This year seems to be flying by. Which is a good thing as this year I am not allowed to buy any new books, except for those necessary for my course. Luckily both Valentine’s Day and Father’s Day saw my loved one’s bestow upon me the gift of literature.

I was particularly pleased with these two beauties from my kids back in June:

I’m reading the Jackie Kay right now and saving the Karl Ove Knausgaard for the holidays.

It’s been difficult at times to hold back on buying books, particularly when reading reviews of new titles, but I have to say I am enjoying taking the time to make an albeit small dent in the pile of books unread upon my shelves. Planning to tackle at least one biggy (either Wolf Hall or Moby Dick) before the reading for my MA resumes in September with another twelve novels to read and study in as many weeks.

As for what I’ve been reading from my bookshelves, here’s the list for March, April, May and June:

Fiction

• The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas
• 99 Reasons Why – Caroline Smailes
• Un Lun Dun – China Mieville
• Trumpet Jackie Kay
• Hotel World – Ali Smith
• Freaks! – Nik Perring and Caroline Smailes
• The Old Man and The Sea – Ernest Hemingway
• Acts of Violence – Ryan David Jahn
• The Best British Short Stories 2012 – ed. Nicholas Royle
• Lazarus is Dead – Richard Beard
• The Vaccinator – Michael Marshall Smith
• Mother America – Nuala Ní Chonchúir
• The Slaughteryard – Esteban Echeverria
• Heartland – Anthony Cartwright
• Made In Britain – Gavin James Bower
• The Steppe – Anton Chekhov

Poetry

• The Juno Charm – Nuala Ní Chonchúir
• 12 Nudes – Ross Sutherland

Ongoing titles (that I am continuing to dip in and out of)

• A Life In Letters – Anton Chekhov
• Beginnings, Middles and Ends – Nancy Kress
• The Art of Writing Fiction – Andrew Cowan
• Londoners – Craig Taylor
• Love, Sex, Death and Words: Surprising Tales From a Year in Literature – John Sutherland, Stephen Fender

For anyone who care’s, here’s what I read in January and February.

What have you been reading so far this year?