When I was first getting started in blogging, back in 2006 and well before I had even conceived of the idea of a food blog, I reviewed books I read. I read all kinds of books, so there was always a variety. Sometimes I miss writing and blogging about books I’m reading. I love talking about books, as they’re often a source for interesting conversation and discussion. I also love to learn about what others are reading, and it’s how I sometimes discover new reads I’m not sure I would have heard of otherwise.

With this in mind, this post is my personal reading highlights for this month. I’m mostly reading biographies and historical fiction at the moment. I would love to hear what you’re currently reading, so leave a comment below!

It’s the little things that count.

I found again an old notebook of mine that I’d started in 2007, for keeping track of books one has or is reading. It was with fond memories as I read about my discovering of Twelfth Night and The Count of Monte Cristo within the same month, and it astonishes me just how much their respective impact is still with me. Monte Cristo is still among one of my favourites of all time (and, coincidentally, ties in with one of the books I read this month that I’ve included). Twelfth Night was just part of the beginning of my exploration of Shakespeare and the development of my passion for his work.

I have started to use again said notebook, keeping track of what I read this month and in December, noting the last book I read in 2012 was P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves in the Offing: a delightful read with wonderful language. I would stop reading more than once just to savour a particular passage, or read it over and over such as this sentence (that I’ve since committed to memory): “He shall feel upon the mantle of his cheek the blush of shame and remorse.”

Click here for this month’s booklist