PrePlan Musings

Muy busy today, at work, at home, commuting in snow, Little One’s night-time basketball game, bills to pay, yoga to do (yeah, I’m back on that after throwing out my back), and some much-anticipated reading of my latest PJF. So, some quick thinking-out-loud on what’s on deck.

About a sixth into James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom, and I’m really digging it. 145 pages in and we’re still focusing on the prelude to the Civil War: filibusters – which is not what it means today, Know Nothings – who would’ve hated me and tried to suppress my vote, Bleeding Kansas. So I’m thinking a good way to celebrate spring would be to get the audio CDs of Michael Shaara’s epic of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, and read along with it. Probably a 75-80 percent chance I’ll do it.

But before spring we Catholics have what’s known as Lent. What shall my Lenten reading be this year? Last year my attempt to read through the Psalms was not successful. But in previous years I was able to complete Jim Bishop’s The Day Christ Died and Anna Katherine Emmerich’s The Dolorous Passion of Christ. I want to read something relevant, but I lack the free time I had in the past to devote to an epic or even just a normal full-length novel. Not sure, but something must be done, so I’ll have to devote more thought to this.

Last year in February I had a very delightful surprise rereading Asimov’s The Bicentennial Man and first-time reading his Prelude to Foundation. I’ve had Robots of Dawn on my shelf for the past couple of months. Wouldn’t mind getting into that once I finish the PFJ phase.

Speaking of my PFJ phase, I’ve just started book number 5, out of thirteen that I’ve scooped up here and there. About 30 percent done with the Philip Jose Farmer project. So far I’ve enjoyed it immensely, as I figured I would. I like this guy. I’ve liked what I’ve read of his. I’ve even considered trying to bang out a quick novella based in his style. In this case, it would be more like the Flight to Opar and Wind Whales than Night of Light. That is, fish-out-of-water trying to survive on a decidedly hostile planet.

That’s about as far ahead as I’ve been thinking. At my reading pace, that’ll get me to April or May. Beyond that, I don’t know. Toyed with the idea of reading some of Gene Wolfe’s stuff (only read one book and one short story of his, many years ago). I also have a backlog of thirty-five or forty other SF novels on the shelf behind me to read. The Crystal Cave and The Hollow Hills, staples of my early teens, are begging for a re-read. I have a couple of classics, The Grapes of Wrath and The Man in the Iron Mask, that interest me. Plus I might gear up for the endeaverous Neal Stephenson and read his Anathem. We’ll see about all this.

Uh-oh, that sounds like a youngling crying! Gotta go –