I've not been feeling terribly inspired lately. I feel like I'm not really accomplishing much, though I've been reading lots. It's my own fault for reading so many books at once. I never quite know what to post about, since I've got such a variety of things floating around in my head. I don't like to talk too much about a book (a novel at least) until I finish it, but I'm not finishing anything at all these days. Perhaps a day or afternoon off soon is what's needed (so I can just sit and read). And I need to choose one book to concentrate on this weekend. Why does finishing a good book feel so satisfying? Not that the reading process isn't just as satisfying. I guess it's nice to work through an entire story and know how things turn out, though.
Since my thoughts have been wandering lately, today is just going to be a bit of a mishmash of things. I'm finally seriously looking at computers now. I've decided to buy a Dell. I've heard good things about them, and they are also what my university buys. And a determining factor--since I am a university employee I can get a discount. Always a good thing to save money. My HP Pavilion is dying a slow and agonizing death. I don't think I can watch it suffer much longer. It's slow, and my internet connection keeps failing. It has all sort of bugs. It's really not a pretty picture. I'm just trying to figure out what model I want and what configuration I need. I'm only dreading the switchover. So much software is going to need to be reloaded and all my files transferred. It'll be worth it, though. I can't even watch a news video or movie trailer on my computer, it's so old. I hate to think it has become such a necessity, but I've really become quite dependent on it.
I've been very bad about buying books lately. Ordering books to be precise. I've decided I want to fill out my collection of Elizabeth Taylor's works. Some are readily available through Virago Press, but many are out of print. It's probably silly, but I think some older Virago titles are getting rather scarce, and I want to get them while I can still find inexpensive copies. I don't want to pay an outrageous amount of money for older paperbacks. So, I've ordered five of her novels, but I can't find two short story collections. Virago has just published one of her older, out-of-print novels, which I'm planning on buying eventually. And then it will be time for an Elizabeth Taylor reading fest! Do you know, as much as I love Virago, I never look at any of their new books (only those lovely bottle green cover editions). I guess I see so many of their books are by authors like Margaret Atwood and Willa Cather and Edith Wharton--books I can already get so easily here--that I've been pretty dismissive of current authors. I was looking at some of their unknown-to-me authors, and many of them look really interesting...This could be dangerous.
My recent new book purchases:
The Dead Secret - Because you really can never own enough books by Wilkie Collins. I've already decided that when I finish Lady Audley's Secret, I'm going to read one of his novels. He's another author whose novels that are still in print I am trying to collect.
A Sicilian Romance, Ann Radcliffe - "This early novel explores the cavernous landscapes and labyrinthine
passages of Sicily's castles and convents to reveal the shameful secrets of its all-powerful aristocracy."
A Foreign Affair, Caro Peacock - A Victorian setting, a heroine called Liberty Lane, a little mystery...what's not to like. Thanks to Tara for the heads up on this one! It sounds like something I'd enjoy.
Chez Moi, Agnes Desarthe - A contemporary French novel translated into English! "At forty-three, Myriam has been a wife, mother, and lover—but never a restaurateur. When she opens Chez Moi in a quiet neighborhood in Paris, she has no idea how to run a business, but armed only with her love of cooking, she is determined to try. Barely able to pay the rent, Myriam secretly sleeps in the dining room and bathes in the kitchen sink, while struggling to come to terms with the painful memories of her past. But soon enough her delectable cuisine brings her many neighbors to Chez Moi, and Myriam finds that she may get a second chance at life and love. Redolent with the sights, smells, and tastes of Paris." I could use a little Paris right now.
I should mention a couple of books I just picked up from the library, too:
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective, Kate Summerscale - This sounds good! "The Victorians made a romance of detection. In a newly uncertain world, a detective seemed to offer science, conviction, stories that could organise chaos. He turned brutal crimes—the vestiges of the beast in man—into intellectual puzzles. He was a secular substitute for a prophet or a priest. Yet the Victorians also made a fetish of privacy, and many felt that the investigation at Road Hill amounted to a violation of the middle-class home. Mr Whicher exposed the corruptions within the household: sexual transgression, emotional cruelty, scheming servants, wayward children, insanity, jealousy, loneliness and loathing. The scene he uncovered aroused fear (and excitement) at the thought of what might be hiding behind the closed doors of other respectable houses. His conclusions helped to create an era of voyeurism and suspicion, in which the detective was a shadowy figure, a demon as well as a demigod." Apparently this case inspired Wilkie Collins to write The Moonstone. I've already cleared away my pile of nonfiction reads temporarily as I know I want to read this. There's a line of 16 people waiting for the book, so no renewals!
The Gentle Art of Domesticity, Jane Brocket - I read about this book last Fall when it came out in the UK. I had no idea that my library had copies of it, but I happened upon it and requested it. It's being published here later in the year. It's a lovely book--in the vein of Martha Stewart's books, but more laid back and homey (perhaps not quite so perfect). She even features books published by Persephone Books and Virago Press. Paging through it makes me want to bake and knit and quilt, and be generally domestic. Well, maybe just read about it anyway.