Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?
Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?
This is only the third year that I’m tracking what I read. After looking over my notes, I can say that, generally, my reading material is not influenced by the season — except the Winter holiday season, of course. It seems strange to read Christmas stories in July. Oh, and I chose to read some paranormals I’d been curious about around Halloween. I don’t know if I’ll plan it that way again, unless it’s part of a challenge.
Having said that, I remembered (and was reminded by my notes) that I chose to read Jane Austen during the Spring of 2006 and 2007. I was also reading two books at a time, back then, and the other books were chosen (probably) based on my mood or just because they were radically different from Austen (i.e., Glory in Death, Star Wars books in 2006). This year, I haven’t done that, mostly because my goals are different. I want to read more books that were published this year, instead of being perpetually behind. Something had to be sacrificed, and I’m afraid it was Jane.
I’m not an outdoor person. I’m not interested in gardening. I don’t like reading outside and much prefer to be cool and comfortable inside, maybe with all the windows open to let a breeze in (providing that it’s cool enough). I’m fair-skinned, so beach reading would be doubly out of the question.
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Suggested by Nithin:
I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?
Most of the time, I try to figure out the meaning based on the context. I will look words up if that fails. Though picking up a dictionary is dangerous, because I have a habit of browsing thought it.
But what do you do when you’re reading Georgette Heyer, and haven’t taken “Regency Speak 101″? I just finished April Lady. Nell’s brother, Lord Dysart, tells his sister her owes his friend Mr. Fancot a monkey. Normally, a reader would think “small mammal with a banana fixation” — and why would Nell care if he did. And knowing Dysart’s involvement in schemes for the sake of a bet, it would have seemed logical to assume it did.
Except it doesn’t. Not in this case, anyway. In context, I knew it had to relate to money and/or gambling. “Monkey” in this case it means £500.
I’m slowly making my way through Heyer’s historicals, so I’m getting better at comprehending what the characters are saying to one another. Fortunately, there are sites like Good Ton and the Georgette Heyer fan site that lits of many of the terms. However, I’ve yet to discover what the title of the book means. I’m assuming that “April”, in this case, means more than “the fourth month in the Georgian calendar.” 
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Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
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Turn to page 123.
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What is the first sentence on the page?
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The last sentence on the page?
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Now . . . connect them together….
(And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)
“I always speak my mind, and I told him at the time that he would do better to ally himself to a female nearer in age to himself.”
“I could not!”
This actually makes sense! It sounds like the second speaker is telling the first that she could not speak her mind and tell the man in question he could have found a wife closer in age.
The quotes are from April Lady by Georgette Heyer. The first speaker is Lady Chudleigh, the aunt of the Earl of Cardross (the “he” of the comment”). She is speaking the young countess, Nell. The earl’s young half-sister, Lady Letitia, has worn an improper gown to Lady Chudleigh’s masquerade. Letty is a flighty girl, slightly younger than Nell. Lady Chudleigh is lamenting to Nell that she regrets the fact “that Letitia does not take a lesson from you, dear [Nell].” Though Lady Chudleigh advised the earl to find a wife “nearer in age”, since the marriage Lady Chudleigh has been “agreeably surprised” by Nell’s “discretion” and “good taste.” Lady Chudleigh is bestowing a compliment — a rarity, as her daughter tells Nell after the older woman walks away.
Miss Chudleigh is the speaker of the second quote. She eventually brings up the topic of Letty’s shocking gown. She says to Nell, “I can’t think how [Letty] can [wear it] without blushing. I could not.”
help
