Will it come as any suprise to you if I tell you that I have thoroughly enjoyed the C.S. Forester book of short stories, Mr. Midshipman Hornblower? Since I have been watching the A&E film adaptation of this book at the same time as I have been reading the stories, I have have had the added pleasure of visuals to go along with my reading. The A&E stories are slightly different than those of the novel, but they definitely give you the right flavor. And the adaptation is excellently done!
Horatio is an entirely likeable character. He joins HM Royal Navy at the age of 17 as a Midshipman. He is gentlemanly, honorable...and gets seasick--an interesting combination--but still the sort of hero you like to have in an adventure story. The only thing that I would be critical of is the first book is slightly disjointed. Of course that is the nature of short stories. They all meshed together pretty well, but each was somewhat distinct from the others. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the novels, which I hear are actually better. In the interim since buying the first book, I admit I have acquired the rest of the set--all eleven in total. Before continuing on with Horatio's adventures, however, I plan on reading one of my books by Daphne Du Maurier first (how long have I been waiting for this?). I am going to be good, though, and try and finish one other book first before I start something new! One little side note--I discovered that Ioan Gruffudd is the reader on some (not sure how many or all?) of the audio books. I don't generally go for audio books, but if he is the reader I would be willing to give them another try!
So, one book finished from my night stand and 12 more to go! I think I will try and work on three at a time, and as I finish one in the group I will grab another from the pile. It was hard deciding which one to choose next--it was a toss up between Robinson Crusoe and The Observations. I am nearly halfway through both, so hopefully they will be fast finishes. I decided on The Observations, since that has been on the pile longer. While I am pretty good at picking up the story even if it has been a while since I have read it, sometimes my problem is my mood has changed. This is a Victorian pastiche and I was really enjoying it before I got distracted. I hope I can get back into the mood for it. I started reading it again tonight and I am feeling so-so about it. Of course the sooner I can get into it and finish it, the sooner I can get to Daphne Du Maurier! I wonder what it says about me that I set all these little hurdles for myself and then reward myself for successfully jumping them?!