Monday Musings

I am having trouble settling down to reading. I had the same difficulty in England, so maybe travelling does throw me off center more than I realized. I have picked up Middlemarch again and am hoping to finish it this week.

Middlemarch update:This story is skilfully told, with such wisdom about people's natures. I love this section where Dorothea and Will meet, as he comes to say goodbye to her: 'Something which may be called an inward silent sob had gone on in Dorothea before she said with a pure voice, just trembling in the last words as if only from its liquid flexibility -
' 'Yes, it must be right for you to do as you say. I shall be very happy when I hear that you have made your value felt. But you must have patience. It will perhaps be a long while.' '
'Will never quite knew how long it was that he saved himself from falling down at her feet, when the 'long while' came forth with its gentle tremor.' p 446
Aren't those lines a little like pure music? Who taught Eliot to write about people like that? People's thoughts are woven into the story line, so we know what Susan Garth thinks of her husband's inability to think or even want to know anything bad about anyone he has business dealings with. And I'm finally at the part where I discover that Mr Bulstrode hides a deep dark secret, that I hope will be his undoing, but I also see why he is so Christian oriented - he thinks he is living a blameless life, but it's really to make up for how he came into his money. And we find out through a secondary character who really is a scoundrel and creepy. There is so much about life that is in Middlemarch, that it really is one of the most enjoyable novels I've read in a very long time. And people change in this book due to their actions - or don't, depending on their natures. and that makes it like real life, and so very satisfying to read.

I took The Polysyllabic Spree with me to work today. I am enjoying Nick Hornby's comments about what he reads, though I have to admit that his reading tastes are very different from mine! I like how he's not allowed to comment negatively on anything he reads, either, for the journal he was writing for at the time.

I haven't made any resolutions about what I'm going to read yet this year, other than I am determined to read 100 books this time!! I am going through my shelves, cataloguing my books so I know what I have - my computer crashed two years ago and took the list I had then, which I haven't replaced until now. Sometimes I have to look at my books, touch them, so that I can remember I have them, until I find the time to read them!! Doing the cataloguing, I am finding I am pulling books out I want to read, so I think I'll see what I come up with that I already have, and then what challenges fit what I want to read! I have some Charles de Lint to read to start catching up on my Canadian Challenge, and a science fiction book or two for Carl's Sci Fi reading experience. And then - Oh, so many books to read! I love challenges, so it's more a matter of me finding my way to different blogs and see what's happening.

It was much harder to be without a computer than I expected, when we were in England. For me, it's taken about 6 years for the computer to change completely how I communicate with people. I think I realized on this trip, how much I have come to rely on the computer. I used to be a great letter writer, and sends so many things through the mail. Now, except for birthdays and Christmas, almost everything is sent through email/via computer now. It was very difficult to not be able to look up news from back home, to not be able to check in with my son on Facebook or via email, and our friends in England too looked for us on email. Since I had planned to connect with some bloggers in England to meet with them, all my plans were thrown out when the computer was suddenly not accessible! And I couldn't email or check blogs because I didn't know next when we would get to an internet cafe! It didn't change the quality of our trip at all, except that I missed out on meeting with some of you, my Gentle readers, and I regret that very much. Sometimes the telephone is still better! I do love the computer, I know it now!! It's a great way to find out about books, too, in so many ways!!

So, just some thoughts on a Monday evening as we prepare for Day 35 without buses - yes, that transit strike I mentioned way back in mid-December before we left for England, is still on-going, and our lives are a bit in upheaval while we try to get to and from work every day. My reading time is completely changed because I don't have that hour or so on the buses each day to read. I am lucky enough to have a really good friend and co-worker who lives near, and we carpool to work, along with a mutual good friend, and another co-worker who shares in the driving. So we have fun rides into work and back - we all are fairly sarcastic people when it comes to our jobs, having been at the office long enough! The good news is, it means I can't really get around the city outside work, so my evenings and weekends are freer for reading! At least the children's school buses aren't affected, although the teachers may go on strke in March.....

