Sunday reading: Edith, Spenser, plans

I hope everyone is having a nice, relaxing Sunday,   After two or three days of gorgeous, blue-skied, cool (!!!) weather, it's a little cloudy this morning, which suits me well, because I'm in a nesting mood. (And a reading mood! It's been a couple of weeks since I've done any Sunday reading, mostly for good reasons, but as we move into fall and winter I'm looking forward to returning to my Sunday routine. Yes, I am jumping the gun, but these are my two favorite seasons. But then again, I was just looking at the 10-day forecast... high 60s tomorrow, 89 (??? could that be a typo?) on Wednesday, and a high of 66 on Saturday. Crazy! (and normal).

I don't really want to make reading plans, though... I just want to read. I was happy that Jane and JoAnn and Lisa reminded me about R.I.P. VIII. I don't have any specific books in mind yet, though a couple of Charles Todds and the two earlier Louise Pennys that I haven't yet read are on my Ipod, waiting for long walks. {Because it plays both CDs and MP3s -- and the remote works! -- my new 'necklace' has already greatly enhanced my audiobook-listening capabilities. I'm so glad I decided to buy it, especially since it's only available on Amazon now at almost twice the price. It was destiny.}

Last night, I finished listening to Wonderland, the new Spenser novel written by Parker's heir, Ace Atkins.  I think this new writer does a very good job of continuing the mood and feel of Parker's books, and I'm glad that we still have Spensers to read. {A couple of weeks ago, The Boston Globe had a quiz to see if we could tell Parker's writing from Atkins'. I didn't do very well.} Although it was a lot of fun to listen to, I think there was something missing in this book {Hawk was away, and there wasn't as much of Spenser's inner self}. But even though it wasn't as moving as Jane's sense of home in her reading, I was listening on my Ipod while I was walking down Commonwealth Avenue, only to hear that Spenser was walking down Commonwealth Avenue at that very moment.  I looked around, but I couldn't see him!

On Monday, I started reading The Age of Innocence with JoAnn (with abject apologies to our friend Bellezza, because I messed up my chance to read it with her earlier this year). I love that I'm reading my slightly-yellowed paperback copy from college; the date I wrote on the inside front cover reminded me that I would have bought it for the seminar on the literature of New York that I took with Professor Lewis, her biographer.  I've read the first five or six chapters, and I think he would have assigned this book even without his connection to EW.  There's so much minutely observed detail {food, houses, clothing, architecture, social customs, prejudices, fashionable and bohemian neighborhoods}.  I know the story, so I'm trying to concentrate a little on these details and how Edith works them into her look back on the 'old New York' of her younger life. JoAnn and I are also hoping to meet at The Mount sometime in September or October, if we can. I can't tell you how nice that would be!

What are you reading/doing/planning today?