I really need a vacation. Even a staycation would not be a bad thing if I could sleep in, read books and relax (and not think of all the leaves piling up in my back yard that I keep wishing away). The long Thanksgiving weekend here is only a little over a month away, but the bad thing is as soon as that comes so do the rest of the holidays, none of which I've given much thought to and am not ready for. Usually in the fall I start working my way through the pile of books on my nightstand and trying to finish what I have started (and not starting anything new), so I can begin the New Year fresh, but this year I seem to have thrown away any bit of self-control I might have in terms of books. And here I am with yet another pile of library books--a couple I've already started and one or two I might just take back sooner than later.
I liked Gillian Galbraith's Dying of the Light enough to make me look for her first Alice Rice mystery, Blood in the Water, and I'm glad I did. The questions I had are now being filled in and I am getting more of a sense of what Alice is really like. I guess Scottish crime novels are my new thing as I also discovered Karen Campbell and have her first book, The Twilight Time, to try. She's another 'new to me author', but her name came up when I was reading about Gillian Galbraith. To round things out I have Ian Rankin's Let It Bleed, as so many people have suggested I try his books. Rankin has so many books I wasn't sure where to start, but then I saw Judith and Katrina were reading Let It Bleed so decided I would join in as well.
Last week I finished reading Lynne Reid Banks's The L-Shaped Room, which I loved and will write about soon, and Penelope Mortimer's name came up as someone to read next, so now I have The Pumpkin Eater, which I see is being reissued by NYRB Classics next spring. The description of the book reads in part, "Her sometimes savage style, her unerring ability to touch our guilts and fears, and her penetrating, perfectly controlled style were never more marvellously employed than in this superb book."
In my hot little hands I now have a copy of Emma Donoghue's Room, and behind me wait something like 115 other readers who also want it. I was so excited about it when I was waiting for my turn, but now that I have it, my desire has disappeared. I started reading, since this is not one that I'll be able to renew, and I think I'm just really not in the mood for a book narrated by a five year old boy. I've heard wonderful things about the book, even from people who didn't think they'd like it. So, now do I press on as this is my chance and otherwise I won't see a copy until next year sometime since the line seems to get longer and longer? Or do I return it early and let the next person have a go at it? Dilemmas!
And last but not least is yet another crime novel, and this time from Japan. Villain by Shuichi Yoshida is an award winning novel about the murder of a young woman. "From desolate seaside towns and lighthouses to love hotels and online chat rooms, Villain reveals the inner lives of men and women who all have something to hide. Part police procedural, part gritty realism, Villain is a coolly seductive story of loneliness and alienation in the southernmost reaches of Japan."
So, do you see why I need some vacation time?