Hello all, I've been very remiss in posting this month. I have been thinking of all the bookishness I would like to share but finding myself short of time (or too tired) when I am not at work.
My library is in the process of migrating from one ILS (integrated library system--our online catalog and all the support software that is how we function on the back end) to a new one that involves not only my university campus but all campuses that are part of the Nebraska system. It has been in the works for so long and all of a sudden the actual dates of migrating and going live are quick approaching. Moving to a new system, trying to understand how it works all while still working in the old system. Ah, and nothing like learning it via zoom (when the world becomes a little more normal I hope to never take part in another zoom session if I can help it!).
It's a bit of a sorry excuse, but at the end of the day there are always several things on my mental list that I want to do but then think . . . I swear I am going to do this tomorrow. So, just a few notes of what I have been up to and then soon to share real posts in the coming days.
The last time I posted I was thinking of what my new monthly prompt would be. I picked one and started to read only to discover it was just not quite the book to match my mood. I have picked up The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama and am quite enjoying it. It is a gentle story set just before WWII about a young Chinese man who is recuperating from an illness in Japan. Yes, there is a garden, more than one, and the seaside. Why is it that gardening is so recuperative? I have read this author before many years ago and am happy to revisit her work.
Lately I find myself wanting to reach more often for books long on my shelves--redisoveries or rediscovering authors I have not thought of for far too long. That said, my constant complaint (and why should I be so greedy, but you know how it goes), I am still moving at a snail's pace with my reading. I feel like there is one me on one shoulder and another on the other. One says, slow and steady and don't worry, and don't get caught up in the desire for more. The other says, look at that stack of books, I want to start that one now (even without having finished one). What's another new book, who is looking anyway?! But then I go to Goodreads and see how many books behind in my reading challenge I am (and November is so near), that I have, three times now, reduced the number of books I hope to read. I finally finished one yesterday, only to find I was three books behind (now two). The eternal internal struggle over my reading . . .
I get to think of my next reading prompt, though. I think I shall be finishing the Tsukiyama novel this weekend, so expect a new list early next week (I am already considering which books will be in that stack). I am already contemplating changing my next year prompt reading. Rather than a theme for each month, something a little different. I'm just thinking now so will share later. Maye a change will be a nice inspiration.
I have pulled a couple of books by Margaret Atwood to read for her Margaret Atwood Reading Month. It has been quite a long time since I had read any of her books--other than A Handmaid's Tale, which I reread this year for the nth time. To be on the safe side I think I will read one of her shorter novels. I have read several books several times, but her earliest novels I am very hazy about (whether I really read them or did not and just think I did). I guess those unknowns are fair game for choosing now (and considering them a new read).
And I was happy to see that Caroline's German Literature Month is on again this year. I have also been very remiss in connecting up with my online reading friends (for which I apologize to you all profusely), so I fear I have missed out on a lot of really good bookishness. I have a little stack of books translated from German (and admit I have also ordered a couple of books that piqued my curiosity). As soon as those books arrive I will share the stack, though I am going to again rein in my enthusiasm and try to realistically just choose one.
I have been (in keeping with this year's theme) Very Bad about not reading my NYRBs as they arrive. Not even making an effort to pretend I am keeping up. Do I dare renew my subscription? I was looking at their website and at their forthcoming books and too many look appealing. There is the idea of 'maybe I need a treat--a little self care' and should allow myself that monthly new book (shh-on the knowledge that that is not the only book that comes through my front door). And then there are all those library books. I do go over my holds list, however, and I cancel books that I might otherwise have taken home and just perused. Now with the quarantining of library books for a full week at a minimum, when they are checked in by a patron--I fear too many books sitting and waiting, which will just gum up my account.
Such a weird world we are living in. My current mystery novel is An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd. This is one of the Nurse Bess Crawford novels set during WWI. In this instalment the Spanish Flu serves as part of the mystery. It has been sort of interesting to read about the epidemic, if only peripherally, considering our own circumstances.
I have a number of other books in progress and several newish galley copies that I want to give a shout out for. Those to follow soon. New library books to share and a few new purchases. When I am not reading or worrying about work I have been watching lots and lots of old movies on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). I like that there are no outside ads on that channel (no more political ads, please) and it is a gentle kind of distraction.
I am well and hope you and your families are the same. I hope you have had a chance to go out and safely vote, or plan to in the coming days. And I hope you are happily immersed in a very good book!