Just a few odds and ends today. Last night I spent practically my whole after-dinner free time (when I normally try and catch up on blogging or emails or online reading) searching for a book I knew I owned and decided that I really had to have now, which all things considered makes me feel just a little OCD when it comes to books. (Me? No, never. Right).
See, PBS is going to air The Durrells in Corfu in just a few weeks and if you look at the preview it looks both charming and very humorous. I can't wait to watch it, but as it is adapted from a book (a series of memoirs actually) I have to try and read the book (the first of three) first. I knew I had ordered Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals not too very long ago. I can't remember now if I ordered it in anticipation of the film or someone recommended it to me, but I could picture the cover and the general place it was last seen in my book room. Famous last words. Well, it more or less was where I thought it was but you know how it goes . . . you look so hard for something you don't quite see it and then it isn't exactly the place you expect it to be. But the good news is, I found it. The bad news is there was then no time to do anything else last night. So just a brief teaser, as the book appears to be as delightful as that preview!
Here's how it starts:
"July had been blown out like a candle by a biting wind that ushered in a leaden August sky. A sharp, stinging drizzle fell, billowing into opaque grey sheets when the wind caught it. Along the Bournemouth sea-front the beach huts turned blank wooden faces towards a greeny-grey, froth-chained sea that leaped eagerly at the cement bulwark of the shore. The gulls had been tumbled inland over the town, whining peevishly. It was the sort of weather calculated to try anyone's endurance."
And then the suggestion is made by the eldest son: why are we here being miserable when we could be in say, Corfu! You will be hearing more about them and their adventures.
That night table. Ahem. Yes. So, it's had a bit of a reshuffle. Some books went back to the shelves for later consumption. Some have simply gone to the pile of 'I really still do want to read you and am not quite ready to put you back, but you have to wait while I finish some other books first' pile. You know. That Pile. Don't you have one, too? No, no need to answer that one. I know I am a little (but not entirely) peculiar in my book habits. And that's okay. My sidebar more or less reflects the books I am focusing on, and more, I have pulled four (four seems a reasonable number to me) books from that list of books that I will concentrate one. As I finish a book I will pull another from that set aside pile (or maybe start something new . . . no need to restrict myself now). We'll see how it goes. As long as it is not stressing me out one way or another, it's all good.
I do have a few other fun bookish links to share that I came across today, too.
What is it with all these condos. It is happening here where I live, too. This just seems a real pity to me!
Here's a bucket list I could get behind pursuing. If only. I would happily have a cup of coffee and some sweet treat while reading whatever good book is in hand. And imagine the views. Well, wishful thinking and I can dream anyway.
I know I talk a lot about reinventing myself. It's not something that can happen over night and just is a constant theme in my life. Indeed--a work in progress. Maybe I can get some inspiration from this book list?
Reading about this book (and movie) that has fallen into obscurity after winning the Pulitzer makes me want to read it and see what we are missing. This happens an awful lot, doesn't it?
And this sounds right up my alley, and maybe it will help kick start my short story reading which has lapsed just a little bit lately. A Season of Short Stories. Yay. I've signed up. Will anyone join me?