I think my 'reading diet' of the last few years has been deficient of enough nonfiction, because this year I seem to be especially drawn to it. I am hoping to finish two books by Jhumpa Lahiri this weekend, so naturally my thoughts turn to what I will pick up next. I pulled a very few books that have been on my mind, but I am trying not to open the field too much as I tend to get bogged down in choices. And I have lots and lots of good choices. High on my list is MFK Fisher, whose prose is absolutely gorgeous, a diary from WWII and beyond (the Wyndham), and Maxine Hong Kingston memoir!
I rarely have more than on nonfiction read on the go at once, but this year is probably going to be different! I pulled Molly Hughes's A London Child of the 1870s mostly from my pile as I am determined to read more of my Persephone Editions. I was reading the introduction when I discovered that this is only the first of three memoirs by her, though I think the other two are harder to come by. I was searching on WorldCat and came across what looked like an omnibus edition. I thought it might be all three memoirs in one, so I interlibrary loaned it. It came in yesterday, but as it turns out it is a lavishly illustrated compendium of sorts of Victorian Life with parts of her three memoirs excerpted. I'm not sure I will sit down and read the complete text, but I will enjoy reading the Persephone edition side by side with it.
Oh, and then the draw of the new! Both books are recent acquisitions for me. The cold of winter is truly starting to get me down now (too many very very cold mornings standing waiting for late buses in the early morning dark are dashing my spirits lately--too cold and dark even to read), so I think I need something frothy and fun and family drama-driven with a dash of romance and a satisfying ending. Who better but Beatriz Williams or Adriana Trigiani perhaps? Wicked City is actually the first book in a #Beatriz Binge that is going on for the first half of this year. I have been collecting (and slowly reading) my way through the books so no more urging needed on my/their part. And Kiss Carlo was just released and how can you beat a story set in Italy and America post-WWII about an Italian-American family. Plus look at that gorgeous cover! For me, it just screams 'pick me up, open my cover and start reading now'! How ever will I decide between the two. (Now that is a nice weekend dilemma to have, yes?).
So there is my bookish weekend set out. I will be reading my New Yorker short story and getting on with a few books on my sidebar. Hopefully finishing the Lahiri books. And ignoring the forecast of freezing rain and then snow on Sunday. Brr.
There are a few links I came across this week, too, that are notable and worth sharing to help kick the weekend off:
Check out the first official trailer for The Great American Read coming in May from PBS. I know I mentioned this last year, but it is finally getting closer!
It makes me happy to see that in the UK female writers dominated the bestsellers last year. Out of the top ten only one was a man. Of course despite that great news out of the top fifty less than half were women, so there is still disparity. I wonder how the US market compares?
More books to movies on this list. I already knew about some of them (and have plans to read some of those books first), but I was thrilled to see a novel by Sarah Waters on the list! (And shouldn't she have a new book in the works by now? Am I missing something?).
If you are curious about Eileen Chang, you can read an excerpt from the January NYRB Classics book club selection here. I need to get going on my copy, too!
Happy reading everyone! Feel free to drop by and let me know what you'll be pulling from your book pile this weekend to read and/or peruse!