Isn't it curious that when I am at work I can only think longingly how much I wish I was at home and curled up in my comfy rocker with a book in hand certain that I would wile away an entire afternoon reading. And thinking of or doing anything else? But in reality that when I am at home I feel that I need to 'earn' that pleasure by being in some way industrious first. And I manage to fritter away hours that might otherwise be spent with my books. It's a mystery to me, but three days back at work and guess what I am feeling right now?! That, and I am finding that even though I was industrious on my vacation that a mere three days has left me completely wiped out, so an easy mishmash of things tonight.
I am determined this year to keep better track of my reading through my handy little notebooks as well as through my Excel spreadsheet (I was lazy about it last year and paid at the very end when I had to fill in nearly ten months of reading in one night). I have also got a couple of books I want to share with you, but alas, that won't happen tonight.
Next week the students will return to campus, so I am enjoying the peacefulness in the library where I work, though I do not lack work. I have lots of orders to catch up with and why is it that faculty can be such procrastinators when it comes to making sure the materials they need for classes are requested in a timely manner (and not, ahem, the week before classes begin?)? I won't complain too much, however, since I will happily be attending another yoga class. It is Yoga II and I am greatly looking forward to getting back t to it! My yoga teacher is actually offering a meditation class which I would love to take, but it happens to be in the morning when it would be hard to get away, so I will content myself with yoga on Thursday nights for the next sixteen weeks. I may not be posting on Fridays this spring as I try and write posts a day in advance.
Even if I can't take a meditation class, I can across an interesting looking book, which I will watch for (after my book buying moratorium, of course), Meditations on Intention and Being: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga, Mindfulness, and Compassion by Rolf Gates. I wish I could say my industriousness over vacation extended to doing yoga every day, but I seem to do much better in a classroom setting with an instructor.
Do you remember that I was hoping to find a good romantic read this year? I think I have a good contender already. I have been reading a holdover novel from last year, Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson. It's set in France during WWI and has a Downton Abbey-ish feel to it. It's an easy read and quite sweet in its way, but not in a sentimental way--more in a satisfying 'you know you are likely to have a happy outcome' sort of way. And I am finding it is easier dealing with the gloom and cold of January when I have something undemanding like this to reach for. It keeps me quite entertained on my lunch break. Nothing like a good escapist read to help take me away from work day even if for only a short while.
For something a little more 'substantial' I must say I am finding the Antonia Fraser memoir hugely engaging. She has had such an interesting life and her writing is really good. Why do I equate History (though I realize it is a memoir, she is a historian and so you know . . .) with dry academic writing? She can be quite funny at times and while traditionally biographies like to dip back into the family history of the subject (and I find that sort of boring in many cases--am always ready to just get on with the main event, if you know what I mean), I don't mind it at all with her book. As a matter of fact I am enjoying all the little family anecdotes. Both parents wrote memoirs as well, and I might even be inspired to look for them. I'm thinking I may indeed binge this year on nonfiction (a welcome thing since the last few years seem to have been famine years when it comes to nonfiction) and have mentally queued up my next two nonfiction reads.
Is anyone watching the Amazon series, The Man in the High Castle, based on Philip K. Dick's novel? I am very tempted by it and can stream it for free but I have not yet started watching. I do like alternate history stories and have heard good things about the series. The latest NYRB magazine has an article I've earmarked to read, and Wired Magazine also has an article (it sounds as though, unsurprisingly, the adaptation does not follow the book too closely) and a podcast I will be listening to.
One last link to leave you with today. I wish I knew how to knit--aren't these fun?!