I have more reading to do this weekend than I have hours in which to do it. And then there are the other extracurricular activities that always fill up the hours, too. Some of it really nice--like going our annual Summer Arts Festival, and the Saturday morning Farmer's Market, maybe seeing a movie and taking a nice long walk. And then there are the chores that are not so nice--laundry, grocery shopping, ironing next week's work clothes (though as weird as it sounds I sort of like ironing as long as there is not too much and I can watch a movie while doing it).
This weekend's Francis Wyndham short story is actually a novella. While only 90 pages, I am not a fast reader at the best of times and I have a feeling I won't finish the whole story by Sunday afternoon. The novella is called "Ursula" and there is a return of some recently met characters:
"It was not long after Jack's death that I appeared in print for the first time."
I'd say our returning narrator must be somewhat autobiographical, and of course I just met Jack last weekend. This makes me want to keep reading the stories in order, but I might jump ahead to the next story and come back to the novella.
My New Yorker (June 8 & 15) arrived today and it's time already for the summer fiction issue! The theme is "Secret Histories" which sounds like it could be all sorts of fun. The author lineup: Zadie Smith, Jonathan Safran Foer, Anthony Lane, Primo Levi, Jonathan Franzen, Nicola Lo Calzo, Karen Russell, Louise Erdrich, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Rebecca Curtis, Thomas McGaune and Sam Lipsyte. Quite an illustrious list of authors to choose from. Where to start!
Of course I have all sorts of really good books in progress to choose from if that isn't enough. And I have added Henry James to my pile in the last couple of days. I am finally reading The Portrait of a Lady, which I have looked at on many an occasion, but not been daring enough to pick up and begin reading in earnest. How silly is that? Henry James has always intimidated me just a little bit, but other than being very descriptive, and yes, those long, long, long sentences--I am quite enjoying myself so far. Isabel Archer is an intriguing heroine--and an independent one as well. I am suddenly having fantasies of reading my way through his whole oeuvre.
And then do you see that lovely journal peeking out above? It is an impulse buy=-I was browsing and came across Barbara Bash's True Nature: An Illustrated Journal of Four Seasons in Solitude. It is as lovely as it sounds. Maybe more illustrations than text, but I do hope there is something there of substance, too. Solitude is a theme in my life now, so expect to hear more about that and this book later.
And there are a few online places I am hoping to visit, too. I was just introduced to Book Riot. Do you know it? If not, be careful as there is lots and lots to explore there. And then related to that is the Book Riot quarterly subscription. It involves books. Yeah, be careful of that, too.
I just discovered that some of the CWA Dagger shortlists were announced mid-May. I've not yet had a chance to go through those lists and see what they look like now after being whittled down to just a few. I always get reading ideas from those lists.
It's been quieter here lately than usual (and even on a good day it is still pretty quiet), but with so much going on with the arrival of summer, I am not surprised. Even I am not spending much time here these days. I know I say this often, but I am thinking of posting a little less every week and spending more time doing other things (like I mentioned above) and maybe even reading more (since my reading desires never seem to slow down no matter what time of year it is). Now wouldn't that be nice?
Wherever your weekend plans take you, I hope they are enjoyable. And hopefully a book or two will be involved as well!