Simon at Stuck in a Book tagged me for a Ten Random Books meme. The rules:
1. Go to your bookshelves...
2. Close your eyes. If you're feeling really committed, blindfold yourself.
3. Select ten books at random. Use more than one bookcase, if you have them, or piles by the bed, or...basically, wherever you keep books.
4. Use the books to tell us about yourself - where and when you got them, who got them for your, what the book says about you, etc. etc....
5. Have fun! Be imaginative. Doesn't matter if you've read them or not - be creative. It might not be easy to start off with, and the links might be a little tenuous, but I think this is a fun way to do this sort of meme.
6. Feel free to cheat a bit, if you need to...
So, in no particular order here goes. I did close my eyes, but no blindfold was necessary. And I grabbed from different places to get a variety. I wonder what these books say about me...
Detective Inspector Huss, Helene Tursten. I pulled this from my bookcase in my bedroom that has one full shelf of mysteries. This one is set in Sweden. I'm not sure when I bought it, but I expect it's part of my international crime/mystery phase. Note--female author and female sleuth. Very typical of me. I also love the Soho Crime imprint.
The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James. I really like the Modern Library editions and there was a time that I would only buy ML classics. Now I am not so picky. I've seen the movie, but Henry James in general scares me. I read and loved Washington Square and enjoyed The Turn of a Screw. Someday I am going to tackle this one. I can't remember which Edith Wharton book it has been compared with (The Age of Innocence?), but I have wanted to read them close together to compare. Wharton is far more accessible to me, by the way.
The Purity of Blood, Arturo Perez-Reverte. This is the second Captain Alatriste adventure. I've read the first, which is set in 17-century Spain. I love swashbuckling stories. Give me a novel with a little swordplay maybe a pirate or two and I'm happy. I know that sounds weird, girl's probably aren't supposed to like those sorts of stories, but I love adventure stories. And if you've never read Perez-Reverte I highly recommend him. He writes very literate prose. As a matter of fact I wonder how one man can know so much and incorporate it into his novels. Maybe I won't put this one back on my shelves now that I have it out. These are just run of the mill historical novels, but literary thrillers.
Marking Time, Elizabeth Jane Howard. You might already know I love books set in England roughly between 1900-1950. Well, other periods as well, but I tend to read a high percentage of books with this setting. I've already read Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles years ago, a quartet of books that begin right before WWII and follow one extended family through the war years. Actually I never got around to reading the last book, so last year I started at the beginning but never quite got around to the second book, which is Marking Time. Maybe this year. The books are roughly autobiographical and EJH is a marvelous writer.
Marie Blythe, Howard Frank Mosher. I've had this book for years and years. I believe I bought it when I worked at an independent bookstores. It's a book that whenever I look at it and read the description I think I really need to read this, it sounds so good. The author has been compared to regional authors like Willa Cather and Wright Morris. Marie Blythe is the protagonist living in Northern New England at the turn of the century. It's a picaresque tale and Marie is a "truly memorable heroine". See. Doesn't that sound good? Maybe I shouldn't put this one back yet either.
Milena: The Story of a Remarkable Friendship, Margerete Buber-Neumann. I read this years ago. I have quite a few books by Franz Kafka, though to be honest I've read little of his fiction. It's his life that I've found so fascinating and I have a whole set of his letters. Milena Jesenská and Kafka exchanged passionate letters, though the story of her own life is material enough for a book as you can see. Unfortunately she died in a concentration camp but a close friend who was with her in the camp wrote this biography. This sits on my shelf with all my Kafka books.
The Singing Sword, Jack Whyte. This is one of a series of Arthurian books. It tells a grittier story than many of the other Arthurian books out there. I've yet to read any of these, but I think it's based very much on historical fact and not just myth. The novels begin in Roman Britain just as the Romans were leaving. A mix of historical fiction and adventure story!
A Romantic Education, Patricial Hampl. This is another book I read years ago, and I'm sorry to say it's pretty well faded from memory. I do know that Hampl is from Minnesota and this is a travel narrative about her time in what was Czechoslovakia. I believe I read this after I had lived in Austria and was very much into reading anything about that particular region. Did you know Prague is farther west than Vienna is? Prague is one of the most gorgeous cities I have ever seen (well, it's hard to choose in Europe as there are so many really lovely places). Anyway, at the time (the early 1990s) I would have grabbed anything I could find on Vienna, Prague or Budapest.
The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro. This was the first novel by Ishiguro that I had read. I'm sure I discovered him when I was working at the bookstore and I knew from the start that he was an author who was something special. Enough time has passed that I am sure I could read this again. It is such an eloquent, elegant book. The movie with Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins is excellent, too.
The Moonlit Cage, Linda Holeman. This is probably the most recent acquisition out of the group. I lucked out and got this from Bookmooch and it even came from somewhere like Japan! I don't usually request books from so far away as I hate to have someone pay international postage, but I do so on occasion. Since I send my books anywhere I don't feel too guilty about it. Holeman has written several books set in the Victorian period (I have her The Linnet Bird), and I think this might be a sequel. You've probably already guessed it, I've not yet read it!
So, what do you think? Any surprises? I think these books are pretty representative of me and my tastes.
I think I've used up all my energy on this post, so I won't tag anyone. Please feel free to play along. If you do, let me know so I can see your ten random books.