Summer reading. To plan or not to plan. I seem to be on the 'lazy reader' plan when it comes to reading these days. I am (barely) keeping up with my Goodreads reading goal, for what that's worth. Mostly I am grazing and my reading is mostly haphazard. I wonder if I would be happier to either A) Just read at whim and graze to my heart's content (the result being my reading continues to go all over the place and I start more books than I finish) or B) Try and get back into (or just start) a reading routine that focuses on just a very Reasonable number of books in progress at one time (the result hopefully being that I finish books in a more timely manner).
My reading roadblocks? Good question.
- A disrupted life thanks to the last couple of years (how long can I use that as a reason for my scatterbrain approach to reading and a lack of engaging with my online reading friends).
- I am now in a couple of in person reading groups where I am reading books I likely would not ordinarily have chosen. This is good and maybe a little bad. Good to try new books and read outside my comfort zone. Bad when you are a slow reader and are spending time with a book you might not otherwise not have chosen. Good as it means engaging with other local readers and being part of a reading/social group and widening horizons.
- Being generally lazy, interested in too many things and attempting to tackle them all at once. Or maybe not lazy but too interested and maybe having too short an attention span.
- Maybe not enough free time to accomplish all the things I want yet not having a goal in mind and a way to achieve it. (When I say goal, this is really meant quite loosely).
All this to preface choosing a new book to read as I have finished one that was most enjoyable. I can heartily and warmly recommend Susan Stokes-Chapman's Pandora, a novel set in 18th century London. The book was a bit of a splurge since it is new and comes in an oversized paperback (also cloth) format, but worth every penny. I do hope she is busily at work on a new novel. Pandora has a bit of greek mythology to it--just dipping the toe really.
How do I follow up such a pleasurable read? I may be moving slowly, but it does make it worth it when this is the sort of story I am spending my time in. So I want something with a similar feel, though it can be some other era. I had a couple of books in mind, but my other shortcoming (?) these days is acquiring more new books than I can possible keep up with (maybe this is part of the start-i-tis issue I am dealing with currently), and I find a cursory glance at my book piles results in a staggering pile to choose from:
Mrs. England, Stacey Halls
The Lamplighters, Emma Stonex
A Theatre for Dreamers, Polly Samson
The New Mrs. Clifton, Elizabeth Buchan
The Lady Tree and/or The Memory Palace, Christie Dickason
The Museum of Broken Promises, Elizabeth Buchan
Snow Country, Sebastian Faulks
So a few questions for you--have you read any of these (and hopefully enjoyed them)? How is your reading going these days? Was there ever a blip that threw you off? How did you get back to it? Or how has it changed your reading style? And what plans, or do you have any for summer/