Read Much?

I am what you might call a voracious reader. I devour books. I never go anywhere without one (or two or three). I stay up too late at night because I can’t put books down. But lately, something has changed. I can’t read a book to save my life. For Christmas, I received about a dozen books. Some of them were rather weighty tomes (a biography of the Roman Empress Livia, a history of the Angevin empire, and three, count ‘em, three books on the Cathars), so perhaps I can be forgiven for not having made much headway, but several others were quite lightweight and I’ve still barely made a dent. In early January, I read the least scholarly of the three books on the Cathars, but it was a pretty easy read. I made it through Something Borrowed, a chick lit, pink-covered quick read that perhaps wasn’t the most appropriate reading material for a soon to be bride, since it’s about a maid of honor who has an affair with the groom in the months leading up to the wedding. (The bride character is a total bitch and reminded me of some toxic former friends, so it was much easier to identify with the MOH.) And I read Amanda’s Wedding, another chick lit tome, which was completely worthless and made me so mad that I threw the book across the room when I was done with it. That was in mid-January, and that was the last book I’ve read. This is just embarrassing for someone who reads at least a few books a month. In February, I tried to read the latest John Banville. I made it through 10 pages before admitting that it just wasn’t happening these days (and I freaking love Banville).

What’s happening with me? Even when I slow down a bit in my reading, I’m still usually reading one or two books, even if I’m doing it slowly. Have I allowed stress to take over and use way too much of my brain? Is the wedding so all-consuming that I don’t have room for anything else? (And how depressing is that?) Even my usual standby of re-reading old favorites (Agatha Christie when I’m sick, Nancy Mitford when I’m blue, and Jane Austen anytime) isn’t working lately. I’m hoping that it’s just stress and that once the wedding is over I’ll dive back into my usual habits. I’ll be bringing a big stack of books with me on the honeymoon (poor Lord Kissington). On my list are the aforementioned Banville, Jude the Obscure, and Hugh Laurie’s novel The Gunseller (he’s ever so talented, isn’t he?). Wish me luck.