My Reading Resolution

I have quite a few New Year's resolutions, although to save myself potential embarrassment should I not achieve them, I'll just keep them to myself. However, there were two resolutions that were a bit less lofty than the rest: to carve more time out of my schedule to read, and to entertain more frequently than I did last year.

I read on a daily basis, and yet it seems that there's still not enough time to get through all of the books that I'd like to read. It would be nice to be able to take two or three days a week and devote them entirely to reading. But, who's got time for that? In the interest of keeping myself focused on the books in which I'm really interested, I've made a list of titles that I hope to read this year. Some of the books might seem a little low-brow, and that's fine by me. I'm perfectly aware that if you wallow with the pigs, you should expect to get dirty. But really, isn't it better than most of the reality shows on TV?

Tomorrow, I'll post my entertaining resolutions.



West End Front by Matthew Sweet. I first read about this book on Beverley Jackson's blog. Sweet's book examines life in London's grand hotels during World War II. Evidently, there was all kinds of intrigue and scandal involving socialites, swells, and ne'er do wells. My copy just arrived in the mail, and I can't wait to read all about it.



Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford. I enjoyed reading Mitford's The Sun King a few months ago, so I'm hoping that I'll feel the same about this book.





Constance Spry Cookery Book. An updated version of Spry and Hume's classic cookbook, first published in 1956.




Down the Garden Path by Beverley Nichols. I've never read any of his books, and I think this title- one of his most famous- is a good start.




Gilded Lily: Lily Safra: The Making of One of the World's Wealthiest Widows by Isabel Vincent. No, I don't plan to read this in hopes that someday I'll follow in Safra's footsteps. I'm just curious. Really.




Life in the French Country House and Life in the English Country House by Mark Girouard. I love books on general history, social history, and architectural history, and these two books combine all three.




Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Horror of horrors. Considering the fact that I'm a native Atlantan who has seen the movie close to thirty times, it's sacrilegious that I've never actually read the book. Shhh, don't tell.