Sorry for the silent treatment this week, but I just returned from a whirlwind trip to the midwest with my 17-year-old daughter and husband. We visited three colleges that she is applying to--one in Minnesota and two in Iowa. I did have my laptop and a couple of books, but with all the driving, visiting, discussing, and absorbing, there was no time left to read/blog much less twitter and tweet.
I did manage to watch almost all of the next episode of Playing Shakespeare (planning to blog on it soon--topic is playing passion with coolness), finished 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare (can't wait to blog on final thoughts), finished Atonement (but will not blog on it until I watch the movie and do both together) and started The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte (Blecchhh!).
I have thrown down The Secret Diaries in disgust twice now with a "Life's Too Short" speech to anyone who would care to listen, but I feel that if I'm going to blog about it I should actually finish it. Maybe it gets better.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to decide between starting Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone and Paul Collins's The Book of William: How Shakespeare's First Folio Conquered the World. I don't think I could go wrong with either.
I also want to let everyone know that I am on the Elizabeth Gaskell tour that The Classics Circuit has organized. I am the second stop--November 17--and will be blogging on Gaskell rather than one of her works. I am planning on doing the Collins tour as a blog reader rather than blog writer so that means I'll probably read The Moonstone. Okay, there you have it. Decision made. Gotta run and do laundry, unpack, and make chili for supper.
It's good to be back.
