Day 13: This is......my current reading material

I am a voracious reader. I have been known to read jam jars and cereal packets just to have something to read. I used to never, ever leave the house without reading material, and would often have several books on the go at once. I used to go to bed early just so I had more reading time, and a "sleep in" was just an excuse to stay in bed in the morning to read.

Now that my reading time is severely curtailed, and is usually about 20 minutes in bed before lights out (much to Beloved's disgruntlement), I usually only have one book on the go at once, although the queue is always long. Bed-time reading is essential to me though; I simply cant get into bed and turn out the light. I need to quieten my brain with some words on the page.

I also have a a pile of mags each month too, usually food ones, that I have in the living room to leaf through whenever there's a spare few minutes (preferably with a cup of tea and a nice biscuit or two!).

So here's the list, top to bottom:

Things I Learned from Knitting and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off, both by Stephanie Pear-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot. Bells was kind enough to lend me both these books, and I dip into them every few days for a page or two.

The Fourth Bear, by Jasper Fforde. Also lent to me by a friend. I love Fforde's unique and quirky fiction; he comes up with completely left-field characters and plots, and draws in dozens of obscure literary references. This is the second book in the Nursery Crimes series, and I'm not quite so enamoured of this series as I am of his first, the Thursday Next series. This is mu current read.

Carpentaria, by Alexis Wright. It won the 2007 Miles Franklin literary award. Also lent to me by a friend. Haven't started it yet; my friend says it's hard going by worthwhile. Might save it for when I'm not so tired.

The Messenger and The English Assasin, both by Daniel Silva. My read of choice these days is crime fiction, and Silva is my latest find. I quite like reading a series from start to finish, watching how the lead character develops. In these books, Gabriel Allon is an Israeli spy, who is supposed to be retired and living in Venice as an art restorer. He of course keeps getting called back into service. So kind of thriller-intrigue. Good switching-off reads, but the Jewish history component is quite compelling. These two are next off the rank once The Fourth Bear is done.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I loved Bryson's early travel works, although once he hit the Big Time they became less appalling - more kind of "trash the locals" than quirkily observant. Another one lent by a friend, I dip into this now and then as I'm not so much of a non-fiction reader these days.

Finally, my mags for the month: Australian Good Taste, BBC Good Food, Super Food Ideas and Interweave Knits. Yes, I do love reading about food (there is often a cookbook beside my bed but I took the most recent back to the library on the weekend). I cook maybe a half-a-dozen recipes from each mag each month, and many of them go into rotation. I have an extensive library these days and they're constantly being dragged out to find past recipes. Although I do tend to go to Taste in the first instance since this is where most of the recipes reside online.

Thanks to threebuttons for hosting and to My Champagne Dreams for this week's ace topic!

The Blogtoberfest Word for Wednesday is pilgrimage. Have fun with that one!