There have been some issues regarding leaving messages here, and I believe it has been going on for some time but has gotten worse of late. I have gotten a little help from Typepad and it sounds like there is a coding problem occurring behind the scenes in the way I have my comments set up--and how they display on various browsers. I have turned off the type of commenting which allows me to respond per comment (nesting?), but that should hopefully enable everyone to leave a comment more easily. If there continue to be problems, please do let me know (literarycat@hotmail.com). I will just create one comment/response going forward, so you may need to scroll down to find a reply).
I am contemplating changing my blogging platform. Aside from needing a fresh look, and wanting to change my URL (Torres went away as my surname a long time ago), I think there must be other places I can blog that will be easier and perhaps more intuitively friendly for what I want to do these days. If you are a blogger and have any suggestions, I would love to explore the possibilities!
In search of . . . Yes, I need a grand, good, new reading distraction. I am becoming increasingly disturbed by the news and what is happening--the total lack of civility and honesty in the way things are going these days. Living in a pandemic is already challenging, but watching all the shenanigans (ad nauseam) on every channel and news outlet is becoming increasingly toxic, and I can't take anymore in.
Books and movies have long been my release and place to hide away and be part of something better and different (or maybe not better but with a happier outcome). I am very much enjoying my current stack of books, but I was thinking that maybe a novel in the fantasy genre would be a good outlet for my emotions these days. I am thinking of an alternate world perhaps, or maybe one not so unlike the one we are living in. A world ruled by darkness where there seems to be no light, but a hero (or better a heroine) comes along and must fight a battle to overcome the evil that has taken control of the world. What first came to mind is Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. I read Over Sea, Under Stone years ago and bought the second book in the quintet of books but never got around to it. So I have pulled out Over Sea... and will reread it while I try and track down where I put the second book!
As I am not a regular reader of the fantasy genre, I would appreciate suggestions. I like the Arthurian tone to the Cooper novels, but it can be anything. I do have the epic, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, but I think it might be too much to try and read it along with my other books at the moment.
I've also got some time to think about what to read for the Margaret Atwood Reading Month this coming November. I have been so out of the loop this year with the virtual reading world that there have been numerous readalongs I am sorry I missed out on, but this is one I can plan for. Maybe a reread of The Blind Assassin or one of her other earlier novels, or maybe some short stories or essays. This is the kind of planning and things I want on my mind these days!
Happy news. I finished another section of A Suitable Boy! These two sections have been more uphill going and tackling them has been an accomplishment in my reading life (silly as it sounds, but you have to appreciate these small battles, right?). One section was about a character's banishment to the countryside, and this last section taking place in part in a courtroom. There were some quite dramatic moments which pulled me in, and I will write about section 11 in the next few days. However, now I am back with Lata and her mother and sisters and am turning pages quickly and moving right along.
My other good distraction is movies! I am looking forward to some new and forthcoming films and series as well as an older movie or two. I am excited to watch Enola Holmes this weekend. You can see the trailer here. I think the film is based on YA books? But visuals have a lot to offer in this case! I am hoping to be able to stream Ammonite with Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan (another book adaptation?--already pulled my copy of Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures). We are in a weird place now with theatrical releases as some movie theaters are open, but not all. And I won't be going to the cinema anytime soon as covid cases are on the rise. But Nest looks fantastic and it seems to be in theaters only?
I'm excited about PBS's forthcoming Flesh and Blood. And yay, another season of the Great British Baking Show (how they managed to film with the pandemic is amazing). Optimistically I hope to be able to watch the film adaptation of A Suitable Boy (when I finish reading!), and I have been quietly (in the background) been reading Junichiro Tanizaki's The Makioka Sisters (so good, but an undertaking, too). I can't wait to finally watch the 1983 film adaptation.
So, the world outside might be topsy turvy but inside my own little bubble I can just let in the better things. I hope you are finding inspiration or distraction from your books and movie watching, too.