Just one? Two? Six? An even dozen? No, don't worry, I'm not actually asking the question again--I know we've gone down this road before and the answers vary just as readers vary. Even though I may have half a dozen books started and happen to be enjoying them thoroughly, why is it that I can think of half a dozen more books that sound equally as tempting that I want to read rightnow as well? And why am I not concentrating on the book before me rather than thinking about the newest one in the pile? This is, of course, nothing new (surely you've heard me lamenting this fact if you've happened by here before), and I'm afraid I am not likely to change my ways.
I feel like there are all these great stories just screaming for attention. And so many of them are appealing. Either they are new and I am excited about reading them, or I have had them for ages and I keep looking at them longingly, or I come across them in other places--most notably via other book bloggers. So, which books are distracting me (this week)? Some are obvious since I seem to be talking about them all the time even if I am not reading them yet, and others keep showing up on my lists of books I want to read.
Victoria gave a rave review of Sarah Bower's The Needle in the Blood and then followed up this past weekend with an interview with the author. It seems like a sign that today my copy came in the mail from The Book Depository. The novel tells the story of the making of the Bayeux tapestry. One blurb calls it "a powerful tale of sex,lies and embroidery." How often do you see that combination? From the first mention of it, I knew I had to have this one. A story of an 11th century needleworker!
My interest in Katherine Mansfield has been piqued, and now I want to read her short stories as well as a biography of her. Guess what else came in the mail today (the rest of my TBD order) The Collected Stories (I'm wondering if this contains all her stories?) as well as Claire Tomalin's biography Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life. I'd love to read the biography and read the corresponding stories. (And I still want to read more about Virginia Woolf and more about Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley).
Can I mention Susan Vreeland's new book? It has been at least 24 hours since I last said something about The Luncheon of the Boating Party. Renoir, Renoir, Renoir. Don't ask me why but this makes me want to read Emile Zola's Therese Raquin (am I imagining this or did I read somewhere that Zola criticized Renoir's work?).
I came very close over the weekend to picking up and starting Wilkie Collins's Armadale. I want something juicy and mysterious. Wilkie Collins just seems to be the perfect choice. But if it is a classic I choose, I also want to pick up Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence. Like Thomas Hardy's works, I have never read any Lawrence, and I want to (though am currently rectifying the never read Hardy situation).
I want to read more of my Persephones and more of my Viragos.
Can you see why it is nearly impossible to control these book urges?! And then there are all those reading challenges...