~ Today's Books ~
~ Today's Statistics ~
Books I've read from: A Book Addict's Treasury by Julie Rugg and Lynda Murphy, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Pages read
today: 55
Books finished today: *gives up and goes to sleep*
Running
total: 0 books; 284 pages
Non-reading
progress: I've read ALL THE TWEETS and done a bit of blog hopping, but happily, today's been more about the reading!
Today #insixwords: Happy to be back at Thornfield!
~ Reading Notes ~
11:20am
Well, after yesterday's epic reading fail (though hey, at least I caught up on my movie quota for the week!) I was determined to start afresh today with renewed bookish zeal. The headache and the *cough* tiny lie-in (REALLY got to get out of that habit before I go back to work!) didn't help, but I dutifully made breakfast, returned to my room and stuck my nose straight into A Book Addict's Treasury for a while. Always a treat! This morning, for example, I stumbled across excerpts from old favourites Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman (which I reviewed recently), 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (which I reviewed not-so-recently) and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (which I hope to reread at the end of this month for its 200th birthday, yaaaay!). I think my favourite so far today has been this, by Sven Birkerts, which definitely rang a bell!
"There is also that kind of reading which is just looking at books. From time to time - I can't say what dictates the impulse - I pull a chair up in front of a section of my library. An expectant tranquillity settles over me. I move my eyes slowly, reading the spines, or identifying the title by its colour and positioning. Just to see my books, to note their presence, their proximity to other books, fills me with a sense of futurity."
Be honest - how many times have you just sat and idly perused your own bookshelves? You don't even need to be standing in front of them - I know I've sat in my cosy chair in the flat on more than one occasion and just let my eye wander along the shelves, picking out certain books and feeling very satisfied that I could name each one even if I couldn't read the title from that distance. I think I like YouTube bookshelf tours by people who have similar tastes to me for the same reason - there's something about seeing all those books arranged and lined up in a different space, spotting familiar titles, picking our shared editions, that makes me all fired about about my own books, and in turn, my reading. Always a nice feeling! :)
6:10pm
The day has flown by (again) in a kind of tumble of reading, catching up on the 250-ish #boutofbooks tweets I'd missed, reading a few of yesterday's challenge entries, following a new blog or two, and trying to staunch the relentless tide of Armitage-swooning that heralded my family's return from seeing The Hobbit this afternoon. I'd probably have gone myself, only a) I want to reread the book before I see the film; b) I watched THREE films yesterday; c) three hours is a long time to sit in one of those cinema chairs, and d) read-a-thon, baby! So I just got the "omigosh his eyes were so dreaaaaamy" and "he did lots of brooding looks", with the OCCASIONAL foray into "oh yeah, and there were some hobbits and a scary dragon eye as well..." Aaaaand back to Thorin.
So now, having read a few more pages of A Book Addict's Treasury over lunch, I'm firmly back in Brontë-land and OH MY GOD JANE YOU'RE KILLING ME. This middle section is just SO painful to read. You know, when Mr Rochester goes away and Jane hears about the existence of Blanche Ingram and desperately tries to squash her own bitter sadness and disappointment down by telling herself that she will never be good enough? And then he comes back WITH the fancy ladies and gentlemen of his party, and Blanche is there, and she gets to compare herself in real life even as she tries to forget her feelings for her master? Oh Jane...
It's the little moments that make it so horribly relatable: her trembling hand when the hour for the party's arrival approaches; the way she only has eyes for Mr Rochester in the hallway; the way she listens for the sound of his voice amidst the chatter in the dining room - and all the while she has to keep reminding herself that she's nothing, a mouse, a dependent. And THEN she has to make an appearance after dinner and have it rubbed in her face. I think anyone who's ever fallen for someone they can't have, or who has ever felt jealousy when the object of their attraction presents them with a rival, or who has ever found themselves feeling tiny and plain in comparison with people who are more confident, rich, pretty or striking than they are, must want to sweep Jane up and give her the biggest hug at this point. PAINFUL READING.
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| When my new bookcases were fitted and filled two years ago. VERY EXCITING EVENT FOR A BOOK FIEND! |
6:10pm
The day has flown by (again) in a kind of tumble of reading, catching up on the 250-ish #boutofbooks tweets I'd missed, reading a few of yesterday's challenge entries, following a new blog or two, and trying to staunch the relentless tide of Armitage-swooning that heralded my family's return from seeing The Hobbit this afternoon. I'd probably have gone myself, only a) I want to reread the book before I see the film; b) I watched THREE films yesterday; c) three hours is a long time to sit in one of those cinema chairs, and d) read-a-thon, baby! So I just got the "omigosh his eyes were so dreaaaaamy" and "he did lots of brooding looks", with the OCCASIONAL foray into "oh yeah, and there were some hobbits and a scary dragon eye as well..." Aaaaand back to Thorin.
