Seriously, what’s wrong with me?

I am now 3/4 of the way through The Human Stain.  My stack has a total of 58 books on it.  Yet I succumbed to the temptation of going to a used bookstore with a friend of mine and purchased 3 more books.   In my defense, I only spent 15 dollars so really, it was totally justified. 

New books include: 1)Alison Weir’s The Children of Henry VIII 2) Charles Brockden Brown’s Wieland/Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist, and The Letters of the Younger Pliny.  It may seem like a strange mix but that’s basically what my entire library is.  A huge mix of stuff. 

I hereby announce that I will not purchase another book until my stack has been reduced to 40 books……..after tomorrow.  I know, I know, but there’s a new book that comes out tomorrow that I’ve been wanting to read.  I won’t mention it because it’s embarrassing.  OK, OK fine.  It’s comes from the romance section of the bookstore.  Are you happy?  It’s sort of my junk food reading.  I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed about it but I am a little.  Anyway the book is by Julia Quinn (she’s not as cheesy as most romance novelists, you really connect with her characters).  It’s called The Secret Diaries of Miranda Cheever.  It’s her first historical romance since her Bridgerton series ended last summer.  So, after that, I will not buy anymore books.  Some may not believe me but I will prove them wrong.

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Henry VIII is complete

So, here’s how the story ends.  Anne of Cleves = marriage annulled, Katherine Howard = executed, Katherine Parr = survived the king and dies after complications in childbirth during her next marriage to Jane Seymour’s ….uncle? or brother? I can’t remember now.  Anyway, it was a very informative story about life in 16th century England.  I really enjoyed it. 

I’ve seemed to run into a bit of a snag in my summer reading.  The snag being that I’m not doing it as often as I’d like.  I thought that with all this extra time that I have on my hands, I would be flying through my reading.  I have started Philip Roth’s The Human Stain and am enjoying it immensely but I feel that I should be finished it by now.  I blame satellite tv for this.  I’ m home all by myself during the day and therefore I have the tv to myself as well.  Usually, in the evenings, my parents are watching one of the many versions of Law and Order on the USA network and so I resort to either watching with them or going to my room and reading or watching a movie or something.  Another television problem I’m facing is reality tv.  I’m absolutely addicted to shows like Hell’s Kitchen and Pirate Master.  But when you throw in satellite tv, there are just so many more reality tv possibilities.  There’s Celebrity Fit(or Fat) Club, Inferno 3, Kathy Griffin, Top Chef, and my newest discovery:  Bridezillas.  I’m trying to curb this addiction but it’s not easy.  I need someone to come over here and kick my ass every time I feel like sitting in front of the tv and turning it on. 

On the upside of being home all day, I’ve discovered the joy and entertainment that is Turbo Jam.  My sister ordered these dvds I think last fall and she kept bugging me to try them because of how fun she said they were and she was always wanting me to do them with her.  I politely declined because I would just feel like a fat tub of goo next to her size 4 body doing these exercises.  It’s not that I’m that large but compared to her I feel like a fatso.  I’m not obese or huge but I could use some firming up and loss of inches.  But anyway these exercises are fun and keep you energized.  By the end, I’m always sweating like a pig but I feel great afterwards.  Since I have to get in a bit of shape for three weddings within the next year, this is a good way to get motivated and start working out.  Also, in these weddings I am going to be:  wedding #1 – Maid of Honour, wedding #2 – Bridesmaid, wedding #3 – Bride.  So I’m going to be in lots of pictures and I don’t want to be the fattest one in these photos.  We’ll see how it goes.  I’m hoping to lose at least 15 pounds by September.  Here goes nothing!

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New book

So, I finished Pride and Prejudice.  I hadn’t read it in at least ten years so I was really happy that I decided to read it again.  I was surprised, actually, at how accurate the BBC movie version of the book was.  Anyway, five stars. 

In other reading news, I’m 3/4 of the way the Henry VIII and really loving it.  We’re now up to wife number four: Anne of Cleves.  It’s a really informative and fascinating story when you think about it.  Someone getting married six times NOW seems like a lot (unless you’re famous or Mormon or the Shah of Iran), but in the 1500’s it was downright unthinkable.  So far the wife tally goes:  Katherine of Aragon (divorced), Anne Boleyn (executed for treason), Jane Seymour (died shortly after the birth of her first child from complications), Anne of Cleves (not sure how he gets rid of this one yet).  The man is just so annoying and disgusting at times you just want to throw the book across the room.  (Which I’ve only ever done to one other novel because I don’t like to hurt my books)  Anyway, I’ll let you know how it turns out.

 Now I’ve decided to join the OUP World’s Classics Book Club and will be reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles by June 28th.  I can’t promise that I won’t be reading other books in between or at the same time but I will set this goal for myself.  Wish me luck.

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Long Absence

School is over.  Vacation is over.  Job interview is over.  I now have a job starting in September and a full 3 months to put a  significant dent in my stack of unread books.  Meanwhile, my single stack keeps falling over and so I had to make two stacks.  It’s getting ridiculous.  I keep promising myself that, until the stack is reduced by half, I am NOT allowed to make any new book purchases.  So far, I haven’t bought a book for 4 days.  I discovered a new used bookstore downtown and had to buy two books.  Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities and Alice Munro’s Lives of Girls and Women are the newest additions to my stack’o’books.  I so need to get reading.  I’m currently in the middle of Alison Weir’s The Six Wives of Henry VIII.  The books is non-fiction but it’s reading like it’s fiction.  I had no idea how elaborate and complicated that this kingdom had been.  I knew a bit about the history but I was shocked to read how much this whole era was like a soap opera.   I’m only up to Anne Boleyn (the second wife) but man!  She was such a clever and calculating woman.  The power she had obviously went to her head (which she eventually lost) but she was a pretty ballsy lady.  I’m really enjoying that one.  But I can never read just one book at a time.  I try to alternate between one fiction and non-fiction book at the same time.  I have yet to choose my fiction book.  I’m thinking about re-reading Pride and Prejudice.  I absolutely love the BBC movie version of the film with Colin Firth and feel like I need to read the book again.  We’ll see how it goes.  I know I say this a lot but I’m going to try to keep up with the blogging.

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