If things look a little different here, it's because Typepad has changed "platforms" and I was migrated to the new one last night. Right now it is very, very strange to work in. I think it's going to take some getting used to on my end, as I had no idea this was coming. I guess I really should read the Typepad blog more often? Are there other Typepad subscribers out there who have already been switched? And does it make more sense as you use it?
Anyway, on to bookish business. I belong to several discussion groups in Library Thing, including a Virago Modern Classics group. I tend to be more of a lurker than anything else, but I was contacted about a Secret Santa sort of opportunity a few weeks ago. I was very tempted to join in, but in the end I decided to sit this one out. Now I am feeling a little regretful as there are all sort of fun discussion threads about the exchange.
I've not picked up a new Virago since I finished Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann. My intentions are good, but my current reads pile is a little too large still. Not that that stops me from thinking about what I would like to read eventually. Actually what I was mostly contemplating was the fact that I really wish I had a bookscase to devote just to my Viragos and Persephones, but I can't imagine where I would put it. Or I could reorganize the bookcases I already have, but that's a job for when I have time off from work. They just look so undignified in their current unwieldy piles.
Feeling a little disappointed that I am not part of the Secret Santa fun, instead I have thought perhaps it is time to a purchase a few new (well, used actually) Viragos. The thing with buying "unknown" Viragos is you never really know what you're getting unless you happen to be familiar with an author and their work. Often I will order a title on the assumption that I will like whatever I order (whether I know anything about the book or not). This time around I am trying to be more practical about my order. LT has become a great resource to find descriptions of the books. Since many of them are long out of print I usually can't find more than a title on Amazon, let alone anything about the contents. In many cases the LT catalog record now includes not only those blurbs, but also reviews as well. I now have a list to choose from and am confident I will be ordering books I will really be interested in reading. However, is anyone familiar with either Nina Bawden or Ellen Glasgow's work? Both sound like authors I might like, but I'm just not quite sure and both are represented very well on the Virago list.
There were actually other book notes that I was going to share today, but as I didn't bother to make any notes to myself today, and I am feeling totally disoriented by Typepad's changes (subtle though some may be), I think I will save the rest of my news for tomorrow.
Oh, and if you were wondering what Virago I was thinking about reading, well, I'm split. When I mentioned a while back that I really want to read Sarah Waters' Affinity a reader suggested I choose that for my next Virago book, and I thought what a great idea--killing two birds with one stone sort of thing. However, I have a US edition, which is not published by Virago, so I guess that doesn't really count. No, to my way of thinking it means I get to read not only Affinity but a Virago I own (see how my mind works?). So instead I have pulled out Molly Keane's The Rising Tide. I've wondered about her work for a long time. Both books are still in the "in anticipation" stage, however, as I've already got my work cut out for me.