I should be trying to do something constructive, or at least reading my short story for tomorrow, but I feel like a little bookish chitchat tonight.
- You'll never guess. I am behind in answering emails. Spending two nights trying to figure out logistics for San Francisco has thrown me off. I, by the way, found a great place to stay and after a few very promising emails back and forth have not heard back from the property owner. At the time the apartment was free, but now I am not so sure and she hasn't responded to me since I told her I want to the rental. Tell me to be patient (I like having all my plans neat and tidy).
- I bet you already know this week is Barbara Pym Reading Week? It's being hosted by Amanda at Fig and Thistle and Thomas at My Porch. I am reading, and thoroughly enjoying, Crampton Hodnet. I will share more about it this week. I'll be reading more of her work for sure! Are you reading along? Maybe you've already read her work and love her, too? And if so, which novel is your favorite?
- I am now fully six books behind in writing about them. Six of them! I know it's not required to write about all the books I read, but somehow it feels good to set a few thoughts down to have something I can look at later. It's that neat and tidy thing all over again. I could be writing about one of them right now. I love reading but the writing about books part is harder for me as I can never quite get down what I want to about a book I really like, or a book that has been really challenging.
- I had a really good reading month in May (after an abysmal one in April). I'm not, however, doing so well with books I am meant to be reading along with others or in groups. Mostly because I am so good at frittering away my time and generally dragging my feet . . . a book that sounded so good a month ago might not appeal quite so much now that it is time to read it. Does that happen to you, too?
- I should be reading Guiseppe di Lampedusa's The Leopard for The Slaves as discussion is June 8, and here it is June 1, and I've not done more than look at the book. Don't ask me why. Any other time I can't wait to start a new book.
- It started out as one pile but now has grown to two piles of books that I have "abandoned" over the last year or so. I need to fish or cut bait. Either the books get rotated into my current reading pile, or the bookmarks get removed and the books returned to their places on bookshelves for reading at a later date. Pretty soon my bedside piles are going to be higher than my bed.
- I give up on books too easily sometimes. Actually it's not a matter of giving up, but more a matter of caving in to the lure of a new book when I know I need to remain dedicated to what is already in progress. I fear my (bad) habit is so ingrained that I will never reform my ways.
- I've noticed in the last couple of days that when searching in Amazon the links lead directly to Kindle books. That's fine if you are a Kindle owner, but I have to say I am not very pleased with this new set up as I prefer paper books. I already have a love-hate relationshiip with Amazon and this may be just enought to push me over the edge to find a new place to buy my books . . .
- I'm liking Feedly, but it seems to take forever to scroll through the list of unread posts. I wish I could hit a "next" button and jump from post to post more quickly. Am I doing something wrong? How does one create one of those little hearts that you see on the top of "liked" posts? Will any of my own posts ever receive a "heart"? Just one (not even 29 like some people are popular enough to receive). Why does this matter to me I ask you? I am shallow, what can I say.
- I could be stitching right now--that would be fun AND constructive. I love stitching, so why am I doing so little of it? Because I feel like I should be writing about books here, though as you see I'm not doing that either. This sort of behavior (my own behavior) bothers me as I hate being idle or feeling as though I am not doing something constructive. It's a vicious cycle. Don't ask me how I became this way. I honestly don't know. Secretly I love being lazy (and am more lazy than I think . . . ). But I feel guilty about that. If you'll excuse me I'd better go clean out my closet. (Just kidding).
- My next Postal Book Group round is going to start July 1. I think I know which book I am going to send on its merry way, but I keep dithering over the choice. I mean this book is going to be read by a dozen or so other readers--I want it to be perfect. Decisions, decisions.
- My cat has an overactive thyroid. She has to take a pill twice day. She hates taking them, and I hate giving them to her. So we're even. Don't you wish you could train cats to do things like take pills (without a major struggle) and clean up their own hairballs. Who am I kidding . . . what sort of parallel universe do I think exists in this world?
- I have finished reading Virginia Woolf's Jacob's Room and Jane Austen's Lady Susan (need to write about them both, ahem). Both are part of my Melville House subscription. I enjoyed them both in different ways. And they put me very much in the mood to read more classics. The obvious thing is to pick up my next Meville House book, but I keep seeing visions of unread (and already read) classics float through my mind. Dilemma, what do I read next? The Hardy? Or maybe Kate Chopin or Edith Wharton or Colette, or Maugham or Forster (some of the authors who were part of that parade of books floating . . . ). This is why I have such huge bedside piles of partially finished books.
- My current Audible audio book that I am listening to, and I am almost a little embarrassed to share it--is Amanda Knox's Waiting to Be Heard. I don't usually read true crime and not something like this if I do. I will say that hearing her story does make me sympathetic to what she went through even though she did some very naive and silly things when she was in Italy. She tells her story in some detail and there is a lot of repetition of the facts of the crime. I must admit that I am wavering and am not sure I can finish listening (though surprisingly-? the book seems to have gotten good reviews from readers). It was an impulse choice and at the time it seemed like it would be engaging to listen to, and it has been to a point. I also bought Edna O'Brien's Country Girl: A Memoir, so maybe it is time to switch to that and see if it is a better fit for my mood right now. I don't know why I have such a hard time sticking with my audio books.
- It's amazing how much time you can waste by writing a bullet-point post.
- Maybe it really is time to go read my short story for tomorrow.
- Isn't that a beautiful painting above? It is a Postcrossing postcard that I received in the mail all the way from Belorussia! The artist is an Italian illustrator, Pino Daeni. I had never heard of him before, but now will be on the lookout for his work. I love Postcrossing.
- Now off to read. You can't get more constructive than that.