The nice thing about taking a blogging break is knowing that I can do so and not feel as though (well not too much anyway) I'm going into withdrawal by shutting off the computer and turning my attention elsewhere. I sometimes wonder if I spend too much time on the computer, but now I know it's just fine if I don't feel like posting now and then. The world will continue to spin on it's axis and I can do something else, or maybe not do anything at all, and it will still all be here when I come back. Now last week wasn't quite the week I expected it to be (see previous post), and it had it's own weird little stresses, but it was still nice to not feel any pressure to sit down and prepare a post for the following day. The thing is I do enjoy posting daily (or almost daily), so I am happy to get back into the routine.
As usual I had a few expectations and had hoped to finish a book or two, and while I did spend more time reading, I didn't actually finish anything. And that's okay, too. I did something I told myself I wasn't going to do (but knowing my track record is anyone actually going to believe me anymore?), I started a couple of new books. I'm working in reverse it seems. Why finish reading books when it is so fun to start them? (Just kidding). I only managed to write one (and a half) posts--to follow later this week. And instead of resting more I caught a cold. So there you have it. Oh, and didn't stitch and extra stitch either.
But I did make my way through season two of the original Upstairs/Downstairs. I've become a little addicted to the show, though when I first started watching it seemed a pale comparison to the lavish and beautifully acted Downton Abbey. I had hoped to see all five seasons before seeing the remake, but it doesn't seem to matter whether you know anything about the original or not. I also had hoped to read South Riding by Winifred Holtby before it airs on PBS, but I seem to have frittered away the month of April and May 1 is quickly approaching, so that may not happen after all. I rarely watch much TV, but I have to admit there have been a number of good programs on this year.
My attention has been on several good books as well, however. I hope to finish Carol Ann Lee's The Winter of the World today. I am having very mixed feelings about this one. She's a good writer, and I like how she is telling her story, but what do you do when you aren't particularly drawn to any of the characters? Although the setting is WWI, and it is this aspect of the novel I am enjoying most, I think to really feel the story succeeds you almost have to believe in love at first sight, since that plays such a significant role in the story. But I can't decide whether it is the fault of the characters or whether my own general crankiness of late is overshadowing things. I need to finish and then ruminate on it a little. More to follow.
The books in the photo are my latest library loot. They are both interlibrary loan requests and therefore I try and make more of an effort to read them in a timely manner. I'm very much enjoying Stella Gibbons's Westwood or The General Powers, though I am not too far in yet. This is one of several books by Gibbons that Vintage UK is reissuing later this year (with those gorgeous covers). This book in particular caught my eye and as I was lamenting the fact that it isn't being published for quite some time I thought why wait when I can get it from a library (the beauty of libraries!). It is set during WWII and is about two young women--one attractive and something of a man magnet and the other plain and with no luck at all concerning the opposite sex. Gibbons is very good at characterization and I love all the bits about living in London during the war.
I've not yet started reading Slyvia Thompson's The Hounds of Spring in earnest. I wrote about her recently, and as this was her most popular novel I wanted to give it a try. I liked the sound of this one as well--a woman believes her lover is dead and marries another only to find he is still alive. This is another story with a WWI setting, so I seem to be getting my fill lately. I guess these could both be 'lost in the stacks' books--just not in my own library's stacks.
What do you do when you come across a mystery that sounds really interesting, but it isn't published in the US, no American libraries own it, and you can't afford to buy a hardcover from the UK? Where there is a will there is a way! I discovered (and I have noticed this in a few cases) that Amazon is selling the book but only a Kindle version! If you are me, you cave in and read it on a Kindle. The library where I work has a number of Kindles for patron use and they will download any book as long as it is inexpensive.
So, I am reading Death on a Galician Shore by Domingo Villar on a Kindle. I'm very much enjoying it (and if you click through the link you can see the striking cover that first caught my eye). It is set in Galicia, Spain and concerns a murdered man who had been involved in a shipwreck many years previously. One man drowned in the shipwreck and you wonder how the two events are connected. Surely the drowned man is not returning to claim the survivors? I only wish I had read the previous book in this series, but I am going to try and find a copy and do so after the fact. By the way reading on a Kindle has been an interesting experience as I have gotten used to my Nook. The Kindle is a first generation model and while I am envious that the battery has such a long life, I don't like the page turning mechanisms. I think the problem is the library's Kindles have been so heavily used you barely need to touch the edges for the pages to turn. I constantly find myself having to flip backwards. And there are no page numbers, which also drives me crazy.
Given the chance I will always choose a book over an ebook, but if reading a book in an electronic format is the only way I can do so (otherwise I will have to wait patiently, and books and me and patience---well, never the twain shall meet if you know what I mean), I will grab my Nook and read happily away. So I have also been working on The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller (due to be published in the US July 5). Yet another WWI mystery, but Speller tells such a good story and I am completely taken with Laurence Bertram, the main character, that I don't want to put the book down. Sadly I seem to be an even slower ebook reader than I am a regular book reader. I think I am going to break down and buy the UK version when the second book comes out!
I'm actually dabbling in a few other books, but I'll save them for another day as my post has gotten very long. That's what happens when I take a few days off--I can't wait to get back and share all my book news at once. Now I think I'm going to go find my copy of South Riding and see if there is any chance I can read it before May 1.
By the way, for those who celebrate have a lovely Easter!