Reading
Past
Finished The Beggar Queen before the the end of July. I even posted some thoughts on Lloyd Alexander’s Westmark trilogy!
Also caught up on my Deal Me In reading, though I’m not back on the commentary wagon there.
On a nostalgia-powered whim, I decided to reread A Room with a View by E. M. Forster. The first/last time I read it was probably sometime in college when I decided that since I liked the movie so much I should probably do my due diligence and read the book. I think I have more to say about it later.
Future
I purchased a copy of Draft No. 4 by John McPhee. That’s probably going to be my morning reading for a couple/few weeks.
I should finish The King in Yellow, but I’m not really enthusiastic about it. Chamber’s writing is rather plain and oblique. I’ll power through another couple stories and see where I stand.
Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon is hosting a “reverse” readathon on the 7th-8th. Instead of starting 8am EST of Saturday, it starts at 8pm EST on Friday—which comes out to 5pm my time. I’m looking forward to it.
Also gearing up for another Classics Club Spin:
What is the spin?
via the Classics Club blog
It’s easy. At your blog, before next Sunday 9th August 2020, create a post that lists twenty books of your choice that remain “to be read” on your Classics Club list.
This is your Spin List.
On Sunday 9th August, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by 30th September, 2020.
So here’s my Spin List:
- Edgar Huntly by Charles Brockden Brown
- The Mummy! by Jane Webb Loudon
- Clarimonde by Théophile Gautier
- The Queen’s Necklace by Alexandre Dumas
- East Lynne by Ellen Wood
- Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
- Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy
- Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson
- King Solomon’s Mines by Henry Rider Haggard
- The Horla by Guy de Maupassant
- The Parasite by Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Wind in the Rose-Bush by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
- The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker
- The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce
- The House of the Vampire by George Sylvester Viereck
- The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham
- The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
- The Lady of the Shroud by Bram Stoker
- The Door in the Wall by H. G. Wells
- The Land of Mist by Arthur Conan Doyle
Watching
Watched two new-to-me movies this week. The first was The Messenger (2009) about a staff sergeant assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. It was pretty good, but anything with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster is going to be solid.
Better in my opinion was Bad Reputation (2018), a documentary about Joan Jett. I’ve never been a Joan Jett fan really, outside of her hits, but she’s an artist with an incredible and influential career.
ROW80
Past
It was kind of a crap week. I’ll blame the continued heatwave for my lethargy.
I forgot to track my time yesterday, but I probably worked less than 10 hours this past week. I did do a read-through of articles, set up a spreadsheet of names and addresses, updated the google map I have of events, and started writing—I have 300 of some kind of words.
Future
More research, more writing. I want to reread what The Man from the Train has to say about Rev. George Kelly. Generally, I’d like to learn more about policing and streetcars in Omaha in 1915.
Simple Tricks & Nonsense 
The book and the movie of Room With a View are both excellent, I thought. It was so long ago that I read Room With a View that I think I’d like to add it to a future Classics Club list.
I’m looking forward to the Reverse Readathon. I’ll be hosting in Hour 3. I also will have a little easy mini-challenge.
I need to make a list of books for the next spin. Thank you for the reminder.
We’ve had Bad Reputation in our Hulu queue for a while. I guess now we need to watch it. Sigh. 😉
I put my Hulu queue in a spreadsheet, numbered the entries, and have been rolling dice to see what I watch next, otherwise… I just scroll and scroll and scroll…
I look forward to your comments on McPhee’s writing process.
I realized I need to read more John McPhee in general!
Can’t wait for Dewey’s!!
It’s really interesting to have this bird’s eye view of an author doing research for a book. Thank you for including us!
I remember sneaking out to the Mesa Amphitheatre (Arizona) when I was grounded to go see Joan Jett. Great show. I told my Mom I was babysitting. I babysat a lot, for real, in those days so it was an easy sell. I will add the documentary to my TBW!
Sorry it was a crap week – and yes… the heat can suck the energy right out of you! I hope the coming week is a kinder one and enjoy the Reverse Readathon, which sounds far more doable:).
Nice blog