Quiet, but restless inside

[pegkerr]

I'm in that fretful stage where I don't know what I want to read next, and I don't really have anything to write, whether in fiction or my paper journal or here. The fiction drying up I've had several months to get used to, but when my inner commentator falls silent, too, that is new, and extremely unfamiliar and rather unpleasant. I look out upon the world with tired eyes and have little to say.

The house is cleaner, which makes me feel a whole lot better at least.

Comments

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Did you ever read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell? It's a good read.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have. I think it was on my book list a couple of months ago.

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

OOoh, I hate that feeling. I don't wanna write, I don't wanna read, I don't wanna watch a movie. I'm too restless in my skin to enjoy anything.

Glad the house is cleaner. It's small consolation, but consolation anyway. Have a wonderful time, and don't worry about a thing while you're gadding.

[volkhvoi.livejournal.com]

You sound down and exhausted and carrying too much on your shoulders.

Be a little more gentle with yourself.

[ame-chan.livejournal.com]

I just picked up Jennifer ROberson's Lady Of The Forest, which I really enjoyed the first time around. It's even more elegant and wonderful this time. Have you read that one?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Nope, haven't gotten around to that one. I think I've read a couple of her other books, though.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

If you've never read them, I very highly recommend two novels by Mark Salzman, The Soloist and Lying Awake. They both have some relevance to your current predicament, though one is about a former cello prodigy who becomes a juror on a very unusual murder trial, and one is about a cloistered nun.

[whapnoggin.livejournal.com]

Salzman's nonfiction is also entertaining, and his interest in martial arts would be especially interesting to you. In Lost in Place, the young Salzman has a passionate desire to become a Shaolin monk, so he wears a bald-head wig and dyes his pajamas for a gi. The latest book (which I haven't read yet) is about teaching writing.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Sounds like, with the cleaning and all, that you're getting ready for an up-coming project. Clearing the decks, as it were, for the next project, be it reading, writing, gardening or what have you.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yes, we are leaving for a week's vacation today. I do much prefer coming back to a clean house.

[dreadmouse.livejournal.com]

I just finished Elizabeth Moon's "The Speed of Dark" and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a tastily thought-provoking book dealing with autism (Ms. Moon's teenage son is autistic) on the face of it, with deeper themes of identity, friendship, and how perception and reality really aren't as identical as we like to think they are.

[mayakda.livejournal.com]

I lent that to a non-sf reader and she was just blown away. Loves it. Wants to read Flowers for Algernon now.

[channe.livejournal.com]

Someone gave me C.J. Cherryh's "Cyteen" and "Downbelow Station" and I'm having an absolute blast with them. I also seem to be the last person in the world not to read them, though... :P

[merebrillante.livejournal.com]

Have you read American Gods by Neil Gaiman? It's my favorite of all his novels. But when I reach that point where I don't want to read, or write, or do anything, I knit or crochet. It keeps my hands active, and when I'm done, I have something tangible to show for my efforts.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have read that one. I ;iked it, too.

[mayakda.livejournal.com]

How about a Japanese historical?
I rec Cloud of Sparrows, which is set in the 1860s in Japan. There's a tiny bit of prophecy/prescience, but apart from that it's straight historical. I think it's lovely. The author is Takashi Matsuoko.

books that i think you might enjoy

[splagxna.livejournal.com]

i recommend anything by louise marley. i found 'the child goddess' to be particularly wonderful (and heartrending, but in a good way).

mary doria russell's 'the sparrow' is also excellent.

this is assuming, of course, that your mood wants to find something to read, instead of wanting to flail around irritably. there's both kinds. :)

Re: books that i think you might enjoy

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I have read both those books, actually, AND the sequel to The Sparrow--and I was just trolling my bookshelves thinking fretfully to myself "I wish I had another Louise Marley to read."

Re: books that i think you might enjoy

[splagxna.livejournal.com]

hrm. well, at least i have good taste. =)

i didn't like 'children of god' as much as the sparrow... the ending didn't quite do it for me - but they're both definite favorites of mine.