NeoLibrarium

Lately I have been doing nothing but re-reading old books of mine. I have a few new ones sitting around, but I just can’t seem to work up the enthusiasm to pick up something new right now. I’ve been so consumed lately with the business of having a baby that my mind has trouble focusing on non-baby-related subjects. Hence, my re-reading some old favorites. They don’t take too much concentration, but I still enjoy them. I’ve never been one to read a book once and not go back to it again. I have several paperbacks that are well-worn because, though I treat them gently, I’ve read them so many times that no amount of care could have kept them pristine.

Lately it’s been Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series – historical romances that detail the courtships and marriages of a family of siblings. They are pretty lighthearted in tone, with a lot of clever dialogue designed to make you chuckle, and though they can get a little dark since they main issues the heroes confront are usually pretty emotional it isn’t ever dark enough to have me crying in my pillow. (Which, now that I’m pregnant takes surprisingly little. I got teary-eyed watching the penultimate episode for the season finale of Leverage the other night.)

And typically, the reading I do does have some grit to it. Not gore *shudder*, but grit. Right now, I’m not feeling the dark, broody thing though. My non-romance reading has mostly been articles and books on pregnancy, which I won’t share here because honestly, unless you’re pregnant, you probably don’t care. lol

So, my recommendations based on my current reading are, broadly: Julia Quinn’s historical romance, Amanda Quick (not always as funny, but entertaining), Irish Johansen (mostly the mystery/thrillers, but those always have a good ending in my experience), and just for variety I’m planning to try re-reading The Mysteries of Udolpho. Whether or not I succeed in reading the last depends largely on my attention span, since sentences can be paragraph-length and descriptions bog down the speed of the plot. Still, when you’re swamped in historical fiction it’s interesting to read the books that are actually from way-back-when.

Filed under: Story Time on January 17th, 2012