I miss this kind of post. I miss getting boxes of books in the mail and bringing home a big sackful of books from the bookstore. I don't miss trying to find a place on my bookshelves (nonexistent these days) to put them all, however. And I am happy to see a blank page when I look at the purchases section when I am checking on my credit card account online. I know I will eventually give in and drop by the bookstore (hopefully I'll be able to set a spending limit and stick with it--and I will definitely not take my credit card with me), but until then I will just create my own little piles of books and pretend they are new. And some of these are new actually (though I will have to give them back when I am finished), as I stopped by the library last night (it's become a weekly event lately).
The next best thing to buying new books is the anticipation of reading books that have been sitting on one of those towering TBR piles. The three on the left I will be starting very soon. The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe is my R.I.P. read. I am hoping to read more than one book, but if I only read one for this challenge, this is the one I want. Doesn't this sound tempting?
"The Mysteries of Udolpho is a quintessential Gothic romance, replete with incidents of physical and psychological terror; remote, crumbling castles; seemingly supernatural events; a brooding, scheming villain; and a persecuted heroine. To this mix Radcliffe adds extensive descriptions of exotic landscapes in the Pyrenees and Apennines. Set in 1584 in southern France and northern Italy, the novel focuses on the plight of Emily St. Aubert, a young French woman who is orphaned after the death of her father." (Wikipedia)
I've decided to start with D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow for the Outmoded authors challenge. I'm so very curious about Lawrence. Many people seem to respect him, or his novels at least, but they don't seem to particularly like him. I'm wondering what my reaction will be and if I will find him hard going in terms of writing style. I guess I will find out shortly.
And of course, I will be starting Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter on Monday. I am planning on posting weekly about it (on Sundays), so if you are planning on reading too, please stop by. And if you won't be reading, I hope I don't become a bore! I'm looking forward to this. I hope I don't have expectations that are too high!
Now on the flip side of things, my other pile is rather heavily slanted towards fluff. I don't mean that badly, but I have a feeling all three of my library books are going to be very easy going, light reads. I didn't plan it out that way, but that's what was on the hold shelf for me this week. Maybe someone somewhere knows I am going to need something a bit easy as a balance to the other books I'll be reading? In any case, I have:
- The Shoe Queen by Anna Davis--This is set in Bohemian Paris.
- Austenland by Shannon Hale--I usually stay away from any sort of contemporary fiction that has some sort of Austen spin to the story, but a coworker read this and said it was fun (not overly literary, but entertaining), so I thought I might give it a try.
- The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice--The cover of this looks sort of chick-lit-ish, but I think the story is actually a bit more serious. Again a coworker read it and enjoyed it. It's set in 1950s England.
I think I'll be dipping into one of these library books this weekend and looking forward to September to start my challenge books! And there is always Kristin L. for Monday! Who needs new books...