Since I am in the middle of a bunch of books at the moment, this post is going to be a bit of a mishmash of things. First, I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. At first I liked it, but the talk about her divorce made me uncomfortable. I hoped it wouldn't be sprinkled all throughout the book, or it might make for less than pleasing reading, as the anguish she obviously felt was palpable. So when that moment passed and she goes on with her story, it feels like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders! She has such a nice, chatty way of writing that you feel sort of like you're friends and she is sharing this story with you. And I can tell you that less than 40 pages in, and I want most sincerely to go to Italy. I want to go to Rome. I want to learn to speak Italian, too. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled there already, but I want to go back. I really do. The chapters are also nice and short, so I can easily set the book down and pick it up again and sink into the book with no problems. Several people have already mentioned this, but it is being made into a movie starring Julia Roberts.
I am working my way into George Sand's Indiana. It is not as hard as I feared it would be. It is about a young woman married to a much older man--she goes from being the property of her father to the property of her husband. She is seduced by her neighbor. It's already started and talk about a Don Juan! Raymon de Ramiere is something else. I don't want to give details away, but he is a slimy one. The story reminds me of Madame Bovary as well as The Awakening. Indiana was born on Bourbon Island, which is off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. I didn't expect this, but it adds an interesting twist to the story. It made me think of Josephine Bonaparte who was born on another French colonial island. Anyway, this has all been swishing around in my mind as I read this. I am finding that I want to pick it up and keep reading!
I am nearly finished watching the A&E series Horatio Hornblower-The Complete Adventures. I have one disc left to watch. Even if you have only the slighest interest in naval stories, I recommend this one! It is so well done and well acted. They have obviously taken a lot of care with making sure evetyhing is accurate. And well, Ioan Gruffudd is not too hard on the eyes either (have I already mentioned, this? Sorry, but it is true). I am sure I will break down and order the set eventually. The first book by C.S. Forester is also really good. There were certain liberties taken with the film adaptation, but they have stayed pretty close to the story. There are an additional two episodes that I plan on watching as well, but I might read ahead in the books first.
Those are my three current reads. I think I am going to set a personal challenge for myself to finish the books on my night table by December 31! That would be a total of 13 books in 11 weeks. I read about one book a week, so it might actually be an attainable goal. What would throw me off would be library books (I just found out that New Moon is waiting for me at the library). The books I would need to finish:
Indiana- War and Peace
- The Mystery of the Sea
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower- The Black Pearl
- Robinson Crusoe
- Monsters
- Gaudy Night
- Eat, Pray, Love
The Observations- Frankenstein
- A Voyage Out
- Sophie's Choice
Perhaps this idea is a little optimistic, but it would certainly be nice to start the new year with a clean slate. Some of the books I am already halfway through. Of course the ones that would trip me up would be War and Peace (only 1/3 of the way through that one) and Sophie's Choice (really long with tiny print)! In any case, I plan on keeping the reading pile under better control once I actually plow through this mess. Well, I am going to try to anyway!