And so we stagger to the end of another month, and one which has been surprisingly frantic…. September usually is for me, as it’s back to work time after the summer break; and this year had been particularly taxing because of the amount of catching up and the strain of acting as if the world is back to normal when it really isn’t. Despite this – or perhaps because of this! – I have managed some good reading and so here is the pile of books for September!

I hasten to add I did *not* read all of the Nabokov or the Borges – just some relevant sections…. ;D

I usually have no duds, but this month does feature one book which really did espouse views far from mine…. And one underwhelmed me rather, but the rest were great!

September *did* bring some treats, though, as the three Offspring paid a weekend visit to celebrate Mr. K’s birthday. Although we had seen them in different configurations over the summer, this was the first time we had been all together as a group since Christmas 2019. So it was absolutely lovely to have them here, and of course there was celebrating and shopping and plenty of eating! I had my third trip into town since the pandemic began with them, and of course there was lunch at Hank’s vegan deli, as well as a little charity book shopping – here are the highlights! 😀

Coffee at Nero’s, lunch at Hank’s and an evening out at Ask! 😀

September book finds!

The book finds were from the Oxfam, British Heart Foundation and Samaritan’s Book Cave, and I was so pleased with them! The Sybille Bedford was £1 and is to swap out for a very battered copy I already have. The two Virago Travellers were real finds – I have a number of these, but haven’t seen any in the wild for ages, so snapped them up at a bargain price.

My Virago Travellers collection! 😀

Leonardo Sciascia is an author who’s featured once on the Ramblings before, and I thought I’d explore further with this one. And the collection of Angela Carter stories was impossibly to resist – I have a couple of collections, but not all of them plus this had some previously uncollected works, so for £2 there was no way it wasn’t coming home with me. I’ve missed in person book shopping…

We had a lovely family evening out at Ask (who miraculously were able to cater for all our various needs!) and the weekend was a real treat. It was absolutely marvellous to see the Offspring all together again and hopefully it won’t be too long until next time…

Looking forward to October’s bookishness, I will of course be focusing initially on the #1976club which runs from 11th to 17th of the month. There are some wonderful titles to choose from and I have been gathering piles of possible reads from the mountainous TBR – and these are just some of the choices:

As you can see, there’s quite a variety of reading available and so I suspect I may not get to everything which interestes me – we shall see! Aside from 1976, I shall probably try to keep the reading plans loose, though I do have some vague ideas of what id like to pick up next, and these are just a few possibilities:

British Library possibles

British Library Publishing have some wonderful titles upcoming, and I have been lucky enough to receive review copies. Such marvellous books and it’s very hard to choose!

Gorgeous Notting Hill Editions hardbacks

Similarly, Notting Hill Editions are releasing a lovely pair of books in their gorgeous clothbound hardback editions. Both of these sound excellent – can’t wait!

And this is what I’m currently reading, in tandem with other titles:

Current reading…

I’ve read Bely before and his writing is wonderful, very unique and not always straightforward… The book collects together four ‘symphonies’ written over a period of time and I have decided to pace myself with this, reading one at a time and interspersing it with other books. Certain the first piece is unusual and often beautiful, featuring writing which favours repetitions and reads almost poetically in places. Very intriguing…

So – roll on October, with club reading and plenty of other choices! Are you joining in with 1976, and what plans do you have for reading generally?