I've been in a strange book slump lately. I'm reading and reading a great deal, but I feel like I'm not reading enough or that it is taking me longer to finish my reads. Part of the problem is that I'm determined to finish Crime and Punishment. In a previous post I discuss how this book is really engrossing and yet difficult for me to embrace. I'm also still re-reading The Count of Monte Cristo, which is functioning as my "its-raining-and-I-want-to-loose-myself-in-a-novel" read. My lunch break read is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as the tales are short and be completed in a 30 minute lunch break. Today I finished To Kill a Mockingbird (which I will post on tomorrow).
See? Loads of reading happening! So why do I feel like I have too many books to read and frustrated with my TBR pile?
I felt like I needed to cleanse my TBR pile and visit the library. Wolf Hall is back on the shelf along with The Professor and The Law and Lady. I went on a rejuvenating library trip and came home with a fresh stack of books. I find that if books languish on my TBR pile for too long they begin to feel like chores. Not that I wouldn't enjoy the reads I just feel this overwhelming sense of obligation (further impacted by library due dates) and then I don't enjoy the reads quite so much. It starts to feel like college coursework all over again.
So here is my shiny new book pile:
- Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley by Alison Weir: I've been a hardcore Mary Queen of Scots fan since the age of ten. I actually tired to talk my mom into letting me convert to Catholicism. It didn't work.
- The Terror by Dan Simmons: I really enjoyed Drood and loved how the story stayed with me and screwed with my head. I'm eager to read this sea thriller!
- The Stolen Crown by Susan Higginbotham: The Traitor's Wife was so good! I can't wait to dig into this historical novel.
- The House at Riverton by Kate Morton: A mystery that I've checked out before and I plan on actually reading this time!
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore: A Victorian Graphic novel? Sold!
2 comments:
I get what you mean about books languishing; I wrote about something similar today. If a book is on my TBR list for too long, I lose that sense of excitement about reading it. I say ditch anything you don't feel like reading!
My library allows me to renew twice (which means I could keep books out for 9 weeks total), but I've decided if I don't get a book within 3 weeks, the timing's just not right. So I'm not allowed to renew unless I'm in the middle of it! It's definitely helped taken away a lot of the 'nagging' sense of reading. :)
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