READING ISSUES

Reading four books at once but can't seem to finish any.  Do you do that?  Having more than one book going at a time?  It usually happens for me when a book that I'm reading is too big to tuck inside my handbag and a trip is looming ahead and I'll want to have something good on my Kindle.  Charles Dickens A Life is a good example.  Too big to lug around (for me, anyway) and  I should have downloaded to my Kindle.  But I like to have the serious books on hand to add to my library.  There have been a few times I've purchased the book AND downloaded it to my Kindle but I try not to do that too often.  All very conflicting, don't you think? The more options we have the harder it is.

By the way, Dickens is excellent but I seem to be irritated with Dickens the more I read about him.  His wife is a saint (so far anyway).  I'm not quite halfway through so maybe I should withhold judgment.  Well-written, of course since it's by Claire Tomalin.  If you haven't read her biography of Samuel Pepys, please do so.  It's a treat.

On my Kindle, I have the latest P.D. James which is a departure from her usual blood and gore.  The clever Ms. James has picked up with the lives of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy where Jane Austen left off.  Death Comes to Pemberley is great fun although some sentences don't ring quite true. But good for James for giving it a go.

Daily Lit is bringing me The House of Seven Gables bit by bit and it is getting creepier and creepier.  Love it. Nathaniel Hawthorne is brilliant at the details and leading the reader down the path of suspense.

And finally, Napoleon Hill's Outwitting the Devil is making me rethink some things--especially about fear keeping us from pursuing our dreams.  My friend, Robby, brought this to me at the end of my recovery from knee surgery.  Hill's interview with the Devil is fascinating, similar in a sense to C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters.  This is a book you can pick up after a few days and read a few pages--there isn't a plot line other than to read the various ways our souls are stolen (you know, no big deal).

Oh, and thanks to Mary's Library, I just downloaded Twelve Drummers Drumming by C.C. Bennison.  It is a traditional British village cozy.  Yay!

So, a little reading here and a little reading there adds to life's interest but doesn't work so well when you are someone who likes to eventually finish a book.