Austen, it's (finally) your time

I have a confession to make.  I have never read a Jane Austen novel.  I've seen the movies, know the stories, but, with my head hung in shame, I must finally come clean and admit that I've never actually read any Austen.

I feel like a traitor to my sex and my profession!

I haven't been able to get into any of the books I've brought home in the last few days, so I've decided to rectify the situation.

With which Austen novel do I start?  Pride & Prejudice? Sense & Sensibility? Emma?  Northanger Abbey?  I'm leaning toward Emma.  What do you think?

On books and reading

I've been reading lately.  A lot.  I'm lucky.  I am a librarian and I work every day in a building devoted to collecting the printed word.  One can't assume, though, that proximity and availability necessarily provides any more time in which to get lost in a good book.  Contrary to a strangely common notion, my job does not give me any more time in which to read than the average person who works full-time and has other stuff going on in life.  


What my job does give me, though, is a daily opportunity for discovery.  I see hundreds of books every day, some are familiar, but many are new to me - older titles that I've never encountered and others fresh from the presses.  And because it's a library and not a bookstore, I'm able to sweep these books up and bring them home for a few weeks, maybe to be read, maybe to sit in a stack at the side of my bed, but all without a sense of commitment or a feeling of guilt if they're returned unopened.  Usually, the number of unopened books far exceeds that of those I actually read.


Except recently.  As I said above, I've been reading a lot lately.  I've been wanting to read - all the time.  On the train, on my lunch break, sitting in the car while my husband is in the store, in the evenings and on weekends, when I should be attending to other errands and activities.  And it hasn't been that a particular book has captured me - they all have.  


It just struck me this morning that perhaps I'm trying to get it all in.  Perhaps I'm attempting to discover and devour as many books as I can - as many new authors, new subjects, new stories - before we move to Vienna.  Perhaps I'm afraid I'll have little access to books that I can actually read once we're there and that I'll have to make due with my own collection of already read books.  I know this is a little silly, that the Vienna Public Library does have an English language collection, and I fully intend to take advantage of this.  I do wonder what it is like, though.  Is it extensive?  Current?  I can search the online catalog from here (in English no less) but if there is anyone reading who is familiar with the Library, I'd love to hear what I have to look forward to.   


I know I'll be able to order books online if I'm looking for something specific, but I'm thinking mostly about the opportunity to browse, to discover.  A bit of quick research has turned up a few bookstores in Vienna that either specialize in or at least carry books in English:


British Bookstore
International Bookstore
Shakespeare & Company
Thalia


I also have to say that I consider myself very lucky that my native language is English and not, say, Swahili or Thai, which, I can only imagine, would make finding books in other countries much more difficult.      

Are you an expat with a native language different than that of your current home?  What has your experience in this area been?

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And because I'm always curious about what other people are reading, I'm going to share some of the recent titles I've enjoyed and am enjoying.  Please feel free to comment and share your own recent discoveries.  

Recently Read:

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City by David Lebovitz

Embers by Sandor Marai

Family Album by Penelope Lively

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Currently in my Reading & To Be Read stacks: 

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

36 Arguments for the Existence of God: a work of fiction by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

Boys and Girls Like You and Me: Stories by Aryn Kyle

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin

Clark, Freud, Edwards and Me

My alma mater, Clark University, a small, liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, was the site of Sigmund Freud's introduction - and that of psychoanalysis -to America in 1909 .  Freud, the Viennese neurologist who was known at the time in Europe but not so much in the United States, delivered a series of five lectures on his theory of psychoanalysis at the school.  They are known today as the "Clark Lectures."  It was Freud's first and only trip to America and apparently there is a statue of Freud right in the middle of campus, although I don't remember it at all! (note: I just found out it was erected in 1999, well after my tenure there.  Thank goodness. I thought I was losing my mind!)  

I was reminded of this fact, one that I no doubt learned when I was a prospective student of the university, in the novel I am currently reading, The Little Book by Selden Edwards.  The story spans generations and takes place at different times in Northern California, the Boston-area, and Vienna.  Sounds familiar, a little like a map of my life.  I don't remember choosing the book for that reason and I certainly didn't know that Clark would come into play in the story - it is a small school, not one that you ever hear about in general conversation or in the news - so it feels like a strangely personal connection.  I love how that happens sometimes.