I could use a proper-go-away-somewhere new (or not new but different) vacation. Unfortunately there are no plans on the horizon, but at least it is finally the weekend and I have lots of good books to serve as distractions. Thank goodness for stories to take me out of the mundanity of everyday life, right. However, I could use some sunshine (without excessively strong winds, of which we seem to not be able to get rid of where I live) and warmth, and a good view--perhaps by a cool, refreshing stream. I am very good at visualizing, but the real thing is, of course, much better. (Insert audible sigh here).
So, reading. And stories instead. I have lots of good books on the go--I have had a really good run of good reads of late. I finish one and on to the next and have not had any real disappointments, though I have fallen very behind in writing about what I've finished. I always feel like a thread is hanging loose when I've not written about my reading so hopefully next week will be much calmer than this week was and I can begin catching up. But a few highlights of the stories capturing my attention at the moment.
I decided to pick up Anne Enright's The Green Road as my first, of what I hope will be several, Baileys Prize (shortlister) reads. Ive had a good run of reading Irish authors of late and I think it will easily continue on with Enright. I had not read her before, but I quite like her style. I think the story is more a family drama of sorts, but the first section (the story seems to be narrated by the four children of a family over the course of many years) almost feels like a coming of age story as Hannah is only ten and is telling about her elder brother who wants to become a priest and the effect his news has on his family.
And speaking of coming of age stories . . . Many thanks for all the suggestions. I think I have found one that will fit my mood nicely, Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea by Morgan Callan Rogers. It is set in the early 1960s in a small town in Maine and I am only waiting for a used copy I ordered to arrive to begin reading.
Until then, I have added another wishing-for mood read to the reading agenda. This is thanks to having finished and loved Katharine McMahon's The Woman in the Picture (post to follow), which is about one of England's first women barristers. More. I always want more when I love a story. So, I have picked up another (entirely different sort of story) book by McMahon and then have been looking for 'lawyer stories'. Frances Fyfield has written a couple of different mystery series featuring lawyers (is there a difference between lawyers and barristers?--must look the terminology up) and I have decided to begin with Helen West in A Question of Guilt. The book seems to have gotten good reviews (seems to be out of print in the US except in a digital version so I found a nice used copy). I've only just started it, so I'll let you know what I think soon.
I have found a new 'crushworthy' fictional character. (Will definitely be writing about him next week). Commissario Ricciardi of the Naples Questura ca. 1930 is quite tantalizing. He is a loner and somewhat taciturn. I was first a little put off by him, rather an off man by any standards and not much liked by his fellow colleagues, but I think he is quite crushworthy nonetheless, and I'll explain why soon. Until then, as I had flew through his first mystery, I am well into the second already.
I have this weird little reading routine--you know I read various genres (usually too many books at once, but oh well . . .), but I always also try and pick up one novel that I 'hadtohave' in hardcover (how many times I have had to have it and then not read it until well after it came out in paper and sometimes has even gone out of print--oops) to try and make a dent in my massive backlog of new (not so much anymore) hardcovers. I finished one (in anticipation of the just released sequel) and am now (after dipping into a few to find just the 'right fit') am thoroughly enjoying Helen Humphreys' The Lost Garden, which is actually a cheat as I read it a very long time ago when it first came out. I will call it a brief interlude since it is a slim book that I might well finish this weekend. I think I have already made my next choice of reads for when I finish the Humphreys (isn't it a nice motivator to finish a book when you know you have something exciting that you can't wait to read on the horizon?), The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi, which I am told was a huge bestseller in Israel. It is only a promise I made to myself that I would stop carrying around SO many books with me each day (and only one hardcover at a time or my bookbag becomes this dead weight I have to drag about) that is stopping me picking it up right now!
This weekend's reading? I hope to read two short stories by Elizabeth Taylor and I think it is time to start my April NYRB selection.
And you? I hope you find yourself lost in some good stories as well this weekend! And next week--back to telling you about books since I have lots of catching up to do.