All my decisiveness has been left in 2015.
I have been struggling since the new year started to settle into a book. I managed to read two last weekend but since then I have been picking a book up, reading a hundred pages with absolutely no engagement whatsoever, and then abandoning it as I go off in search of something better. Such restlessness is very unlike me and very frustrating. I just want to find a book I can read with pleasure for hours at time – this should not be a difficult task! (Especially given the 30 or so books I currently have checked out from the library.)
I’ve just started Curiosity by Alberto Manguel and it seems very promising…but not as a work-week book. There is such a thing as too much philosophy for my 7am commute. No, I’m going to need to find something lighter for the week and I’m convinced it is going to be one of the books above: Corduroy by Adrian Bell, Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken, or Notes from an Italian Garden by Joan Marble. Or, if things go well, all of them.
On the other hand, I am delighted with and devoted to my current audiobook: The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley. It’s a story I love and there is nothing nicer than escaping into it during my lunch hour walk.
Happy reading!
The Captive Reader 
Fortunately all my ILL requests for DE Stevenson keep coming forth. I’m halfway through the list. I do sympathize about finding a good read. I will be lost when my Stevenson binge is done.
Good luck to you! I remember burning out on DES when I was binge reading her so learn from my mistakes and pace yourself. It’s hard not to feel greedy with her books…until you hit the really bad ones. Then it’s no trouble at all 😉
I get sent one every two weeks. So far that’s just right. It’s funny how she keeps over lapping characters and places. I’m tempted to keep a spreadsheet to keep it all straight.
Since you were the one to introduce me to Angela Thirkell, I prescribe a healthy dose of The Brandons.
An excellent prescription!
That is one lovely photo! And I hope you do find your commute-book among the three
Thanks! I actually ended up settling on Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie (aka none of the above) and am almost done it now. Absolutely delightful.
I do hate the unsettled feeling, when I’m between books and nothing is calling to me. I’ve resorted to pulling random books on the TBR shelves, which sometimes works.
Sometimes that’s the only way, isn’t it? And what a fun way it is.
This sounds so familiar. I’m currently reading The Glass Throne which is engaging, and The Alchemist, by Paul Coehlo. Reminds me a lot of The Little Prince, but it doesn’t make me feel as if I’ve got up to see a sunrise before anyone else is awake. Probably needs a retread to get the best out of it.
Kattermole
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Sounds intriguing. Enjoy!
Three old favourites there, and very different. One fast paced adventure for children with extra layers for adults and two that I tend to browse, rather than work through from end to end. For sheer quality of writing Corduroy can’t be beat – I’ve loved it all my rural escapist life. I hope you love it too§
Happy to hear from someone who knows them all! I’m reading the Joan Marble now (alongside Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie) and it is very enjoyable.
I had the Joan Marble on the shelf for years, unread, and eventually parted with it in a book cull! I have a lovely copy of Corduroy, hardback copy with colour illustrations. A wonderful evocation of the countryside as it was more than half a century or more ago.
Margaret P
I just picked up the Joan Marble over the summer (along with her other book about her terrace garden in Rome) and have really enjoyed what I’ve read so far. But now I’m longing to go back to Italy so I’m finding it slightly frustrating.
Yeah I don’t think you are the only one struggling with this. It seems like this has been my problem for months! Whenever I choose a book to read, all I seem to be able to do is think about all the other books I could be reading! I’ve only read 2 books this year! You may have to go for a re-read, something you have always loved, to reset the mojo. Or go for a can’t-disappoint favourite author. I just finished a Maeve Binchy (who never disappoints) and now I’m onto Edith Wharton (can’t seem to crack 100 pages though) so only time will tell if Binchy broke the curse.
Good luck with your dilemma!
Ooo, Maeve Binchy is always a solid choice.
30 books from the library at once? I think we are only allowed 10, but seldom have more than 5 at any one time. I only read 69 books in all of last year, excluding those I opted not to finish. Not that it is a numbers game, of course. I have had a promising non-fictional start to 2016, with a humorous journey around the Shipping Forecast areas with Charlie Connelly (a younger, English-born cross between Bill Bryson and Tony Hawks – not the skateboarding one) and now Patrick Barkham’s Coastlines. Despite suffering motion sickness on land, never mind in boats, it would appear I am currently hearing the call of the sea.
Such a cruel library, David! I would definitely struggle with a 10 book limit. I know I won’t read all of the books I have out but I love the freedom it gives me to try and, if necessary, reject them. Coastlines is already on my library hold list and I’m intrigued by the Charlie Connelly book.
Empathy and hugs, Claire. I’m going through the same thing and just have to wait it out because surely the problem isn’t the books – it’s me. A branch transfer with new people to get to know and following their procedures is keeping my brain too busy for quiet reading. We’ll ride it out together.
It’s nice when this is the greatest problem in life, isn’t it? I seem to be coming out of it – thanks to a combination of Compton Mackenzie and Joan Marble.
Yes yes yes! I am in exactly the same boat, and it’s maddening. I have so many books checked out from the library, and I do truly want to read them all, but in practice I’m not reading ANY of them. I keep reading a few pages and then putting them down, and I hate it. I want my reading groove back!
Good luck, Jenny! I think all we can do is imitate Goldilocks and keep trying different books until we find the one that’s just right for our current mood.
What I find fascinating about posts like this is the incredible variety of books that people read. I haven’t come across any of these books and I would consider myself an avid reader (clearly not avid enough!) Thank you!.
That is the nicest thing about book blogging, isn’t it? And also the most dangerous for your to-be-read list!
30 books – that’s why you can’t decide! Are you familiar with the jam study? Basically, the study concluded that too many choices actually stops people from making any choice (or is “demotivating” in their parlance). https://faculty.washington.edu/jdb/345/345%20Articles/Iyengar%20%26%20Lepper%20%282000%29.pdf
I’m familiar with the study but would argue that it doesn’t apply to books. Otherwise how would we ever decide what to buy at a bookshop or borrow from a library, places where we are surrounded by thousands if not tens and hundreds of thousands of books? No, when it comes to books choice is very good indeed. And returning my measly collection of library books wouldn’t do much good when there’s six or seven hundred other books lurking around the house!
Well, when you put it like that…… 😉
A book slump! I had one of those around this time last year. It took about a month to work through it. Yours will eventually pass but it is no fun being in the middle of it.
This was a short one, thankfully! I’m out of it now and happily reading away.