Once again the month is speeding to a close. I alternately want to speed things up--during the work week, and slow things down--weekends and when yet another month passes. There must be a happy medium but I have yet to figure it out. I had a stack of books that I wanted to work on this month. I've finished two of them, am nearing the end of another and now have my lovely Viragos to concentrate on next week. Actually I have my Viragos and Tove Jansson's book for the Slaves to read. Since it is snowy and cold out I think I will particularly relish the Jansson book. It begins:
"It was an early, very warm morning in July, and it had rained during the night. The bare granite steamed, the moss and crevices were drenched with moisture, and all the colors everywhere had deepened. Below the veranda, the vegetation in the morning shade was like a rain forest of lush, evil leaves and flowers, which she had to be careful not to break as she searched. She held one hand in front of her mouth and was constantly afraid of losing her balance."
I like the sound of lushness and colorful vegetation and July sunshine. Well, if I can't see it outside my window at the moment I can at least read about it in a book.
As for the Viragos, I've made a few changes in my reading line up (as predicted). I'll warn you now, I plan on going overboard. I can't quite narrow my choices down to one or two, so I have a few at the ready. I'm already reading and thoroughly enjoying E.M. Delafield's Thank Heaven Fasting by the way. But more about my Viragos next week.
In case you're curious I've decided to read Rebecca Connell's The Art of Losing Next. They all sound good and I'll get to them all sooner or later, but the Connell looks like a nice quick read and so far I've had very good luck with Europa Editions authors. Also one of the blurbs calls it "both a thriller and an emotional portrait of the long-term repercussions of infidelity", which caught my eye. I love thrillers and something along those lines very much appeals to me right now.
One other side note. Recently Dorothy W. wrote about her experience reading a book on her iPhone and eReaders in general. I've been pretty staunch about sticking with paper books, but I do admit to being curious about eReaders as supplementary to my lovely book piles. I think I'd only use an eReader for freebie books--library eBooks or Project Gutenberg titles. I also finally checked out Netgalley, which Dorothy mentioned. I'd come across it before but as I don't own a device to read them on, I hadn't spent much time looking around. I admit I have downloaded a couple of titles, which I can read on my computer, though I'm not sure how it will work out.
Reading on a desktop computer for long periods of time, even with Adobe Digital Editions (which is pretty slick really--much nicer than reading directly from Project Gutenberg), doesn't sound all that fun. There's nothing like being able to snuggle up under the covers in bed with a book, which is not something you can do with a computer! So this has me thinking of whether I'd really use an eReader if I had one--enough to make it worth the cost anyway. If I bought one, it would be the Nook Color (so I guess I have thought about it a little). I like the idea of being connected to the internet and being able to read magazines and having a color screen. I know I wouldn't take something like this to the gym and maybe not on the bus. I'm afraid it is the novelty of the thing that draws me to it. So I'm curious--does anyone have a Nook or Nook Color? And what are your experiences with it, if so.