Another aimless day at home thanks to near blizzard like conditions here! I got up as usual this morning and checked the news, the computer and even called the university's weather hotline for any cancellations and there were none. Needless to say I was disappointed. Okay, I can brave the wind, and the snow, and the cold, and the thunder--yes, thunder with snow--sort of eerie. I was thisclose to putting up on my coat and scarf and heading out the door to the bus stop when my boss called letting me know the university had finally decided to close. You would think they could do this a wee bit sooner than 6:20 a.m. The library opens and classes begin at 7:00. They are notoriously BAD about letting us know early even though many other schools and businesses had already closed. I am just happy I found out before slogging through all the mess. We now have an additional half a foot (maybe even up to 9" more) of fresh snow.
Another not very productive day for me, but then this is a freebie vacation day so why waste it by being industrious (but maybe I will do a load of laundry to assuage any guilty feelings). I did finish reading Barbara Trapido's Brother of the More Famous Jack. It was deliciously entertaining--like Lazy Cow said, a literary romance. Really it is a bit more than just romance even, and I highly recommend it. It was very quirky and fun. This was her first novel and I plan on seeking out the rest of her books. A blurb on the book called it a sort of bohemian Brideshead Revisited, so I guess I will have to read that soon as well. I may do a bit of online book buying (looking for those Trapidos and anything else that catches my eye). I will be spending some time with Tolstoy (it is March, so W&P it is!) as well today. I may also pop the new Jane Eyre in and watch it again--I broke down and ordered it when it was recently released. I did write down a nice list of new books that are forthcoming that I found in the new issue of Library Journal. Spring is just around the corner! Here are the new books that caught my eye (in no particular order):
- Nature of Monsters by Clare Clarke (more 18th c. fun)
- Sun Over Breda by Arturo Perez-Reverte (the further adventures of Captain Alatriste)
- Angelica by Arthur Phillips (another Victorian novel a la Turn of the Screw...)
- Peony in Love by Lisa See (I enjoyed her last novel)
- Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino (I "enjoyed" her last novel, too--a creepy semi-shocking crime novel)
- The Exception by Christian Jungersen (this sounds like a psychological mystery/thriller)
- The Rebels by Sandor Marai (I keep meaning to read something by him...)
- Bidding for Love by Katie Fforde (a romantic comedy)
- The Pesthouse by Jim Crace (in case you are looking for something like Cormac McCarthy's last novel, which I have yet to read still)
- The Sonnet-Lover by Carol Goodman (although I think her earlier work is her best work, I will still check this one out as I have read everything she has written).
- My French Whore by Gene Wilder (yes, that Gene Wilder, who knows it might be good)
Now. War and Peace, day 1. I guess I should go and check in with Pierre. I'm trying to figure out what all this Freemason stuff is all about.