At the moment I am in the middle (well, in a few books closer to the beginning) of a few really good books. I am hoping to finish Jane Eyre in just a few days. Although I am really enjoying it the second time around, I am also looking forward to reading a classic that I haven't read before. I am leaning heavily towards Tess of the D'Urbervilles still, as I have never read anything by Hardy. I am not doing quite as well with reading the classics this year as I did last year. And I have given up on the classics challenge and removed the button as every time I would see it, I would feel its mocking laugh (okay, maybe not mocking laugh, but it was still making me feel guilty).
I have finally properly started reading Mina Samuels' The Queen of Cups. It starts out in a gypsy camp in Russia, but already we are heading east to St. Petersburg. I think it is going to be easy to lose myself in this book, once Jane is off happily married and I can turn my attention towards it fully. I love the descriptions of 19th century life in Russia. I know eventually the story will move on towards Paris and New York, though I fear it is not going to be a story completely filled with glamour and happiness. By the way, I noticed on Mina Samuels' website for The Queen of Cups that she will attend book club meetings either in person or via speaker phone. I have heard of other authors doing this and think it would be quite interesting to hear the author speak about her work and be able to discuss it in a group as well.
I keep picking Puccini's Ghosts by Morag Joss and dragging it around with me at home, but not getting more than a page into it at a time. I need to give it a good hour and get into the story as it looks promising. I do have to say one of the main characters, Lila, is rather Diva-ish (and since she is an opera singer maybe it is apt--they all act like that?), and slightly annoying. But the story flashes back to when she is only a schoolgirl, and I want to know more about her younger self. I have been wanting to reread Chocolat by Joanne Harris for a while now. I started it last weekend. Can I just say I love-love-love this book? I could easily sit and read it straight through, but I am rationing it and trying hard to not let it distract me from my other books (especially since I have read this one more than once before already). My problem is having too many good books going at once--it is hard to decide which to pick up and read.
One little side note, I actually picked up War and Peace today for the first time in weeks (and not just pick it up and put it down, but actually read it!). I think reading about Russia in The Queen of Cups made me want to do so. I think perhaps I am going to devote March to reading and finishing my epic novels--W&P and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Probably the only way I am going to finish them is by dedicating serious reading time to them both. Even if I only read two books next month, it would be worth it to know I had finally read them both! Besides at a combined total of some 2,270 pages that is about six normal sized books (normal being around 350 pages). If I were to look at it that way, "six" books in March would not be at all shabby!