Is there some sort of virus going around? I have noticed it on other book bloggers sites. I feel like I am just wandering around out in the desert...lost...at least in terms of reading. Well, maybe it isn't that bad, but lately life has been very stressful, not the least due to work. We have a new administration here in the library (about a year old now), and there have been so many changes, particularly as of late, that I never quite know what is going on. The latest was a consulting firm in July to take a look at our "work processes and flows". Finally last week we found out the results, and were treated with yet more upheaval and yet more restructuring. I am still basically doing the same job, but how I do it is changing. On top of all this the university's Chancellor has stepped down today amid a bit of a scandal--improper (not illegal, though very embarrassing) misuse of public funds by certain individuals under her. I won't go into the gossipy details.
This, on top of personal stresses, has really messed up my reading patterns of late....hence so much need for comfort reading. You see...I have been wandering around, not sure what to do. Thankfully the Morlands have given me a nice (though brief) respite from all this. Now that I have finished The Oak Apple I could easily fall into the next book in the series and be quite content I'm sure. However, that will not get me any closer to discussing Joyce, or raving about Little Women, or keeping up with my RIP Challenge. And I haven't forgotten all the other half read books on my pile, or the library books that sit patiently waiting for me, while I avert my glance and try to ignore them. How do I get back into the books that I should be reading? And not to make it sound like it is work or an obligation, as it isn't. I want to read these books, or they wouldn't be listed on my sidebar! I am just not able to focus very well lately.
I guess first things first. It has been good to concentrate on one book. I have even shunned poor War and Peace these last few days. Perhaps I need to get back into more structured reading, though. I am back to working on James Joyce's "The Dead" (why does Banville come to mind as I am reading him?). I am going to see if I can get back into Poe's, The Murders in the Rue Morgue. I have gone off Poe a bit, not to say I didn't enjoy what I read (I did), but I don't feel overly thrilled to pick up the book again at the moment. I will give it a try and see how it goes. It is the shortest book on my pile, which is what is prompting me to choose it. I wonder if I can make a few changes to my list? Or maybe I should do a reshuffle and let Poe wait while I pick another book to read for a while. I could pull out Frankenstein, or I could replace something with The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe (but that is 700+ pages and I am a slow reader...). I am usually so good at sticking with my plans, but desperate times call for desperate measures...