Do you think it is a myth that the flu shot can make you ill? I felt just fine when I got the flu shot last Friday, but all week I've been fighting fatigue and have been feeling very much under the weather. I finally broke down and called in sick today and have been trying to rest and shake off whatever I caught. Wherever I got what I have I wish it would go away, as I hate being sick.
After reading a short story by W. Somerset Maugham and then reading the many replies to my post, I have a strong desire to read something more by him. I only have a very few of his books, so I'll be adding some titles to my Christmas wishlist. I do have The Painted Veil, however. Perhaps I'll start there. I will definitely be looking for short story collections, and it appears he has several.
Can you believe next month is already Christmas. I'd rather not think about it (or the snow that will likely come with it). My sister has asked me which books I'd like to receive as gifts, though, which is nice to think about. This will take some consideration as I don't often get actual books as gifts. I do think that the stores completely overdo things by playing Christmas music the day after Halloween, but maybe that's just me?
I seem to have slowed down on my reading rather than sped up, which is why I've not had much to say this week. Lots in progress, not much finished.
I have finished listening to Laura Lippman's What the Dead Know. It was pretty good, certainly entertaining to listen to while walking. The story recounts the disappearance and probable murders of two young sisters in the late 1970s and the discovery many years later that one might still be alive but keeping her identity a secret. I thought she was an unsympathetic character, despite her tragic story, does that sound awful? I found the policeman investigating the case somewhat grating, too (he seemed like a terrible stereotype), and I wonder if I would have felt differently had I been reading rather than listening as his on again-off again New Yorker accent didn't do much for me. The twist at the end caught me entirely off guard, though.
I'm not sure yet what I'll listen to next. I'm leaning towards The Creator's Map by Emilio Calderon. It is set in 1952 Rome. "Through the eyes of a Spanish architect in Rome, the dark period surrounding the rise and fall of Fascism roars to life, as the architect, a passionate young librarian, and an Italian prince become entangled in a web of intrigue, love, and deceit involving a fateful map whose secrets are powerful enough to destroy them." I've also got some nonfiction by Dava Sobel that sounds interesting, or Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland read by Michael York, which could be fun. Or there is Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, which I am sure I would enjoy as well (as long as the reader is good). I've got a nice little selection loaded onto my MP3 player. It's too bad I can only handle listening to one book at a time.
Cornflower has chosen Margery Allingham's The Tiger in the Smoke as her next book group read (to be discussed in December). I've fallen behind in Sue Gee's The Mysteries of Glass, but I will finish it eventually. Just not in time for tomorrow's discussion. This has been a distracting (in the best way, of course...well, except not feeling well, that is) week thus far. I'm looking forward to reading Margery Allingham, as she seems like another important mystery writer that I've not yet gotten to. An excuse to read a new book is always a good thing.
And I'll end on a happy note. It's Friday! Yay. I might just be able to finish one of my "getting close to the end" books and have a short story (still yet to be decided) to look forward to. Have a nice weekend everyone.