Happy reading on this quiet Monday night, everyone!

What do you take on a trip to read?

I'm back! By that I mean, our buses went on strike at midnight and I only take buses - neither my husband nor I drive; we had a major snowstorm yesterday and through the night, so my ride cancelled today, and I can't get to work; and the buses can only be legislated back to work by the federal government, who of course are suspended at the moment until Jan 27. What happens when things get difficult? I find my sense of humour again! Plus, I had lots of sleep - Sunday I ended sleeping for 2 hours in the afternoon - so I feel much better. All I can do is laugh, and count down the days until our trip and we are out of here!!!

Middlemarch Update: I think the excitement for our trip is reaching a crescendo because I find myself unable to concentrate on anything for long. I am still reading Middlemarch, but still have over half the book to go and am running out of time before we go. I'm on page 265, just ending Book 3. I do love it, I just can't seem to read for any length of time. I find myself thinking of what we still have to do, and mentally getting things sorted for packing - bring this, forget that, etc - and suddenly realize I'm staring at the page but not seeing it.

One of the many dilemmas facing me about what to bring is, of course, what books do I bring? So I thought I'd ask this question of you today: when you are going on a fairly long trip, what books do you bring? do you bring any? does size matter? Author? Kind of book? What do you bring with you on holiday?

So far, I have a shortlist of books I might be bringing, and my real question is, which one will make it on the airplane with me in my bag?
Susan's Shortlist
The Wood Wife - Terri Windling
In the Woods - Tara French
Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin
Stalin's Ghost - Martin Cruz Smith

Do I bring a book that I really really want to read, that I would be devastated if my luggage got lost? I usually try to pack so that if my baggage does go missing - and this has never happened before, so it's more a 'what if' scenario - I'm not heartbroken. Or do I bring books that are easily replaceable?

I'm going to a country where most of the books I love to read are published anyway, so I don't really have to bring many. I will be buying books in England, this is not even a question, and my husband is just pleading that our luggage isn't overweight by too much on the trip back. So, my real question I end up posing to myself is, do I bring many books with us? I need 2 or 3, just as a safety blanket in case I can't get to Charing Cross Road right away. My in-laws do not have any novels, only a few cookbooks and bird-watching books. The idea of being caught somewhere with some time available for reading, and not having a book to hand, gives me the chills. That would not be a holiday! I'd be more stressed without a book to read, than I would be by bringing too many and not reading any of them!

So if you see me gazing out into space and I'm not catching a quick nap, I'm musing on what to pack. Thus, the trials of life in Ottawa today (strike, suspended government, a foot of snow) recede into the background. 5 sleeps until we leave for England!

I also confess here, Gentle Reader, that I love to travel. I like airports, and train stations, and bus stations, cars packed to the top of the interior with luggage and supplies, cruise liners, anything that goes somewhere. Going someplace different, seeing new things, and revisiting family and friends in far away places - there is magic in travelling, the potential for anything to happen, wonder and surprise. I am so excited by the idea of getting out of Ottawa!! And then, that we are going to England, which I love
as much as I love Canada,and have family and friends waiting for us over there - I almost cannot wait for this trip to start! Postings here might be a bit scarce in the next few days as we get ready, but I will be back, as often as I can, and also while we are in England. I have a plan, but it all depends on my in-laws computer, so I won't say anything yet. I will try to keep getting to the Advent Blog Tour as often as I can also. I am really enjoying this advent tour, it is wonderful to meet so many new bloggers and from different countries, and see all the different ways we greet the holidays.

And I will post again before we go. I can't leave you hanging with the question of what books I might be bringing with me!!! So please do let me know how you approach books and travelling, dear Gentle Reader. I hereby confess that I do bring too many books with me, and I can't recall any trip I have ever taken where I read ALL the books I brought. Only a few times do I recall wondering why I pack so many,though!