Too Many Books

You are all here to tell me there is no such thing as too many books, right? You are correct. However, it just might be possible to be reading too many books at once. I am reading six (including the one on my Kindle), and that might be overkill.

I’m not really sure how I got myself into this situation. I usually have two on the go at once, one on my Kindle and one physical book, but this is ridiculous. I am enjoying them all, but I don’t seem able to stick with one. I have them all in a stack on the couch next to me, and I keep reading a chapter here and a chapter there.

I did manage to finish Lessons in Crime the other night. I found this copy at the library. I am visiting all the libraries in my new area, and this week I went to the one in the next town over. I like it much better than the one in my town. Seeing British Library Crime Classics on the shelves might have something to do with that. This was a volume of short stories, and I enjoyed them, but short stories are not a favorite of mine. I am always left wanting more, especially when they are mysteries.

I know the Star Wars book doesn’t fit in with my usual reading but I think I have mentioned before that my son loves Star Wars and particularly loves the novels by Timothy Zahn. I have been reading them as a way to stay connected with his interests. We have also been watching some of the Star Wars shows together.

I am rereading the Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett. I have read the whole series twice before but it has been about five years since the last time. Anyone who has read them before will know you have to be mentally and emotionally prepared for them. They are fantastically well-written and I get something new out of them every time. There is so much that interconnects throughout the series and much of it you don’t pick up on the first or even second time through. The characters are so well-developed and human, flaws and all. I do think I might need to find a few books that cover the history of the time to expand my understanding of the novels.

I found Jane Austen’s England at the same neighboring library. It is a book I have been debating buying and I probably will add it to my collection eventually. I like any book that tells me the details of how people lived in the past and the Jane Austen time period is just the icing on the cake. I’ve read about everything from chimneysweeps to ink to childbirth and I’m only one hundred or so pages in.

I just started The Sea Captain’s Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World this morning. Because obviously I needed to start another book. It is the story of a 19-year-old sea captain’s wife who took command of the ship when her husband became ill, the first mate was confined to the brig, and the second mate couldn’t read. They then encountered a storm that lasted eighteen days. It sounds amazing and adventurous.

The book I am reading on my Kindle is a Miss Silver mystery by Patricia Wentworth. I do love Miss Silver. It is the perfect read-in-bed-before-I-go-to-sleep book.

What are you reading and how many books do you read at once? Please tell me six is absolutely normal.