This week was more busy than I was expecting, but I had some satisfying reading time anyway.
Read:
Late in the week I finished The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai. It was a relatively quick read, but one I almost did not finish. Had it been more difficult to read or longer I might have abandoned it, but I persevered and ended up finding it to be just ho hum. The main character is a children's librarian in Hannibal, MO. She is the weak link in the story. She just wasn't interesting to me. This is why I don't like to do traditional reviews. A character who was difficult for me might not be an issue for another reader. The other main character was Ian who I liked quite a bit. Finding out how the story ended for him is why I stuck with it.
On Wednesday I picked up a bag of books from school from the carts of new arrivals. I jumped in right away to the graphic novels and read Giant Days: Volumes 10 and 11 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, Max Sarin, Whitney Cogar, and Jim Campbell. Also in my bag was The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown. It is the story of Isabel and Jane, conjoined twins in the 1920s whose parents sell them to a "freak" show where they perform as the Extraordinary Peabody Sisters until a doctor, looking for fame tries to separate them and only one survives. The details about the traveling side show life were well researched and the art was simple but effective for the story being told.
When I signed into my DC public library account early in the week, I discovered a book that was about to be due that I had not even cracked yet. Eep! So I read We Met in December by Rosie Curtis over the past two days. It was a fairly standard London romance. My favorite parts were when the two main characters Jess and Alex would amble around London seeing sites and visiting nooks and coffee shops. It was nice to revisit places I have been with them and note down new places for another visit.
Reading:
I am continuing to read The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty because I want to savor this last book in the trilogy.
I also started A Suitable Vengeance by Elizabeth George, the next in the Inspector Lynley series. I don't usually read the same author's mysteries so close together, but this one came up from the library more quickly than I was expecting and is due back in about a week.
Listening:
I finished Dreams from My Father, written and read by Barack Obama. I voted for and supported Obama as president but this book revealed many things about his early life that I had not known. His early commitment to racial equality is impressive. I also learned a lot about his family, which is diverse and spread around the world.
My next listen is Eat a Peach by chef David Chang. So far it is an interesting hop and skip through his early life. Since he is from northern Virginia he references many places and characteristics of the area that are spot on about local food, schools, and towns. He has just started describing how and why he started his first restaurant. I have no interest in going into the restaurant business, but I am fascinated by its inner workings from having watched every season of Top Chef and listened previously to Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential.
What have you read? What are you reading and listening to?
