I confess to being an inquisitive person. According to my mother I was destined to become a journalist because I was born asking What? Why? Where? How? This doesn’t seem particularly remarkable to me (don’t all kids endlessly question?) but who am I to destroy a mother’s belief in her intuitive powers?
The blogosphere allows me to indulge my curiosity (some might call this nosiness) to the full about other people’s reading habits. I love the idea that reading, which is, by its nature a solitary occupation, can become social when I discover that someone thousands of miles away has similar tastes in authors or topics or is even reading the same book I’m reading.
I had an idea about using the turning of the year to notch up this curiosity factor by asking fellow bloggers to share what they are reading at the exact point when 2015 turns into 2016.
How to join in with #readinto16……
- You don’t have to be reading at midnight. You’ll all be too busy partying probably, sipping that coupe de champagne or giving your best rendition of Auld Lang Syne. Just share what your current read is or what’s on your nightstand/bedside table.
- Tell us about the book and why you are reading it. What made you choose it? Is it by a favourite author? You wanted something cosy to suit the time of the year? etc etc.
- Publish your post on January 1 if possible (assuming of course you are suitably recovered from the revels of the night before!). If you are using that day to recover from the excesses of the night before, then just publish when you feel sufficiently awake. But if you want to be in with a chance to win a giveaway (see the details below) please post by Friday, January 15
- Unless you are of a shy and retiring nature, take a photo of yourself with the book. You can be creative as you like…..
- If you’d like tweet about this idea to get more people joining in. that would be wonderful. Please use the hashtag #readinto16
The Giveaway…
I’m going to give one lucky person one of the books listed below (your choice). They are all novels that were my favourite reads from this year. I’ve included links to my reviews of six of them and to Goodreads for the seventh which I haven’t got around to reviewing yet.
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
Old Goriot by Honore de Balzac
Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
The Snow Kimono by Mark Henshaw
A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar
The Redemption of Galen Pike by Carys Davies
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
I’m going to send the prize to the winner via Bookdepository, so make sure they deliver to your country.
If you would like to be in with a chance of winning one of these please leave a comment on this post when your #Readinto16 post is published. Add a link back to your post. Winners will be selected randomly on Saturday January 16 and announced the following day on BookerTalk.
Hope you all like this idea and will join in…..