Ah. It's finally here. The anticipation is over (as are those last two difficult days at work) and now stretched out ahead of me I have five days to myself (more or less). I always have a bigger eyes than a stomach to contain what I want, but that won't stop me from thinking about all the reading possibilities ahead of me.
In catching up with comments I have mentally added (thanks to conversations with other readers . . . ) Daphne du Maurier, Elizabeth Taylor (okay so that one came along with no help from anyone else), one of the Matthew Shardlake mysteries by C.J. Sansom (or some other book or mystery set in Medieval times--or thereabouts) to my list of books I feel like dipping into. I will try and refrain from adding more books to my pile, but it is still nice to think about, and then, you never know . . .
But for a more practical reading plan this weekend I *am* going to finish Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd. I must say that I have had quite a variety of emotional responses to Bathsheba, Sgt. Troy (oh, especially him), poor Gabriel Oak and silly Boldwood. You know, I am never quite sure about Hardy. I want to love him. I always look at the books by him I own and think I really must read more of them, but then when I read him I have such conflicting feelings about him. Well, maybe I can work through some of those soon, as I am hoping to finally write about the book in the coming week or so.
Now, you know what happens next? I know I should say I will quietly move on and pick up another half finished book from my pile, but you know what I want to do, right? It's time to think of a new classic to read--because I want and need to read more classic literature. So, what am I really in the mood for? I have been leaning towards Charles Dickens. Specifically A Tale of Two Cities. Then again, I sometimes have the same response to Dickens as I do Hardy. Maybe it's time to get back to the Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy (I have the whole set of books, but I think I was only on the second one)? What classic have you read lately? I want something really good, really absorbing. Will have to go and scan my bookcase I think.
I'm also hoping to finish reading Ron Leshem's Beaufort, which I have been reading for my class (was interrupted by another class book which I just finished--whew--lots of good reading for my class and am almost caught up with it). It is a soldier's story about the final days of the Israel/Lebanon conflict of the late 1990s. It is really well done and has a very engaging narrator, but war stories always slow me down.
Of course I will make a little progress on Elizabeth Jane Howard's Marking Time (stately progress is okay--progress being the word here), and finally (after carrying it around with me for a few days) starting C.J. Sansom's Dominion. I have been wanting to start it for so long, I do hope I fall into the story as easily as I have hoped and expected.
And one more. I will be picking up Jacqueline Winspear's The Care and Management of Lies from the library today. I have been in line for it for ages now. I hope the moment of wanting to read the novel has not passed (that is a common problem with me and library books--waiting so long to get something popular that the moment passes--does that happen to you, too?). Oh, and thanks to Linda for the reminder that there is a new Maisie Dobbs novel soon to be published (March 17, 2015 to be specific). It is called A Dangerous Place and here is a little description:
"Four years after she set sail from England, leaving everything she most loved behind, Maisie Dobbs at last returns, only to find herself in a dangerous place . . . "
"In Jacqueline Winspear‘s powerful story of political intrigue and personal tragedy, a brutal murder in the British garrison town of Gilbraltar leads Maisie into a web of lies, deceit, and peril."
It is set in Spring of 1937. Something to look forward to!
I'm also off to see the new Conservatory at the Lauritzen Gardens this afternoon. Members get to see a little preview of their annual holiday Poinsettia Exhibit (and there will be festive treats I hear). I hope to share photos in the next day or so.
But now I am off. To stop by my favorite used bookstore (in search of books by Karen Armstrong) and then to the library and later to read!
For those celebrating the holiday tomorrow, have a lovely Thanksgiving. And I hope everyone else has a great weekend! And many happy hours of reading, too, everyone!