I guess I am coming down off my Wilkie Collins high. Although for the most part I am really enjoying the books on my current reading pile, I think I am overdoing it a bit. Apart from the Goethe (and now the Brooks), everything I have started was either written in the 1920s or 30s or is set (roughly) during that period (and all but two set in England). Although I am really fascinated by this post-war era and actively look for books set in it or about it, I am wondering if too much of a good thing is, well, good?
I've had to do a bit of switching about--library books coming due--a never ending battle. I love library books, but there is always that pressure of getting them read by a certain date. Unfortunately I've had to return The Convert by Elizabeth Robins. I didn't get terribly far into it, though what I read I did enjoy. To be honest the book was not very 'comfortable' to handle. That sounds strange, but the library (I had to ILL it) had it rebound at some point. It was so tightly rebound that it was hard getting the book to open wide and then the print ran down into the middle, which also made it clunky to read. And if I am going to be really critical--the paper had not only yellowed, but also had nasty spotting over alternating pages. Very unappreciative, aren't I? I decided to order a used paper copy and will read it at my leisure instead. Hopefully the paper won't have that same spotting.
In its stead I've just started reading Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book. I've literally only read a few pages, but it looks promising (despite the narrator's comment that she has slim and slender wrists, like the rest of her body. Why does that bother me?). It begins in 1996 in Sarajevo where Hanna has come to restore a very old illuminated manuscript. I know it will go back in time (all the way to the 15th century). Like the Brooks novel, I think I need a little variety in my reading choices. It's not so much that I don't want to read books on a certain subject, but maybe not every book that I have on the go should be set in one period (and since I usually have about six going at once...). Strangely, It is making me fidgety all of a sudden. So I thought I should look for something good that was not only written in the last 20 years, but also set during this period as well (and I may fudge a bit, so post-WWII at least). Suggestions welcome. Something really engrossing and contemporary. I had a harder time than I thought coming up with my list (books I have on hand) with those parameters in mind. I'm great with historical fiction, not so great with really modern settings.
- Arlington Park, Rachel Cusk
- The Sonnet Lover, Carol Goodman
- Pomegranate Soup, Marsha Mehran
- Prep, Curtis Sittenfield
- Black Swan Green, David Mitchell
- I am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe
- The Road, Cormac McCarthy
- Brick Lane, Monica Ali
- Veronica, Mary Gaitskill
- Crescent, Diana Abu-Jaber
- Being Dead, Jim Crace
- Half Broken Things, Morag Joss
- Crow Lake, Mary Lawson
I guess this means I might be shifting my mental queue about a bit. I think I should pick one of these or something similar (maybe I'll get a really wonderful suggestion) next time I finish a book. Variety is good, right?