The Book Blogger Hop 4/2/11

First of all, I have to apologise for things being a bit slow over here the last week or two. I'm in rehearsals for a double bill of Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance and Trial By Jury, which, along with work, doesn't leave much time or energy for reading and reviewing.

But I have just been paid, and yesterday I came home with a few more books to add to my ever-increasing to-read pile. From work: Dorothy Koomson's The Woman He Loved Before, which judging from the blurb sounds as though it could be a modern-day Rebecca. I also bought this week's Times recommendation - The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith, which I already owned, but which came with a free copy of the second Sunday Philosophy Club book, which I haven't read. Annoyed that Lauren Oliver's Delirium hadn't arrived instore, I went down to the other bookshop and bought it on a Buy One Get One Half Price with Maggie Stiefvater's Lament.

Plus three library books, four Richard and Judy Book Club recommendations and various books left over from previous splurges. I intend to make up for lost time in March.

Hosted by Jennifer at Crazy For Books 

"What are you reading now and why are you reading it?"

I have two books on the go at the moment: Middlemarch by George Eliot, which I have been reading, on and off, for several months now. I'd been meaning to read it since seeing the beginning of the BBC adaptation a few years ago, and am enjoying it, but have been quite daunted by such an enormous volume and reading only a bit at a time. This last week, though, I've sped through the second half and am nearly finished. It'll be strange when I've finally finished it.

I'm also reading Lauren Oliver's Delirium, which was released in the UK yesterday. Before I Fall was one of my favourite books of 2010, one I bought without any prior knowledge of after being drawn to it in the bookshop. There's been a lot of rave reviews from those lucky enough to get advanced copies, and a lot of excitement from book bloggers, and I wanted to read it now! Expect a review in the next couple of days.