Winter in this part of the world is officially over and the brief Spring is here. I can like this season had it not been the harbinger of the terrible Indian Summers! Long months of dry heat, followed by humid heat and all round unpleasantness lie ahead of me. When I add that to all the unnecessary complications and ensuing sadness in my personal sphere, and grueling work hours, I am just about ready to give on everything and become a hermit in the Mountains! But such is life, and after the Summer, there shall be another Autumn/Winter, pretty much like after all the turmoil in my life, there will some moments of joy and peace! Besides, my work is enriching and there are always good books to distract, entertain and soothe!
March brings with the usual dilemma of too many books and too little time! I am loving Herodotus’s The Histories, that I am reading with Cleo and Ruth, as part of the Well Educated Mind Reading Event. While both the ladies, have finished/shall finish the book, I make real slow progress, but I am loving it, so I do not mind! I also continue with The Pickwick Papers Read Along and I am so very glad O came up with the idea of reading it a serialized manner, because, every month, when I stop,there is anticipation and eagerness about what happens next which we as readers are deprived when reading in one go, in a consolidated novel form! I am also continuing my attempt to read more Indian History, with The Hindu by Wendy Dongier. This too is a slow read, but a good read and I guess I am just very grateful that I have time to read at all, these last couple of weeks being what they have been. I am also hoping to read Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol should Cleo read the same. Gogol has been a favorite of my grandfather and father, but I have never read his work, so this may be a good place to try and discover what fascinated my Dad and Grandpa! I am also reading The Perpetual Curate by Margaret Oliphant. Ever since reading Miss Majoriebanks by Mrs. Oliphant, I have been wanting to read more of her works and I am so glad to have finally gotten hold of one of her works. I also bought Under The Deodars by Rudyard Kipling. when I bought The Perpetual Curate. I do not like Kipling per se – imperialists, racist and many other ists, but somehow Deodars, which quintessentially are the trees that seem to represent the Himalayas, which everyone knows is my spiritual home and I bought it simply on this whimsical reason! At least I will dream of the cool mountains as I prepare for the furnace like heat on the plains! My final purchase and book I am already loving is Amy Tan’s Saving The Fish From Drowning. Ms. Tan always a favorite and this book so far, does not disappoint! I am sure there will be more books I will be reading as I wander along, which I cannot even seem to see as of now and of course, all of you shall of my reading adventures.
That’s all for today folks!
Mockingbirds, Looking Glasses & Prejudices... 
I’m glad that you are enjoying Herodotus, and will continue through it.
I am planning to read Gogol for my Russian challenge; however, I do not have Dead Souls in my short story collection, : ( otherwise I would have read it with you guys. I’ve not read anything by him before.
Herodotus is wonderful Ruth! I just wish I had more time to read it! I have trying to coerce Cleo into reading it, but I am not sure she is in alignment as yet about Gogol! 😉
I’ve been curious about reading The Hindu, but I feel like I should read a more introductory book on Hinduism first since Doniger’s book presents a very particular point of view.
The Hindu is actually a History of India narrated from the lesser known voices, women, those catagory of person considerd as lower castes etc. If you would want to read something on Indian History, I would recommend get started with Romilla Thapar’s brilliant History of Ancient India and AL Basham’s The Wonder that was India.
I don’t envy you the nagging anxiety about your summer. Some really interesting books you are reading. I have always meant to read Dead Souls one day so it should be interesting to see what you make of it. Mrs Oliphant wrote one or two very good ghost stories and she would probably be well worth reading in a longer form.
Hah! Ian..I HATE , absolutely HATE Indian Summers. I loved Miss Majoriebanks and so far am quite liking The Perpetual Curate; its very Anthony Trollope meets Cranford. I am trying to convince Cleo to read Dead Souls; at any case I will let you know what I feel, when I get to it!
You’ve got a lot on the go! I love Herodotus! He is both fascinating and hilarious. I hope the heat doesn’t settle in for a while yet and you get to enjoy some mild temperatures!
I’m really sorry to hear about your continued work issues with regards to time, or the lack thereof. I’m glad that I can convince you to step out of that world for brief periods and join the fun and enriching book-world! Actually my time for reading has diminished as well, but I’m trying to be positive about it. Hopefully spring will bring better times, so here’s to it! 🙂
Yes…..To Spring and better reading times! 🙂