Can't Blog, too Busy Reading

I've finished The Letters of Abelard and Heloise and The Speed of Dark. I wonder if I think about things too much. I try to come up with a brief synopsis of something I've read but I want to talk about what I think is important and interesting, what it's ABOUT instead of what it's about. I remember Northrop Frye's idea that what we read becomes part of our internal landscape, and each book relates to each book in a different way.

Well, I am currently enjoying The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller and A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway. Ah, Paris in the twenties. I am tempted to reread Ulysses because I can feel its echos in Miller's work, and it's been so long.

Apparently my local public library will be open next week--they've been on strike. I realized this is the moment I've been preparing for all my life, amassing books so I'll always have something to read. I grew up on a farm with really crappy libraries nearby, and I'm really afraid of going back to that kind of situation, not having all the books I want at my fingertips. All I can say is, thank you internet.

What I'm Reading Now

George Orwell by Gordon Bowker (the American edition is titled Inside George Orwell)

I'm up to the point where Orwell has just left Spain. Strangely, the same age I am now.


The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

Think Flowers for Algernon for autistics. Nebula winner.


The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (translated by Betty Radice)

Great Valentine's Day reading.

Perhaps I shall add my notes as I finish books. I've been in the habit of doing this for fifteen years or so, and I like reading other reader's blogs to find more good books. In fact, I'll add the links to some of my favourites.

Please excuse my lack of proper formatting. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon.

I am tortured about whether to include the link for an online bookstore. I am seriously not about selling things to people, but Book Buyouts has been a good place for me to buy inexpensive books, and I've been thrilled with the cheap, fast shipping. Well, I've already recommended to all my friends, so excuse me for selling you out, too.

Why the Hell Not?

Everybody else has a blog, determined to show that they are unique, just like everyone else. You have to admit, it's fun to read, to peek through the curtains and see how others lead their lives. I'm also interested in the aspect of displaying yourself in a window in a dark street where nobody ever goes and nobody will see you. Oh great, I've already revealed myself to be a voyeur as well as an exhibitionist, all in my first post.

For the record, I really only have two cats. Sometimes it seems like more. I've always feared I would end up old and alone in a house with ninety-eight more cats. People tell me I am a little old lady, fifty years before my time. It's the cardigans and interest in knitting that they associate with eighty-year-olds. And that slight craziness in me that announces, it's downhill from here.