There is a lovely meme doing the rounds at the moment that I’ve been umming and ahhing about, but I’ve finally succumbed! It originated with Fictionophile and basically you have to choose books from your TBR to spell out your blog name. Sounds fun, yes, and I’ve enjoyed everyone else’s posts on this; however, I hesitated for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because my TBR books are frankly all over the house; and because I figured it would take quite a lot of books. But I gave in at last, and with some helpful suggestions from OH behind the scenes, this is what I came up with:
Yes, there they are – a selection of unread books that spell out Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings! I’ve split them up into the three words (without apostrophe, of course) so that I can run through what they are. Be prepared – as my blog has a long name, this will be a long post…
First up, Kaggsys:
(The) Kremlin Ball by Curzio Malaparte – a fascinating sounding review copy from NYRB – I’m hoping to get this one to the top of the pile soon!
A Passionate Apprentice – early essays by Virginia Woolf – one day I would like to read through all of Woolf’s essays – one day….
(The) Great Hunger – Patrick Kavanagh – a Penguin Modern from my box set by an author I’ve not read before.
Grand Hotel Abyss by Stuart Jeffries – an interesting title picked up when Verso were having one of their regular online offers (which I can never resist – damn you Verso!)
Silas Marner by George Eliot – another lovely review copy, this time from OUP – I *may* have read this book decades ago, but I can’t be sure….
(The) Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by Jose Saramago – I loved my first experience of reading Saramago so I’m glad I had picked this one up in the charity shop. It has connections to Pessoa, too – more of whom later in this post… 😉
Selected Writings by John Muir – I had this on a wishlist for ages; then I had a fit of fedupness and decided to treat myself. So there you go.
Next up is Bookish:
Bats in the Belfry by E.C.R. Lorac – another beautiful review copy, this time from the British Library. It sounds fun. This meme is making me want to read all these books at once…
On the Beach At Night Alone by Walt Whitman – one of my many Penguin Little Black Classics – I need to get reading some more of those too. Plus the complete Walt Whitman that OH gave me. Gulp. Will the books to be read never end???
(The) Old Man of the Moon by Shen Fu – and another Penguin Little Black Classic. I love the diversity of Penguin books.
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell – I was really struggling to find another K book, when OH suggested this. Now, I initially thought I’d read it but I went and had a look on my shelves anyway. And as I don’t have a paperback copy of it, I don’t think I can have – so George to look forward to!! This is a gorgeous hardback edition from a fancy box set that OH gifted me many years ago – he’s a great book enabler! 🙂
I am a phenomenon quite out of the ordinary by Daniil Kharms – this has been sitting on the TBR for a while and I’ve dipped but not read properly or finished. I love Kharms’ strange and beguiling work, and I really must get back to this one.
Somebody at the Door by Raymond Postgate – another lovely from the British Library – I obviously desperately need to catch up with review books.
His Only Son by Leopoldo Alas – and yet another review book from NYRB, one about which I know nothing but I’m willing to explore!
And finally, Ramblings (goodness knows, I do enough of that…):
(The) Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald – I didn’t get Sebald the first time round, but I think I’m probably better placed on a second attempt – we shall see…
Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning – another gift from my book-enabling OH who thought it was a pioneering feminist work I should have. I don’t think I’ve read it before, so on the TBR it sits.
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave by Chateaubriand – a review copy from NYRB which is fascinating so far (I *have* started it, I confess) and which promises to stretch into the French Revolution – so *that* should be good! 🙂
(The) Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa – which I’ve been intending to read for ages and which has links to the Saramago above. But I keep wondering which translation/version is best to read – any advice out there??
Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy – early sci fi which has been lurking for ages and which I might have nicked from Eldest Child (the sci fi buff of the family). One day I will read this…
Iconoclasm in revolutionary Paris by Richard Clay – #Iconoclasm #FrenchRevolution #ProfRichardClay #Coveted book I finally got a copy of. ‘Nuff said…
Notes of a Crocodile by Qui Miaojin – have you noticed several NYRB review books in this meme? I should catch up, I really should…
(The) Gigolo by Francoise Sagan – another Penguin Modern. I have had mixed experiences with Sagan so it will be interesting to find out how I react to this one!
