Hmmmm I thinks to myself as I sit in my lovely cool airconditioned loungeroom slash computer room slash dining room slash kitchen (my home is open area in case that’s confusing!). Anyway, hmmmm, I wonders what I was thinking about this time last year.

Let’s have a look through the arched window (my personal Playschool favourite window which they never chose often enough for my liking) and see what The Spiralling Shape was wittering on about a year ago.

Books it seems by the look of the post for Saturday January 3. Looking at that pile of books it strikes me I have read none of them in the year that has passed. However, let’s now look again through the arched window (because you can never have enough of the arched window) and see what I am reading at the moment.

First, let’s just point out that I had grand grand plans to read lots of books during this ten day break between Christmas and returning to work tomorrow. These grand plans have resulted in my lying on the lounge for ten minutes and then promptly falling asleep for 1-2 hours every afternoon. Nana napping I believe it’s called. Still, I have managed to finish How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton. I bought it on the bargain table at Fuller’s in Hobart. I don’t think Proust is going to change my life particularly. However, I did learn a lot about Proust’s own strange life which was quite interesting. (*My what insightful commentary I hear my few blog readers gasping in astonishment*).

I also finished The Wild Thing by Dave Eggers. It too was Tasmanian in purchase origin, from the Hobart airport bookshop no less. It has a lovely hard cover and is beautifully written, fleshing out both Where the Wild Things Are the children’s book and the film with a great deal of integrity and thought. I enjoyed it a lot and I think thoughtful imaginative children and adults would as well. I read it after seeing the movie and appreciated it all the more for doing so I think.

This inspired me to buy Zeitoun also by Dave Eggers which I very surprisingly found at Angus and Robertson here in good ole Bundaberg’s Hinkler Place Shopping Centre. It’s a work of non-fiction telling the story of one family’s experience of Hurricane Katrina. So far, so good although I am not very far into it, he also seems to be managing to weave into the story themes of America today, religion, politics, work etc etc. I’m looking forward to finishing it. It has also inspired me to pick up once more his What is the What which I couldn’t get started with the first time. Only when this one is finished though. And I think I need to get my own copy of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius which I adored the first time I read it.

Finally, we come to Shantaram. It’s huge. I might be one-thirtieth of the way into it. It’s got a cracking pace and fascinating characters but so far it has found itself to be the nana napping book. Everyone tells me it’s wonderful so I am determined to press on even if it takes me until January 3 2011.

(*Cue Warren ( I think that was his name) from the olden days of Playschool playing the piano music which brings back out of the arched window and back into the studio set with John and Noni*)