A little Book Tag, spotted somewhere on the interweb (please let me know if it was you, so I can acknowledge you properly), to get me over a slow blogging weekend.
1. The last book I gave up on:
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous | Ocean Vuong – I wasn’t in the right mood for it.
2. The last book I re-read:
War and Peace | Leo Tolstoy – after an almost twenty year gap between reads.
3. The last book I bought:
The Wild Silence | Raynor Winn – a Christmas present to self after enjoying The Salt Path so much.
4. The last book I said I read but actually didn’t:
Not sure if I’ve ever done this…
5. The last book I wrote in the margins of:
The last book I read.
I make notes and underline in all my books.
Mr Books is horrified, although he also finds it fascinating to wonder why I liked a certain passage or marked a page, when he reads a book after me. When I reread a book, I’m also curious to see which passages stood out during the first read, and if they still resonate second time around.
6. The last book I had signed:
Stalin’s Wine Cellar | John Baker & Nick Place – I procured a signed copy for Mr Books, knowing how much he would enjoy this weird and wonderful tale of high-end wine, politics and shady deals.
7. The last book I lost:
The Brother’s Karamazov | Fyodor Dostoevsky – lost during a move about 5 yrs ago. I was halfway through it and struggling with all the religious stuff, so was not unhappy that it went missing in the move.
8. The last book I had to replace:
War and Peace when I realised that my first read through was with an abridged version!
9. The last book I argued over:
Where The Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens – I thought it was crap, but everyone else in my book club loved it. We agreed to disagree in the end.
10. The last book you couldn’t find:
Autumn, Winter and Spring | Ali Smith – I was positive I had reading copies of these three books somewhere in my TBR piles. I was thinking of finally reading all four of them this year, now that Summer is out. But I obviously gave them to someone and forgot about it.
This Reading Life 
I’ve seen this meme around, but can’t help you with an originator sorry.
I re-read books all the time, partly for enjoyment, sometimes by mistake when I borrow them again, and, often with old Australians, because I need to record a review. 1Q84 for instance I’ve listened to 3 times over the last five years or so.
What I wonder is The last book I said I’d read when I hadn’t. I’m sure I sometimes I imply I’m familiar with books when I’m not, and every now and then I go for a re-read and find the book is completely unfamiliar. No examples off the top of my head.
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That’s how I felt for that question too Bill. If I haven’t read something, I say so. But of course, the memory is not perfect!!
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PS I’ve just started The Pea-Pickers. What a gem! I love her 4 points of consciousness. She’s breaking my heart already & it’s only page 4.
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I share Mr. Books’ horror but whatever works for you! As for pretending to read something, I can’t say that I’ve ever done that intentionally. But having read a *lot* of books over the years I sometimes lose track, although I’m more likely to forget I’ve read a book than pretend I have!!!
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Curiously Mr Books has started leaving pencil marks in the occasional non-fiction book now, so he can refer back to certain ideas. I may have drawn him over to the dark side 😂
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I have become so dead set against reading Crawdads that I’m just being stubborn at this point. Glad to hear you thought it was rubbish!
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Like you I was deadset against reading it, but when my Bookclub picked it last year, I decided to be fair & give it a go. I knew by the end of the first chapter it wasn’t going to work for me. So I just skimmed it. There are too many really good books to read Cathy.
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I too had trouble with On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous. But I did finish it, half hating, half loving it. Here is my review if you want to take a look. https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2020/01/review-and-quotes-on-earth-were-briefly.html
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Thanks Anne for the link. Your reading experience was very mixed. For me, there was this weird sense of having read this story before, even though I haven’t & I cannot think of anything similar off the top of my head. But I have read lots of memoirs about people with traumatic childhoods over the years, so maybe I’m just done with that genre for now.
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I modified this #BookTag. Here is my books: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-last-ten-booktag.html
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Interesting what you say about On Earth &c. I’ve just picked it up from the library where I had reserved it, and I’m finding it difficult to must the motivation to actually read it. I think you’ve given me permission to take it back to the library unread…
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For me it was the traumatised childhood theme. I’ve read so many books like this over the years, & I’m now struggling to go there.
You can always borrow it again, if you find you want to try it for yourself 😊
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There’s cruelty to animals too, I believe, and well, I just don’t want to read about that.
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I didn’t get that far. And now I’m even more pleased I put it aside.
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#9 – I agreed it was crap as a novel. The author should stick to nature writing. When I’m with people (in person or online) who loved it I just smile and nod…I don’t think it’s possible to argue with them.
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I have to do that at work almost every day with customers! I get a bit stuck when someone asks me for a recommendation & I check what was the last book they read & loved & they say Crawdads. I just take a deep breath & give them a Barbara Kingsolver.
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I’ve seen this one floating around too for a little while now.
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i’ve pretty much given up on modern novels. they are often brutal and repetitious, saying the same things older authors have already and in a much more comprehensive way discussed… i liked some of Vonnegut’s work, but i can’t think of any since then that impressed…
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Most of the modern writers I read, are writers of historical fiction, but I have read some that have something important or interesting to say about the modern condition, but, like you, they often don’t absorb me in a way that older books do. If I get lost in a book, it’s usually from a book written before I was born.
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Great meme! An interesting variety of books. I might read Stalin’s Wine Cellar. Like your husband, I might like this one.
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Thanks for sharing! I think I will use this book tag, as well.
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