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen – I have only read a couple of Austens, despite owning them all (sometimes multiple copies). Perhaps this gorgeous hardback review copy from OUP will help a bit.
*****
There – I told you it would be a long post! So what does this tell you about me and my TBR? Probably that I have a grasshopper mind, refuse to stick to genres or types of books, and that I have more books than I need and that I’ll probably die before I read them all. At least I’ll be ok for reading matter if there’s a zombie apocalypse…
Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings 
May 14, 2018 @ 06:54:59
“This meme is making me want to read all these books at once”
#MeToo!!
Seriously, if your books are all over the house, how do you sort them on the shelves so that you can find them when you want them?
May 14, 2018 @ 10:13:36
The short answer is, I don’t really. I sort of remember where I put them as best I can but it doesn’t always work and OH has to put up patiently with me wailing around the house that I can’t find a particular book – which then turns out later to be exactly where I was looking for it….
May 14, 2018 @ 07:46:50
Told you, you could do it! I too have a pile of NYRB books to catch up on, and am contemplating scheduling an NYRB Fortnight sometime in the autumn ….
May 14, 2018 @ 10:12:19
That sounds fun! I could even try to join in! :s
May 14, 2018 @ 08:09:32
Eclectic list! I’ve never even heard of most of them. The only two I’ve read are Silas Marner and Sense and Sensibility. Silas was meh and S&S isn’t my favorite Austen, but it has some great moments and is definitely worth reading, even though I often wanted to smack Marianne. But it does include Fanny Dashwood and Lucy Steele, two of Austen’s most deliciously nasty creations, so it’s worth reading for them alone.
May 14, 2018 @ 10:12:00
Funnily enough, when I was setting up the blog I did consider having Eclectic in the title somewhere, to reflect my grasshopper mind really. But Ramblings is just as good! And Austen being nasty sounds good – must get on to some of these books soon…
May 14, 2018 @ 08:13:40
Wow – well done! I was wondering if you would dare attempt it, but with your amazing TBR you did it! I haven’t done mine, though …!!
May 14, 2018 @ 10:02:08
🙂 When I was moaning about the length of my blog name to OH, I must admit I *did* think of yours….. 😉
May 14, 2018 @ 10:46:20
I’ve recently had a go at rearranging my books into something resembling logical order, but gave up. So I do have a sort of rudimentary TBR shelf, but others pop up in random places elsewhere like gophers or moles or whatever the burrow-dwelling creature I mean. I too read Silas M a LONG time ago, and recall it being quite moving. I didn’t get on with the Pessoa at all, I’m afraid. And somehow found I had two copies: Penguin MC – which is longer and seems to include more fragments than the Serpent’s Tail edition. The apparatus of the PMC is good, too. I found it so tedious I didn’t try comparing the quality of the two translations.
May 14, 2018 @ 11:42:41
I’ve often had the urge lately to get *all* of my books into one room and put them in some kind of sensible order. However, I have a fear that I’d never be able to find anything again. And also, I’m not always sure nowadays whether I’ve read all of the older books I possess so sorting out which are read and which TBR would be impossible. I think I’ll just have to live with things as they are.
I did start the Pessoa once but didn’t get very far. Maybe I should try a different version!
May 14, 2018 @ 11:36:14
There are a lot of letters in my three blogs’ names so this would be a project. But I could. Late one night when I am too tired to read,write or watch a movie.
May 14, 2018 @ 11:40:59
It would be fun! I enjoyed doing mine!
May 14, 2018 @ 12:42:49
Hey, well done, Karen. Your blog’s name wasn’t an easy one. Love your selection of books and the excellent photographs! 😊
May 14, 2018 @ 14:17:58
No – all those Ks and Gs were a bit of strain! But I like to share pictures of my books…. 😉
May 14, 2018 @ 14:01:53
Well done. A great selection. The only one I have read is the Orwell one.
