I'm on to Aminatta Forna's
The Memory of Love. I'm also hoping to squeeze in Linda Grant's
When I Lived in Modern Times, which won the Orange Prize in 2000.
I thought I'd already be finished with this year's longlist by the time Orange July rolled around, but I'm having fun reading along with so many others around the world.
Now tell me: what are you reading for Orange July or why aren't you participating?
(If you are one of those people who doesn't read as much in July because you're out enjoying nature, join us for Orange January when I'm thrilled with the weather and you're huddled next to a heater reading.)
As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!
It's fun, isn't it? I will be posting my review of The Tiger's Wife later this morning - I really loved it! I hope you did too :) My current read is Jamrach's Menagerie which so far has been enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteI'm participating in a Paris In July blog event, but am very much looking forward to Orange January! (By the way, thank you for the list of books you have posted. I reference it frequently.)
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like those mega-sized weekends, but I will just have to deal with these regular ones for now! I am anxious to see what you think of The Tiger's Wife because the reviews have been rather mixed. I hope you have a great Sunday afternoon!
ReplyDeleteYou should've moved here...fog, all summer long. We had our heater on the other day.
ReplyDeleteI'm horribly disorganised, so I haven't posted anything or even looked at the LT group, but I'm reading The Invisible Bridge and hoping to get to Jamrach's Menagerie this week too.
ReplyDeletePlus, I'm pulling together a list of the unread Orange books I have in the house still unread, and I have a book by a previous winner of the new writer's award in progress.
I am not a summer person either. Honestly, I don't like to sweat when I am just standing around doing nothing. I completely agree that anything above 80 degrees means staying inside and keeping cool. Then again, anything below 40 degrees also means staying inside for me. I'm pretty fickle in my desire to go outside. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you in that I hate the heat as well, and love the winter!! I just finished The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives and started reading Annabel yesterday. Can't wait to hear what you think of your reads!
ReplyDeleteI love love love winter! There's nothing like rain and the cold plus a great winter meal. I hate spring and summer and I live in SoCal which is basically summer all year long. I'm participating in Orange July though I haven't started reading anything yet. I'm hoping to change that soon. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed The Memory of Love and am reading The Tiger's Wife now. I look forward to reading your thoughts here and/or in the LT group!
ReplyDeleteI think I love the sunshine because I grew up in Seattle. It was rare and something to be treasured :)
ReplyDeleteOrange January sounds right up my alley! I'm trying to slow down on the amount of scheduled reviews I do in the future having hyperscheduled myself this summer!
ReplyDeleteI've been a little beaten down with work responsibilities, so I need to dive headlong into Orange July in the coming weeks. I did find The History of Love this weekend, and it's one of the books I want to read most.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Tiger's Wife but thought it was a difficult read. I'm not a fan of magical realism, so i had to read this book slowly. The writing was beautiful though.
ReplyDeleteI hate the heat too! I have Lupus and heat and that do not get along.
ReplyDeleteIt's cold here today. Well, cold for a So Cal summer. It's about 65 right now. I love it!
I don't participate in too many challenges but I do like to read the prize winning novels, whether it's the Orange or the Man Booker.