Perhaps I should start with what I have been spending my time with...that would be a daily dose of War and Peace, and an even heavier daily dose of Kept by D.J. Taylor. If you have read W&P or are currently reading it--I don't quite know what to think of the lisping character (Denisov)--especially as they prepare to go into battle! I have a hard time thinking what he must sound like in Russian. Not that people in other countries don't lisp, but it just sounds strange in my head as I read it. Shots have been fired, a soldier has died and Nikolai Rostov has had his first taste of battle. Sometimes when I open a book up I feel like there is this cast of real characters who all have to take their places when I start reading again. When I close the book they all sort of freeze or sit down and relax until I get back to them. As for Kept, I wonder if I will ever finish this book. It is quite good! Although I have never read Dickens (yes, bad, I know), I recently watched Bleak House, and I think most people have a sense (at least I do) since Dickens is so Huge, what his books are like. So far Kept feels like a cross between a Wilkie Collins and a Charles Dickens novel. A large cast of characters, seedy people, lawyers, illegal activities, a maid in the know, a parson, and a lady in the attic. It took me a bit to get into it as there are many different story lines, which seem to be tying in with each other, but now that I see the connections (some of them at least) I want to read and read. The problem is that I feel like I am reading and reading but my bookmark doesn't seem to be traveling too far back in the book. Does this ever happen to anyone else? I completely expect this from W&P, but I feel like I should be making better progress (actually that I should be done by now!). Definitely I will finish this week! And I am juggling my mysteries and Emily Carr a bit as well along with these two.
As for the books where the characters have been on an extended break and are just waiting for me to get back to them so they can take up their positions on stage...poor old Oak Apple. I won't even admit when I started this one. I am in the mood to read it too, but now I fear I will have to start from the beginning again. I broke down and checked out The Virgin Queen DVD again from the library. I seem to be in a very Elizabeth mood lately. The Oak Apple is part of a series of books that follows one family throughout the history of England. Although the setting for this book is after Elizabeth's reign and during the Civil War, it still has that historical/Elizabethan setting feel to it. Let's see, I think this must be book 3 or 4 in what is going to be about 25 books total (I have nearly all of them in paperback by the way). At this rate I may be a while in getting anywhere near the 20th century! Both Scoop and The Island of Dr Moreau have not yet even been started. However, as August is just around the corner I will need to get them out and get going on them. They look to both be fairly quick reads and I hate to read them too soon before discussion is due to start. I have not forgotten about Mary Wollstonecraft. This is typical of me though when it comes to nonfiction. I start out strong then waver, but I will eventually get back to it. I suspect that I have more unfinished nonfiction read than fiction reads, which I hate since nonfiction books usually sound so good to me! I did start Oroonoko. With just over 60 pages, I have to read it! I was afraid that I would struggle with the text, but it does seem quite readable actually. Just ten pages a day and I could be finished in a week! Hmm. Sophie's Choice is really an excellent book, though you wouldn't know that from how long it has been sitting on my night table. Once I get started I do quite well with it, and I need to pick it up and read a bit each day again. That leaves The Observations. This is quite like Kept, which is why I have not been picking it up lately. They are too close in setting and time period and I think it is better to read one Victorian drama at a time! What books are you not reading?