So now, having read a few more pages of A Book Addict's Treasury over lunch, I'm firmly back in Brontë-land and OH MY GOD JANE YOU'RE KILLING ME. This middle section is just SO painful to read. You know, when Mr Rochester goes away and Jane hears about the existence of Blanche Ingram and desperately tries to squash her own bitter sadness and disappointment down by telling herself that she will never be good enough? And then he comes back WITH the fancy ladies and gentlemen of his party, and Blanche is there, and she gets to compare herself in real life even as she tries to forget her feelings for her master? Oh Jane...
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| Hang in there honeybun - you could take that ruffled floozy in a heartbeat! |
It's the little moments that make it so horribly relatable: her trembling hand when the hour for the party's arrival approaches; the way she only has eyes for Mr Rochester in the hallway; the way she listens for the sound of his voice amidst the chatter in the dining room - and all the while she has to keep reminding herself that she's nothing, a mouse, a dependent. And THEN she has to make an appearance after dinner and have it rubbed in her face. I think anyone who's ever fallen for someone they can't have, or who has ever felt jealousy when the object of their attraction presents them with a rival, or who has ever found themselves feeling tiny and plain in comparison with people who are more confident, rich, pretty or striking than they are, must want to sweep Jane up and give her the biggest hug at this point. PAINFUL READING.
11:00pm
One final push towards the end of Bout of Books! I've got another cup of coffee (admittedly, decaff this time), and I'm just going to read until I'm too tired to read any more. I'll be back at work on Thursday and so far I haven't ONCE done the 'read until I drop' thing this week. What better time than the last night of BoB?! So I'll read a few more pages of A Book Addict's Treasury and carry on with Jane Eyre (who's now realised that even though she is the cause of all this HEARTACHE, Blanche Ingram is really nothing more than a historical Mean Girl - atta girl Jane!) and see how far I get...
Good night, read-a-thonners - hope you enjoy the last few hours of the week, and see you for wrap-ups tomorrow!
Oh yes, I totally get that. I love to sit in my chair and look at all the books - it's like there's shelves full of adventures just waiting for me to pick one and start!
ReplyDeleteYES! It's a very peaceful thing to do, I think - and it reminds me of all the great books waiting for me!
DeleteMy instant reaction to ANY pictures of bookshelves - even in, say, home magazines, is to see what books are on there. So of course I'm being very nosy at your shelves in the picture. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteOh yes! They've all been moved and chopped and changed since then, of course - but I can still look at the picture and think "Oooh, Into the Wild. And Born to Run. And The Slap, and The Time Traveler's Wife, and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and Graceling, and Becoming Queen, and..." :)
DeleteI totally do that too. Like, in magazines, when I see a bookcase of some description, my immediate impulse is to turn the page on its side, scour the shelves, and decide whether me and X designer/Y celebrity/Z lucky homeowner have the same tastes or not. It's a compulsion!
I'm lethal for doing that - I've wasted so much time by sitting and just staring at my bookshelves. Taking them in as a whole, looking at individual shelves, reminding myself what to read. It's kind of calming though, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteIt's very calming! And when I'm done I always feel like "right, I'm going to make a mug of coffee and read now..." :)
DeleteI love just sitting and looking at my books :) It always makes me so excited to read them, when I eventually have the time.
ReplyDeleteI am SO glad so many people are coming back and agreeing with me about this! I was a bit worried that you were all just going to be like "Errrrr, no love, it's just you." :D
DeleteYou read all the #boutofbooks tweets?! You're crazy! I was there and I still missed a bunch!
ReplyDeleteBut, right, what happened was, I made my lunch and brought it upstairs and then I was all like OH NOES I'LL GET MY NICE BOOK ALL COVERED IN TUNA MAYO so I looked around and BOOM there was Twitter and once I'd started I couldn't stop and that's ALSO why my page count is so crap. On the plus side, yay tweets! :D
DeleteRandomly, I always wander down the hall and look at my books when I'm brushing my teeth. That kind of sounds weird now that I've written it out on here but it's true. I just kind of look at them and remind myself of how many great books I have still to get to. We don't have any bookshelves in our living room, which I've convinced myself is a good thing because I'm sure that they'd distract me from whatever book I was reading!
ReplyDeleteAlso, you have sold A Book Addict's Treasury - I've been umm-ing and ahh-ing all week while you've been reading it but my resistance is seriously waning!
Not really that weird - though a little dangerous for the hall carpet I imagine! That's the joy I think - reminding ourselves of our favourite books and all the great ones we still have waiting for us. I agree with the distraction thing though; I think that's why I do better up in the house with just a pile of books - all the rest are in the flat so they're not clamouring constantly for attention! ;)
DeleteI'm sure you'd love A Book Addict's Treasury - there's something for everyone, about everything from bookshops to home libraries to strange little bookish quirks, from across about 300 years and a whole range of writers. Buy it!
how many times have you just sat and idly perused your own bookshelves?
ReplyDeleteCountless times! (it's almost a past time unto itself for me xD) I especially find myself doing it when I'm at a loss on what to read next. My bookshelves are pretty crammed tight (am endlessly running out of space) so sometimes I'd have to sit and stare for a good long while at all of the titles. Sometimes I'd even re-organise it a bit. It's fun though, glad to know I'm not the only one who dos this! =D