Reading Notes

Wow! I am so tickled to hear back from many of you in the comments and email. I've been away for too long (nothing serious just...away) and hope to get back to posting a little more regularly. Blogger is acting sluggish though and I'm not sure if it's my laptop or connection or blogger itself. And then there is the kerfuffle with Shelfari merging with Goodreads, which means I don't know what regarding the 'bookshelves' on my sidebar. I am loathe to see those go as they are a visual feature of Shelfari that I loved. Ugh. Maybe it's time to investigate a new platform.

*cracking knuckles*

Ok, so, let's talk books.

I've been reading plenty but my record-keeping has been abysmal. So, a quick off-the-top-of-my-head rundown of my recently read books looks something like this...

I enjoyed them all except perhaps Death in Venice, which I found tiresome and sappy, a real disappointment after the love-in I had with Buddenbrooks and Magic Mountain.  Oh well. 

Freedom was good in the same way The Corrections was good, very character driven with a multitude of complex personalities in a thoroughly American Midwest setting. And it was interesting to read Franzen side-by-side with the Norwegian Knausgaard; both Book One  and this Book Two of Knausgaard's six-part autobiographical My Struggle series are phenomenal. I loved the writing and the immersive nature of his story in Norway and Sweden. Both he and Franzen are similarly middle-aged male authors each with their distinctly European and American perspectives on life. I like them both. Which author's book I pick up to read will depend in which continent/culture I feel like immersing myself. Aren't books great that way? 

Wanderlust is a somewhat exhausting travelogue of author Elisabeth Eaves travels as a restless young woman - the kind of woman who takes off on her own with a oneway ticket and no plan. I, on the other hand, being of a more *ahem* high maintenance delicate nature, would never have been brave enough to travel this way, so it was fun to experience it through the pages of her book without leaving the comfort of my couch and access to snacks.

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman. Wow. Thoroughly thought provoking or what? Somewhat heartbreaking but given the circumstances has an okay ending, I thought. Great discussion material. 

And then, My Life in France by Julia Child. What's not to like? The beautiful setting of France with all the delicious food that goes with it. A fun read.