When it comes to books I am of the glass half full persuasion (perhaps not always in other aspects of my life, but books most decidedly). My eyes are always too big for my stomach, but that never stops me from from jumping right in and (trying to read) all the books I want to and with gusto.
To that end I have a little mental list of books I want to tackle in May. April wasn't such a good month for finishing books, but being so close to the end in a stack of books already underway, I'm hoping May will be much more 'productive'.
I'm hoping to make some progress with my subscription books. I am reading Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf along with Stefanie, and am trailing behind her with Renate Adler's book (am actually doing much better with the Adler and will share more on that one soon).
My friend Cath and I are going to read Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea this month. I have long wanted to read some of Lindbergh's work (have a few of her diaries on hand as well).
"In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea."
Doesn't that sound lovely? The perfect May read as we get closer to summer and I fantasize about a real vacation by the sea.
Buried in Print and I have been toying with the idea of reading a nice, long book together. The thing about reading a book jointly, especially one epic in length, is being able to encourage each other to keep going and chat about it along the way. After much discussion and lots of ideas I think we're going to read Charles Palliser's The Quincunx--well, begin it this month anyway. There is the added benefit of it being a book I have long owned so I can feel good about reading from my own shelves.
"First novelist Palliser combines an eye for social detail and vivid descriptions of the dark side of 19th-century London with a gift for intricate plotting and sinister character development reminiscent of 19th-century novels. He weaves a complicated tale of a codacil containing a crucial entail, the possible existence of a second will, and a multiplicity of characters--all mysteriously related--seeking to establish their claims to a vast and ancient estate."
Sounds quite entertaining, don't you think?
I think I already mentioned that Anna Funder's All That I Am is the next Literature and War Readalong book, and it already sits next to my bed, though I won't start it for a bit yet.
Lots of good books for May as you can see. I suspect there will be other drop-ins along the way, but otherwise I'll be kept quite busy I think.