In the ever changing world of my reading, books and reading phases come and go. While my enthusiasm has not waned, reality has set in and the realization that poor Forever Amber is just too hefty to carry about with me. Before I get too far into the story (I made it about three chapters--the King has returned and Amber . . . now a fallen woman . . . has talked one of the King's chevaliers into taking her to London) and before it gets really juicy, I've decided I need to rethink my reading. My reading you will have already surmised, is constantly shifting. Forever Amber is the sort of book that requires more attention than I am able to offer it. It is not hard reading, but the sheer size of the book means I need to give it constant and steady attention if I want to finish it this year. I've decided I would rather give that attention to my NYRBs and so have quietly set Amber aside for the time being and someday I will return to her adventures.
That said, I think I am ready to wrap up my summer 1970s reading and move on to a new path. I'll finish the few books I have in progress and will hopefully write soon about a couple of other finishes, but now that summer is coming to a close, I am in the mood for something new. And for once I think I didn't do too badly, a handful of books read and more potential reads later on. I'll keep reading books with that setting for a while I imagine, but maybe not make such pointed choices as I go for the rest of this year.
Now, though, I am reading Akhil Sharma's Family Life and am thoroughly engaged with the story and the young narrator, a boy whose brother has had a swimming accident and now lies in the hospital totally unresponsive. The family are recent immigrants from India, so it is a particularly interesting look into how one family deals with their grief and tries (maybe not very successfully) to stay together. I read an excerpt from the novel a couple of years ago in the New Yorker and wrote about it here. I meant to read more by Sharma, or pick up this book, and when I recently noticed it was out in paper I decided now was the moment and indeed it has clicked with me. I have not read much in the way of Indian/Indian-American literature (Arundhati Roy, Manil Suri being the two writers who come fastest to mind), so this is a new place for me to explore in my reading. Of course, if you have any favorites, please do share. I have ordered several books and have found a few more on my shelves, so maybe I will write about them here in the near future. This is just a new trajectory for me, no special reading plans but I will see where the books take me.
One of my disappointments this year is my feeble attempts at keeping up with my New Yorker stories. The year I discovered Sharma's writing was a great year for stories but I can't seem to keep up this year. Short stories are always such a great place to start with a new writer. My intentions are good, but I just can't seem to keep on track with some aspects of my reading life these days. I have been reading short stories, but mostly they are in the form of collections and anthologies. I wonder if it is even possible to catch up on a whole half year's worth of New Yorker stories anyway. I have access to their digital archives . . . maybe I should count, make a list and then start crossing them off as I go? Or is that just yet another exercise in list making? (What would I do, how would I organize my life if I couldn't make lists?!).
One good note, I actually won a book! I get so many newsletters in my email inbox and there are often giveaways, which I sometimes will enter without any hope of actually winning anything. However, good luck as not only did I win a book, but it is one I want to read but as it was a library book (and as you might know I am going to focus less on library books than my own TBR piles of books for the remainder of the year), it went back unread. Now I can read Suzanne Feldman's Absalom's Daughters at my leisure!
I am getting very used to just sharing daily reading notes and might continue this trend for a while . . .
And yes, I must leave you with a new book list to tempt you: Women in Translation-31 Books to Read Now!