There are all sorts of things that I need to do today, but I have a feeling very few of them are going to be done as I am thisclosetofinishing Armadale. I'm afraid I won't be able to read the last 120 pages today and will have to leave it unfinished all day tomorrow until I finish work. Normally this is fine, but we're talking Wilkie Collins here. Work will be agonizing if I am left hanging. Things are starting to unravel for Lydia Gwilt, yet like a cat, she always manages to land on her feet no matter what happens to her. I'm almost afraid to know the outcome--good or bad--but I can't help but read on. So you'll have to forgive me if this is not a terribly creative post. I know I shouldn't do this, but I can't seem to avoid it. I have a running mental list of books I want to read next when I finish something on my reading pile. Sometimes the decision is dictated by library books with nearing due dates. And sometimes something just sounds really appealing. So here are the books in my current mental queue.
- Elective Affinities by Johann von Goethe -- I had thought of reading Lady Audley's Secret when I finish Armadale, but perhaps I should give Victorian sensationalist literature a tiny break? Then I was thinking I should read Mansfield Park as that is the next Austen adaptation that PBS is showing, but it is her longest novel (not sure I could squeeze it in in a week). Though I plan on reading all her works this year, I had thought of reading Sense and Sensibility next. I did see another version of MP, so I already know the story. In the end I thought Goethe sounded appealing. I have yet to read one male author this year (don't even have one going on my pile), and it sounds different than all my other books. Besides Litlove gave it a thumbs up, so Goethe it is.
- The Wicked Pavilion by Dawn Powell -- I will read one Outmoded Author yet. I have until the end of next month and Dawn Powell sounds interesting.
- People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks -- It seems this is the popular book at the moment. I'm notoriously bad about buying books in hardcover and then not reading them for years. Perhaps I can read this one before it comes out in paper. Plus it also appeals right now, too.
- Mrs Woolf and the Servants by Alison Light -- This along with Singled Out are books I borrowed through interlibrary loan, so I have to get them read by the due dates. Singled Out is excellent and I suspect the Woolf book is going to be equally as good.
- Chocolat by Joanne Harris -- I tend to read this every year about this time. I am looking forward to it, and I plan on following it up with her new one finally.
- The Roots of Evil by Sarah Rayne -- I'm wavering over which mystery to choose next as I have so many tempting ones waiting, but 1920s Vienna is at least in part the setting, and that sounds too good to pass up.
How's that for a plan? Of course I always allow myself to choose something different if my mood changes later. Sometimes it's nice having something already lined up that I know I want to read. Of course it is also nice to just choose randomly and I do that a lot as well.
Now, if you'll excuse me I need to see what Allan, Midwinter, and especially Lydia are up to.