I’m on a streak of really good reads lately–which is great, except it makes it hard to put them down to tend to things like a blog about books.
Woe is me, indeed. ‘Tis a hard knock life, ya’ll. So here’s a quick look at what’s keeping me from writing as much as I feel I should be in this little thing we like to call WWW Wednesday.
This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
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| Lirael by Garth Nix |
Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words by John McWhorter |
Lirael is great sequel (through 3/4 or so, anyway)–not repeating the beats of the first book, but building on the first book and by addressing one of the elements mentioned by never explored.
I’m in the middle of one of those moments where 360 Libby holds became available within 4 days of each other. Which is annoying when it comes to books I had plans to listen to, but great because I’ve been wanting to listen to McWhorter read this book since I heard about it. Someone remind me when I’m panicking about my Dresden Files progress in November that I said this, okay?
What did you recently finish reading?
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| Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper |
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, read by Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, Jeff Ebner, David Pittu, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Mark Bramhall, Petrea Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Peter Ganim, Jade Wheeler & Various |
I’m telling you now, if we talk at all for the next 6 months and you’re into Crime Fiction–I’m going to talk too much about Everybody Knows without trying to say a word. I am so angry with myself for putting off reading this as long as I did (but since I just finished it, I’m feeling pretty magnanimous toward myself, too). It’s just devastatingly good–I feel like I’m close to overhyping it. But…I’ve read it, it’s hard to properly hype.
I absolutely get the hoopla over The Correspondent as much as I don’t share it. I enjoyed the book, just not as much as everyone else I’ve encountered. It was a solid, slow-burn of a read (or listen). Some good heart-tugging moments, some genuine smiles, too.
What do you think you’ll read next?
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| Guard in the Garden by Z S Diamanti |
The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne by Ron Currie, read by Lisa Flanagan |
From the first tweet I saw from Diamanti describing this cozy fantasy about an injured Dwarf warrior having to adjust to civilian life, I knew I had to read it. Now I get to. Really looking forward to this (and I still need something to help me recover from Harper’s book–Nix is a good step down from the intensity, but some cozy goodness will really help).
I don’t remember putting the novel about Babs Dionne’s death on my holds list, but the description sure sounds like something I’d like. Thanks, past me!
How are you closing out July? Hopefully with something cold to drink and a stack of good books.
Carol
I think The Correspondent is so different from what you usually read!
allysonyj
I’m currently stuck on four worthy books by well-known authors that I just can’t make myself continue with: 1) “Barkskins” by Annie Proux – in the first two sections the protagonists for whom the reader has come to care meet horrible deaths through torture by indigenous Canadians. In the next section the Indians are in for it. I can’t watch. 2) “Unsheltered” by Barbara Kingsolver – a woman discovers her house is unsalvageably disintegrating, and then her son calls with the news that his wife has killed herself leaving him with a newborn baby and destitution. 3) “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay” by Michael Chabon – a magician is about to drown horribly due to a failure of his assistant to properly prepare the illusion. 4) “Florence Adler Swims Forever” by Rachel Beanland – a pregnant woman at risk of miscarriage is kept ignorant of her sister’s death by drowning. Whew! No sunshine here!
So I instead re-read “The Scottish Prisoner”, a nice junk book by Diana Gabaldon, continuing the adventures of Jamie Fraser in a swash-buckling side junket with his pal Lord John Grey, secure in knowing that Jamie’s adventures continue for at least four more 800+ page volumes in the “Outlander ” series. I also read Jane Smiley’s pleasant fable “Perestroika in Paris” about a stray horse befriended by a dog, a raven, and an orphan boy as she roams about the Champ de Mars. And I reread Alessandro Barricco’s wonderful novella “Silk” about a French merchant’s trysts in 19th century Japan with a bandit warrior and his mysterious mistress – this is an absolutely enthralling story which you should not miss.
Oh, I was traveling and made some progress on “The Brothers Karamasov”.One great quote: “Men reject their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and honor those whom they have slain.”
Next I must nerve myself to finish at least one of the above worthy books, and there is a book club selection waiting for me at the library.
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