This Weekend's Book Haul, or Why My Project Is So Hard, But So Awesome
Zach and I had a great weekend. Or really a great Sunday. Saturday I had to cover one of our student worker's shifts and that really sucked.
The Good:
I finished Auntie Mame and will review that soon.
I started The Painted Veil and am really enjoying that. I think I'll finish it soon.
I purchased and discovered some great books and am really excited about them.
The other books I discovered that I absolutely had to get as well--
What There Is to Say We Have Said: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and William Maxwell
The 40s: The Story of a Decade by The New Yorker Magazine
The New York Stories by John O'Hara
Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America by Donald L. Miller
(OK--I might kind of definitely have a thing for New York in the middle part of the 20th century... and would probably totally love to live there now, even though I have never been there or indeed really anywhere Up North)
However, that presents a problem with my ambitious project. What about new purchases? What about the two books I decided I just had to add to my list that I already owned (Middlemarch, which I decided I needed to add after starting My Life in Middlemarch and Catch-22, which I thought I had added, but realized I hadn't)?
First of all, let me point out that I realize that this project would be the perfect time to cut back on my book buying. I get that. I hope that it will. But I have certain soft spots for kinds of books. Namely classics and books relating to New York in the middle part of the 20th century. I'll add them to my shelf of books for this project. It's my project and it can extend into next year if I need or want for it to. The point is the read the books sooner rather than later. But, yes, I should definitely cut back on my book purchasing.
Secondly, if I really, really, really want to read a book and don't allow myself to read it OR, conversely, if I really, really, really don't want to read a book and try to force myself to read it, I just won't read. I allowed myself to make a simple swap. I picked up Cakes and Ale by Maugham, which is on the list, but wasn't really feeling it, though I did want to read something by Maugham, so I switched it for The Painted Veil and am totally loving it. I read nearly 100 pages on a day when I didn't really do that much reading.
The larger point of the project is to focus my reading and to challenge myself to read more and to read better books. By creating the shelf and the challenge to read those books, I've taken a lot of the guesswork out of picking my next book. I'm one of those that when I have too many choices, I wind up not making a decision.
So there.
Mille tendresse!
The Good:
I finished Auntie Mame and will review that soon.
I started The Painted Veil and am really enjoying that. I think I'll finish it soon.
I purchased and discovered some great books and am really excited about them.
 |
| BUtterfield-8, Aspects of the Novel, and two sets of these notebooks that I love that were on clearance |
What There Is to Say We Have Said: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and William Maxwell
The 40s: The Story of a Decade by The New Yorker Magazine
The New York Stories by John O'Hara
Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America by Donald L. Miller
(OK--I might kind of definitely have a thing for New York in the middle part of the 20th century... and would probably totally love to live there now, even though I have never been there or indeed really anywhere Up North)
However, that presents a problem with my ambitious project. What about new purchases? What about the two books I decided I just had to add to my list that I already owned (Middlemarch, which I decided I needed to add after starting My Life in Middlemarch and Catch-22, which I thought I had added, but realized I hadn't)?
First of all, let me point out that I realize that this project would be the perfect time to cut back on my book buying. I get that. I hope that it will. But I have certain soft spots for kinds of books. Namely classics and books relating to New York in the middle part of the 20th century. I'll add them to my shelf of books for this project. It's my project and it can extend into next year if I need or want for it to. The point is the read the books sooner rather than later. But, yes, I should definitely cut back on my book purchasing.
Secondly, if I really, really, really want to read a book and don't allow myself to read it OR, conversely, if I really, really, really don't want to read a book and try to force myself to read it, I just won't read. I allowed myself to make a simple swap. I picked up Cakes and Ale by Maugham, which is on the list, but wasn't really feeling it, though I did want to read something by Maugham, so I switched it for The Painted Veil and am totally loving it. I read nearly 100 pages on a day when I didn't really do that much reading.
The larger point of the project is to focus my reading and to challenge myself to read more and to read better books. By creating the shelf and the challenge to read those books, I've taken a lot of the guesswork out of picking my next book. I'm one of those that when I have too many choices, I wind up not making a decision.
So there.
Mille tendresse!
Comments
Post a Comment