What Are You Reading Wednesday

[amycooper]

 Petzi does this every Wednesday.  One of the things I've been attempting to do the last 9 months or so is reclaim some time for myself as I think burnout plays a roll in my current issues.  Between work and kids, I rarely have time for myself and one way that can be seen is that I've gone from reading 150-200 books a year to reading maybe one or two (for myself, not counting to the kids to which I read a lot too) per year for the last 4-5 years.  I'm making an effort.

So, I think I'll start noting what I'm reading/read every week.

Right now: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

For some reason I've recently gotten into a Jane Austen kick.  I read some of her works during my college years (I was an English major after all) and never felt very strongly about her, but in the last month I watched both versions of Sense and Sensibility and the '95 version of Pride and Prejudice.  Sense and Sensibility is one I had not actually read before and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

When sisters Elinor and Marianne's father dies, the whole of his fortune passes on to their older half brother leaving them and their mother and younger sister at greatly reduced means.  Both fall young ladies fall in love but the situations are complicated.  The story is a strong critic to the norms of the day.

Comments

[respoftw]

I love adaptations of Jane Austen novels but I’ve never really managed to get through her writing. This is a great idea. Your experience of having your reading drop off is one that I’ve had too. My Dad was an English teacher and he’d be so upset to see how few books I read these days.

Good luck in getting your reading back up!

[readerjane]

What a great idea! I may start doing that too. It would be a way to have more of a presence on DW, and would keep me more aware of how much (or little) I'm reading.

I read Pride and Prejudice for a high school class. It was the first Austen I had ever read. I think most of the wry humor went over my head back then, because I was bored until about 3/4 of the way through, and then suddenly the characters clicked.

[tidal_race]

When I started reading fic, I read a lot less books. I get a lot of my non-fiction online too. Every couple of years I go through a phase and read a few, but compared to how much I read way back when... Of course, I found fandom pretty early in my teens, so life might have impacted my reading time anyway.

I'm not a big Jane Austen fan, but I have a friend who LOVES her. I've given it a few tries, but I may try again in the future. I didn't like the Scarlet Letter the first time I started to read it, but later when I had to read it for school, it was one of the assigned books I actually enjoyed.

Actually, this reminds me I need to try and get back to my own little self-care routine that involves books. This is probably the third time I've suddenly realized I haven't done it for months. Lol. Turns out with Lush bath products, a book and/or music (occasionally a show), and a bathtub caddy/tray, baths go from being boring and impossible to read in to being great me-time. It's definitely worth the extra mental focus it seems to give me the next day. Sometimes I find it easier to write afterwards too.