I love books. I’ve loved books since I learned how to read. Actually, I think my love affair with books started even earlier than that, since my dad used to read me stories at bed time when I was a child.
This year, our local writer’s group decided to make a book club. Which is all kinds of awesome, because I get to read some books I might not have picked up otherwise. In January, we read the Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which I totally loved, by the way. The book for February is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Which I own, but never read. So I have it somewhere, but I can’t find it.
Luckily, Dracula is old enough to be on Project Gutenberg, which is a page where you can download free and legal ebooks, mostly older works where the copyright has expired, so if I don’t find it, I don’t have to buy another copy.
I can hear you say “But Milladamen, why don’t you just borrow it at the library?” Well, if I borrow books from the library, it’s almost never free. I forget to deliver it on time, and I get fees. So that’s out of the question.
Later this year, we will be reading Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, the Martian by Andy Weir, Watership Down by Richard Adams and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The good thing is that I own two of these (Elantris and Watership Down), so I’ll only have to buy one or two of these. Frankenstein is probably old enough to be available for free, since it’s written in 1818, but I think I want to own it, too. It’s a classic, after all, and if I hate it, I can probably give it away, or BookCross it, or something. I don’t think I’ll hate it, though.
In other news, while looking for Dracula today, I came over a couple of other books I’d messed away and been looking for for a while, namely MythOS by Kelly McCullough (book four of a series I was reading, and had to stop reading, because book four was messed away), and His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik, which I was going to read before Christmas, but then I couldn’t find it. The problem now is that I’ll have to postpone these two, since I’m currently reading the Island by Victoria Hislop, and need to read Dracula before March. Oh, and the fact that we have Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch in the house now, and I’m looking forward to that one like crazy. Husband needs to read it first, though, since I’m on a book queue, and he reads really fast. And then, there is Elantris to read in March. I have no idea when I’ll get to read something not on this list, but hey.
I also need to re-read the Stardoc series by S.L. Viehl soon, too. And Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series. And more of Wen Spencer’s books. And then there’s the ordeal about this whole “Get ten friends to recommend one book each, and read them” thing, which is the reason why I’m reading Hislop right now in the first place.
I am also doing a reading challenge I found over at Facebook (link to PDF here), but then again, the two books I’ve finished this year made me check off five items on that list, since I’m not running hardcore, and can check off more than one thing if the items fit the book I’ve read. And the Island has already given me the right to check off at least two more, and I’ve barely even started the book.
I’ve also started the second draft of one of the novels I’m writing. I’ve never second-drafted anything before, so it’s kind of exciting. And when the second draft is done, people are going to read my book! This scares me senseless.
And in the middle of all this, there’s work, which has been crazy lately. I thought I would get one day a week of work. Instead, I get at least four days a week for another two weeks, since people are on vacation. And after that, well, let’s just say that I’m one of the few that are available daytime on weekdays, so if anyone goes absent for some reason or another, I’m there.
