For a good solid week I was lost in the world of Harry Potter. First trying to catch up by reading book 6 and then sucked into the last book to see how things finally ended. Whenever I get so involved in a fictional world like that it can be sort of hard trying to orient myself again in my reading.
There are books I definitely need to be reading--a few advance reader's editions and the next Slave book primarily. I had planned to choose a book from my new list, but then I thought I had better pay attention to some other books first. Of course in the end I did break down and choose a book from the list. I decided on one that looks light and easy and entertaining (and is also not terribly long)--Barbara Pym's Excellent Women. I am literally just starting it, but I get the feeling I am going to like Mildred Lathbury a lot. This is called a comic novel, so it sounds just perfect after the heaviness of the last HP book.
I also finally have gotten around to picking up the next Slaves book, Elizabeth Hardwick's Sleepless Nights. I am not sure what to think yet, but it is too early to tell. It is not the usual sort of novel I am used to. It rather meanders. I think it must be set in the 50s. The book blurb (via Barnes and Noble as my copy is a jacketless library hardcover with absolutely no description) says: "Intelligent, lyrical, and partly autobiographical, Sleepless Nights is a scrapbook of memories: the first pangs of sexual longing, Billie Holiday holding forth in a cheap hotel, and the swagger and heartbreak of New York City." I like the idea of "scrapbook of memories" as that is what it feels like! More on this one later. Even if I am a bit lost in the story, the prose is lovely.
I also am getting back into P.D. James's Devices and Desires, as I was enjoying it when I left off a week ago. At the moment the scene is being set and I am trying to get a handle on what Dalgliesh is like. I wish I could be somewhere along the Norfolk coast in a cottage, though I could do without a serial killer! I like P.D. James's writing style and find myself very often wanting to grab this book to find out what happens.
I am also dipping into two of my AREs--Mademoiselle Victorine by Debra Finerman (is it possible to enjoy a book yet dislike the main character? --will have to see how this one goes), and Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (have just met a very young Rumi, the main character, who is gifted in mathematics). I will need to settle down with one (or two) of these books very soon, but I couldn't decide. Sometimes it is nice to get a little taste of different plots after one story has gotten all my attention for a while.