What I'm reading this week (2/8/16)

My February is off to a good start. How about yours?

There are so many things to love about little ole February: Valentine's Day, Presidents Day (I love the excuse to read about presidents), and the best two-day event of the year--the Westminster dog show. Also, I'm settling into a great list of reading.

Last week I finished:

I don't like to spend too long on any book. I felt like the two weeks I spent reading Jane Eyre was just too long. And it felt like Eight Days took 80 days to listen to. I enjoy a long book, but I also seem to have the need for a great deal of book turnover!

I'm glad I finally finished Jane Eyre, and I'm glad I finally gave Eighty Days a try, too. Neither of them became immediate favorites, but it's possible Jane Eyre might grow on me after the fact.

Last week, I began:

 

I enjoy the wit of A.A. Milne, but I tend to be surprised by the amount of inharmonious interactions amongst the inhabitants of Hundred Acre Wood. It's disconcerting, yet oddly refreshing. Anyone else feel that way?

I'm working my way through Maxine Kumin's Where I Love, poems from 1990-2010. It's quite a mix. She writes quite a bit about animals (horses and dogs, especially), but also about rural life, other poets and poetry events, and politics. I'm getting a kind of poetry whiplash reading this. Since it's "selected" poems, not as much energy can go into establishing a good flow, I guess, but it feels strange. You never know what's coming next. The poems, though I've only marked a couple as "love", are enjoyable and easy to engage with.

This weekend, I began:

After finishing Jane Eyre, I needed a change of pace with something a bit fluffier. I'm currently rereading The Pioneer Woman's memoir, The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, about how she went from California college girl to Oklahoma rancher's wife.