May 14, 2018 @ 14:17:28
Thank you! It’s vaguely terrifying to see how many unread books I have, but then again – all that choice!! 🙂
May 14, 2018 @ 17:24:13
Fabulous selection, such a variety of titles. I love Silas Marner it might be my favourite Eliot, I have read it two or three times because it is short. Oddly I liked Sense and Sensibility far less the second time I read it. I really enjoyed Keeping the Aspidistra flying though it is many years since I read it. The Postgate mystery is fun, and I rather fancy Bats in the Belfry myself.
May 14, 2018 @ 21:47:54
Bats in the Belfry is awfully appealing – but I’m suffering from raving indecision at the moment about what to read next!
May 14, 2018 @ 20:47:01
Haha, is that all from your TBR? That’s hilarious!
May 14, 2018 @ 21:46:59
It is – and it’s only a small proportion of the Books I own that I haven’t read. Clearly I have a problem…
May 14, 2018 @ 21:32:20
Well done! This can’t have been easy with such a long blog name. I enjoyed Keep the Aspidistra Flying and Sense and Sensibility – and have also read Silas Marner, but so long ago I can’t remember anything about it.
May 14, 2018 @ 21:46:20
It was a little bit of a struggle but I quite enjoyed it in the end! I too wonder if I’ve read Silas – but I just can’t be sure…
May 14, 2018 @ 23:32:43
You have a LONGGGGGGGG name. Great fun. It would take me a long post, too.
May 15, 2018 @ 09:40:07
Yeah, that was what put me off doing this for so long. But I enjoyed it when I finally took the plunge! :))
May 15, 2018 @ 07:25:57
Keep the Aspidistra Flying didn’t make much of an impression on me but maybe it was because I was desperately trying to get through all the Orwells so I could write my essay and get on with finals revision…. Never the best circumstances in which to read a book.
May 15, 2018 @ 09:39:27
No indeed…. I can’t remember much about Coming up for Air myself. Maybe I should have a Reading all of George Orwell project – if I can find an additional life to do it in! 🙂
May 15, 2018 @ 18:03:33
That would be an interesting project -plenty of scope for people to join in
May 15, 2018 @ 19:32:44
I know…. Trouble is, I probably wouldn’t stick to it myself!
May 15, 2018 @ 11:12:43
What a lovely idea, and a wonderful selection of books! I’m quite surprised that I don’t have enough corresponding titles on my TBR to have a go at this myself!
May 15, 2018 @ 14:13:12
In some ways, I’m jealous that you have a small TBR….. =:o
May 22, 2018 @ 09:59:12
As is perhaps typical, I added sixteen books to it yesterday… 😉
May 22, 2018 @ 10:03:32
Hurrah! 🙂
May 16, 2018 @ 07:59:03
Great list- I’ve only heard of three though Sense and Sensibility (unfortunately my least favourite Austen), Aurora Leigh (still to read), and Silas Marner (that one I like)- this meme is such good fun.
May 16, 2018 @ 11:18:31
It *is* a fun meme! And I do like having a diverse selection of books to choose from, although it does make it hard to decide what to read next!
May 16, 2018 @ 17:27:42
May 17, 2018 @ 13:55:07
I’ve decided it’s a good thing to have more books than can be read in a lifetime, as it’s nice to know there’s never be a shortage. I’ll never be cash-rich, nor do I have a glut of cars or jewels, but I’m totally rolling in books 😉
May 17, 2018 @ 16:07:23
Me too! And that’s a good thing, right??????
May 22, 2018 @ 06:32:33
Such a rich variety awaiting you on your shelves, Karen! And I can really relate to your grasshopper mind, even if we may not always hop onto the same subjects. 😀
May 22, 2018 @ 09:36:32
🙂 Mine certainly hops all over the place!