So, the Virago Reading Week is finally here. Rachel at Book Snob and Carolyn at A Few of My Favourite Books have kindly organized the readalong. You can see a list of Virago authors here and a list of the books in series order here (all 550+ of them!). From my initial very large pile of choices, I've whittled things down to four (with a few minor changes along the way). I realize four is probably an ambitious number of books to choose to read this week, but I've neglected my Virago collection for too long and want to immerse myself in them for a few days. I don't expect to finish all four this week, and that's okay as I want to continue reading them throughout the year. I plan on posting this week on my reading, which will be almost exclusively about these four books, though my posts will likely only be more along the lines of progress reports. Perhaps by the end of the week I'll have a couple reviews to share, however. Here's my reading lineup for the week:
I couldn't wait to start E.M. Delafield's Thank Heavens Fasting, so I have already shared a little teaser with you. This is one I should definitely be writing about later this week.
Elizabeth Von Arnim's The Enchanted April is one of my favorite reads. It's also a lovely comfort read that is particularly nice to revisit when winter seems to drag on and on. I also enjoyed Elizabeth and Her German Garden, so it seems fitting that I should also read The Solitary Summer next.
Elizabeth Taylor is another author I rank amongst my favorites. She deserves to be better known and more widely read. My most recent foray into her work was last year when I read Angel, which was a fascinating character study--I found Angel infuriating and provoking, but in the able hands of Elizabeth Taylor--complex and very human as well. Since I seem to be trying to get out of my winter funk A View of the Harbour with its coastal setting caught my eye.
And then we have Molly Keane. My introduction to her came a few years ago when I read Two Days in Aragon, which I thought was really brilliant. I didn't write about it as the book was one I read for my postal reading group (and didn't want to give the surprise away to other postal group members). I decided there and then I needed to read all her work and in order that it was published. So here I am at novel number three, Taking Chances, which sat on my night stand all last year unread. Why not crack it open finally and read it this week? I'm hoping this will jump start my little reading project and I can make some progress on it this year.
I've been looking forward to this and will enjoy hearing about what everyone else is reading this week. Has anyone else been tempted by this readalong and which book(s) have you chosen to read?