2016 Fall Reading Schedule

Illustration by Andrew Davidson for the Wall Street Journal

We’re in the last week, it’s the last day of August, the home stretch before the Labour Day holiday hits. To me, this has always seemed like the true start to a new year. This time following Labour Day when the summer is considered officially done and dusted and in the books as complete, and the Back to School frenzy is in full swing. So what better time to plan out the Fall Reading Schedule….so far. :-) Heads Up! it’s going to contain a LOT of Canlit!!

I fully hope that many of these titles below appear on the Giller Prize Longlist, and while I’m probably not going to be able to read every single one during the Giller’s whirlwind timeline from Longlist to Shortlist to Winner, I do sincerely want to focus on those titles. What a wonderful thing that so many of these titles are Canadian. It makes me so happy!

 I’m going to break the list down, as it stands now, (because you just know a pile more books will catch my attention and will become must reads!) and shows what I have on my shelf or on hold as of right now. It’s broken down by books made available from Netgalley, put On Hold at the library, and sent from publishers. It’s an exciting list!

 NETGALLEY

Oh Netgalley! my excitement when browsing through all those covers and book descriptions makes me request so many then leaves me overwhelmed and feeling guilty, always, because I click Request faster than I can possibly read! :-) The Netgalley titles below are a mixture of ones I sought on my own, and ones sent requesting our review. Most of these came as PDF (ew!) so I’ve put holds on them from the library so I can read the hardcopies instead. (*I have a question for you e-readers, and I’ll add it to the very end of this post. I’m looking for advice and information about a certain e-reader.)

The first three, Strange Things Done, After James and The Dollhouse are Canadian authors (with Fiona Davis being the squishy one there, she was born in Canada, but raised in the US). The others are, The Ballroom, The Courtesan, Faithful, The Orphan Mother, Fates and Traitors.

THE LIBRARY

Including many of the above titles, here are the other books I have On Hold currently from the library. I’ve discovered I’m a David Bergen fan after reading a number of his stories, so Stranger is an anticipated read for me. And, new Ami McKay! (Yay!) The Witches of New York is a hot must read for sure! The Best Kind of People seems to also be a hot Canlit title, because there are plenty of holds on this one! I’m way, way down the line to get this one. Surely this will make the Giller Longlist? And, The Break is on hold for me as well.

RECENT BOOKS SENT BY THE PUBLISHER

These are the books (all Canlit except one!!) sent recently by publishers. I’m excited for all of them and expect to see many on the Giller Longlist. Basically, I’m hotly anticipating the release of the Giller Prize’s Longlist aren’t I? :-)

The Conjoined, And Then the Sky Exploded, The Spawning Grounds, The Fortunate Brother, and Napoleon’s Last Island.

This really doesn’t even begin to cover All.The.Books I have on my TBR list from the ones coming out this Fall/Winter. I just took a peek through my Goodreads “To Be Read” List and holy cow there are a lot of wonderful books coming out. Far more that I have marked on my TBR than have been listed here.  Sigh. So, so many books!

Now, the dilemma….which to start reading first?

*My question from above: Okay, so a little background…when requesting titles from Netgalley, too many come as PDF documents. :-( The Kobo is absolutely not PDF-friendly. But, you always have the option to send to Kindle. Because of that, I’ve downloaded the Kindle app to my hubby’s iPad. However, I dislike reading on the iPad (that backlight!). So, my question is –  if I were to purchase a Kindle e-reader (and I’m supposing this is really a question for the Kindle users) and send those Netgalley books to it, does the file come through the same way it does for the iPad app? Like, can you flip pages, and does it appear like reading a normal e-book? Basically, not mucking about and fighting with an impossible PDF file?  Would it be worth it to breakdown and purchase a Kindle (Paperwhite)? Lay your thoughts about it on me! Looking forward to hearing what you have to say/suggest.

I’m into the dedicated e-readers. I love my Kobo Glo. So I don’t need the iPad/tablet options because we have those in the home already, I’m just seeking information as to how to make the Netgalley files easier to read, but on an e-reader. I’m not looking to be talked into a tablet for the all-purpose usefulness of them, I’m really looking to find out if sending the .Mobi Kindle files is the same kind of reading experience as it is on the Kindle app on iPad. Would it be the same on the Kindle Paperwhite? (Sorry, this is something the hubby does all the time – he doesn’t understand that I want a dedicated e-reader with that pleasing e-ink technology, and to use it for reading books. Period. Not fuss around and play on the internet and access apps.) :-)

Thanks!