2021 Reading Releases/Goals/Purchases You're Particularly Looking Forward To? (12/20/20)

[Marc]

Any particular reads/discussions/releases/purchases/goals/etc. you're looking forward to in 2021 at it relates to books/reading?

[Robert]

This year I managed to make an actual dent in my TBR stack so I’m going to try keep book buying at a minimum plus with Brexit around the corner I think shipping books to Malta will be problematic. Anyway I am looking forward to the following:

Max Porter - Death of Francis Bacon
Rónán Hession- Panenka
Kazuo Ishiguro- Klara and the Sun
Lucy Ellmann - Things are Against Us
Alan Warner - Kitchenly 434
Colette Snowden - Captain Jesus

[Hugh]

Like Robert, I am trying to resist getting excited about too many new books, but the new Jon McGregor may be an exception, and I want to read Aminatta Forna's essay collection. The final part of the Jon Fosse Septology will be very interesting too.

[Pamela]

I’m another one who will be trying to reduce my physical tbr, but I’ll definitely be buying Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.

[Margaret]

Robert wrote: "This year I managed to make an actual dent in my TBR stack so I’m going to try keep book buying at a minimum plus with Brexit around the corner I think shipping books to Malta will be problematic. ..."

My goal had been to only read from my lengthy already-own TBR list in 2021, but now that I've seen your list.....📚

[Maria]

Some of the books I'm most excited to read next year:

The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas
That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott
Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
UFO in her Eyes by Xiaolu Guo
By Night the Mountain Burns by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Even Silence Has an End by Ingrid Betancourt
Silence is My Mother Tongue by Sulaiman Addonia

I also told myself I'd finally read a whole lot of longer books from my TBR such as Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, the Hakawati, 100 Years of Solitude, etc. We'll see how that goes!

My TBR list is currently at 205, I'd like to keep it under 200 at all times next year. I don't think I'll read 50 books, but if I can get it down to 150 that'd be great.

[Kathleen]

I'm probably most excited to get to Bring Up the Bodies. I read Wolf Hall for the first time this year, and will try to read the third book this year as well.

For classics, I'm starting The Portrait of a Lady in January and can't wait. I have a hankering to read Ironweed, after finally seeing the film with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep.

Some newer books I'm particularly excited about are:
How Long 'til Black Future Month?
The Passion
Citizen: An American Lyric
And and older Patti Smith I'm looking forward to:
Woolgathering

[Janet]

For classics, I’m starting of the year with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation because it needs to be read this time of year
And I do want to get to Barbara Comyns Our Spoons Came from Woolworths and eventually tackle John Ehle’s The Land Breakers
I’m re-reading Mercè Rodoreda’s Garden by the Sea for book club.

For contemporary, this year I would like to read more Victor Pelevin. I read (and loved) his The Sacred Book of the Werewolf. Would like to read Homo Zapiens and Buddha's Little Finger.

I'm trying to reduce my tbr pile. Let's see how that goes.

[Nidhi]

This year I couldn’t finish a single hefty classic so next year I am starting with The Villette (993 pages).

[Maria]

Janet wrote: "For classics, I’m starting of the year with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation because it needs to be read this time of year
And I do want to get to Barbara Com..."

That book on Sir Gawain sounds interesting! I've been watching the BBC Merlin series so I could do with reading more about the original legends.

[Lark]

Janet wrote: "For classics, I’m starting of the year with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation because it needs to be read this time of year..."

Janet, maybe you're already read this magnificent essay by Simon Armitage, about Sir Garwain and the Green Knight, which is also the foreword for his translation of the poem:

https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature...

I have Armitage's translation in audiobook, read by Bill Wallis, where the translation is followed by a reading of the original language. It's extraordinary. I've listened to it more than any audiobook I own, even if I only understand about a quarter of what's being said in the 2nd half of the recording. Both versions are incredible as recited poems.

[Kathleen]

Janet wrote: "For classics, I’m starting of the year with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation because it needs to be read this time of year
And I do want to get to Barbara Com..."

I agree about Sir Gawain. Loved the Simon Armitage translation. Sounds like a magical way to start the year, Janet!

[Janet]

lark wrote: "Janet wrote: "For classics, I’m starting of the year with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation because it needs to be read this time of year..."

Janet, maybe you..."
I have the Armitage version in print form, but just checked - it's also on Audible and I do have credits to use there, so I went on to YouTube to listen to a few minutes of Wallis. I think I will spend one of my credits on listening to him. Thanks for the recommendation!

[Lark]

Janet wrote: "I went on to YouTube to listen to a few minutes of Wallis. ..."

I just spent the last 1 hour 23 mins listening to it! Thanks Janet.

[Jenny]

Part of my 2021 reading goals is to pick ten books that have been on my TBR list for over five years and finally read them. I’ve picked the first five and plan on reading one a month by July.
I’m also planning to finish my Pat Barker read and most looking forward to her forthcoming book, The Women of Troy.
Every year I threaten to read/reread all of Dickens, but I think I’m abandoning that dream until retirement.

[Marc]

I still haven't tackled the 2020 releases I was most excited about (Hilary Mantel, Ali Smith, Marilynne Robinson, and Daisy Johnson), so they're in my 2021 plans. Maybe less planned reading and not reading quite as many books (with the intent of replacing some of that reading time with some creative pursuits).

I'm sitting here surrounded by so many books I'm excited to read, that it's hard to pick!

[Janet]

lark wrote: "Janet wrote: "I went on to YouTube to listen to a few minutes of Wallis. ..."

I just spent the last 1 hour 23 mins listening to it! Thanks Janet."

Lark, wanted to tell you I spent New Year’s Day reading Sir Gawain and, at the same time, listening to the Bill Wallis narration you told me about. Hugely enjoyable. The narrator brought the story to life for me and I could revel in his magical recitation. Alliteration is key to the poem, and nothing brings it out better than hearing the words out loud.

My impressions here (really not a review but a few observations).
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So what does all of this have to do with 21C lit? I’d been thinking about re-reading Sir Gawain ever since I read Lanny, with its green man character Dead Papa Toothwort. Made me want to read about more treatments of this mythical character, so I thought I’d start with Sir Gawain and explore other variants, like Iris Murdoch’s The Green Knight and maybe Kingsley Amis’s The Green Man. Did you read either of these and, if so, your thoughts?