What I'm Reading, Week 17

Still reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell! It's quite long, turns out.

Normally, this is not something that would bother me in any way, but I've only got the same three weeks in which to read this, Wolf Hall, and The Paris Wife, on account of how things came off hold through my public library account. It never rains, but it pours, am I right?

Seriously, though, I'm not an idiot, I know most people who work 50-60 hours a week are not also trying to read 100 books in 365 days.

Anyway, I'm still really enjoying this book, I'm nearly halfway through, I only wish I had a little more leisure at which to read it. You know what I mean? Definitely give it a go if you have any interest in a dry sort of fantasy (I can't think how else to describe it properly).

What I'm Reading, Week 16

I waited what felt like an eternity for this to come off hold, and by the time it did, I'd forgotten all about it. I must say, though, I'm having a hell of a time reading it, in the best possible way. It's set in early 19th century England, so there's that right off the bat to get me engaged, and it seems so far to concern at least one very odd man who intends to bring the practice of magic back to his country. I've read Susanna Clarke before, and she has an interesting habit of writing somewhat in the style of the period in which she sets her tales. I find it enjoyable, but I fear it might be a hindrance to less voracious readers. Nevertheless, I'm excited to discover what follows in this book! Tentatively, I'm quite willing to recommend it.

Happy Wednesday!

What I'm Reading, Week 13

I read some sad bits over the weekend, so right now I'm going through Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices trilogy.

Pretty similar to a hundred other YA fantasy novels, except Cassandra Clare knows how to use the subjunctive. I'm deeply pleased.

What I'm Reading, Week 6

Of course I'm still reading A Voyage Long and Strange, I bought it, and am thus under no pressure to finish it. It's good though, and I'm enjoying little bits and pieces of it as I grab some time for it when I can.

I started and finished Holly Black's Black Heart, whatever, judge me if you want. I'm afraid that I'm finally an adult because the star-crossed love stories in these teen lit books look an awful lot like hormone driven stupidity to me. C'mon y'all, there's nothing wrong with getting you all sorted before you go on hitching your life and all your choices to another human being. You can still date each other in the meantime.

I bet the really good ones wouldn't make me feel that way. But I'm not reading any of those right now because they're ALWAYS ON HOLD. And I've run out of hold spaces. Sigh.

Can't even lie, I'm really off pace right now and it's only February. I got on a knitting jag, and I cannot, in fact, read and knit at the same time. The blanket I'm knitting is turning out great, though, so there's that. Whatever, I'm not getting graded on any of this.

What I'm Reading, Week 3

You're thinking, "Oh, man, I missed weeks 1 and 2!" Welp, no you didn't, and I'm not a man. It's merely the third week of the year. Herein I will describe what I'm currently reading in my quest to complete 100 books in one calendar year. Accountability, yo.

I'm currently on these two suckers, A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz, and Madeline L'Engle's perennial favorite, A Wrinkle in Time.

Horwitz's book, which I'm only a little ways into, seems to be somewhere between a historical study and a travelogue. His charming writing explores the history of America between Columbus and the Pilgrims, more or less. I'm quite enjoying it so far; and, although I have a weakness for American colonial history, I think it'd be interesting to a wider range of people than just fanatics like myself.

A Wrinkle in Time, published in 1962 and winner of the Newbery Medal for that year, first crossed my path about 13 years ago, sometime in middle school. I loved it upon first reading and I love it even more now, if possible. The story brings up issues both mundane (feeling like an outcast in school) and fantastical (saving one's father from intergalactic enemies) and uses them to probe deeper meanings of life, probably for the first time in the experience of the book's intended audience. Really, though this is my umpteenth re-reading and tinged with more than a little nostalgia, it makes me think a little more broadly. If you never read it, you missed out, so go ahead and just power through. I'm almost done, it's only a good few hours of reading for an adult.

Have any of you read these? What did you think?

Number 3: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

As I hope you were able to guess from the title of this post, this is the third book I finished in my great literary quest for 2014. It was also the first stylistically challenging selection, and happened to be nearly 1,000 pages long. I did not know this when I started.

I'm not even sure where I first heard of this book, but when I saw it pop up on the Chicago Public Library's recent additions to their ebooks, I had the vague sense that it had been recommended to me at some point as something science-fictiony. 

Turns out, it was more along the lines of fantasy, though not quite, but pretty much, and also real. (That sentence pretty much sums up the vibe of the whole book.)

Now, there's nothing I hate more than a book being spoiled. This is why I infrequently write about the books I've read. Suffice to say, the story is told from the perspective of a man and a woman, mostly, in alternating chapters, mostly, and generally concerns the connections between them, and perhaps humanity in general. I really wouldn't like to say any more, part of the appeal of this book for me was being baffled for quite a while and then finally figuring out what was going on.

If you're looking for a tome to work your way through, I say it's worth a go. It was interesting enough that I feel better for having read it, and isn't that enough?