As the mid-year mark approaches, what is the state of your stack? Are you reading what you planned to read, or are you happy to have veered away from projects you’d expected to complete? Have you got some new reading projects in mind for the second half of 2016?
I’m still working to complete some left-unfinished and overly neglected reads and series, but lately I’ve been reading like a schoolgirl on holiday, picking up the next book in my stack and, along the way, picking up a bunch of books that were just on the ‘someday’ stack and then were suddenly desirable in a given moment.
Marge Piercy’s Gone to Soldiers – The only remnant from my last In the Stacks photo. I’m considering a reread of Summer People when the weather gets hotter. Although I admire the kaleidoscopic view of the folks coping with wartime, at home and on the front, I miss the complete immersion into one or two characters’ experiences, which I remember loving about her writing.
Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend – I’ve resisted long enough. Now, I’m just too curious what all the fuss is about. Admittedly, the nature of the women’s friendship is immediately of interest. One woman disappears, the other wallows in memories: I do want to know more.
Jane Hamilton’s The Excellent Lombards – Oh, how I loved The Book of Ruth. And, I’ve read almost all of her novels since (except the one about a Madeleine). I’m curious how much this family story will differ from her debut family portrait.
Ian Hamilton’s The Scottish Banker of Surabaya – Summer gets me thinking about mysteries, and I’ve borrowed this on a whim from the library, but I’ve only read a hundred pages, and I’ve stalled. This would be my fifth Ava Lee mystery, but I might turn my attention to another series instead.
Karen Molson’s The Company of Crows – A first novel, with a lovely first sentence: “This grey lines fan out across the earthscape like a gigantic, tattered spiderweb.” She’s bookish, she’s thirteen, and she’s growing up in Laughing Willows Trailer Park. And there are crows. I don’t need to know more. This is one of those reading experiences, which I feel, almost immediately, is going to be a favourite.
Susan Philpott’s Dark Territory. Readers met Signy Shepherd in Blown Red, the first in a mystery series centred around The Line, an underground-railroad type of rescue operation for women threatened or attacked. The second in the series is just as compelling. (And some snowy bits make for nice contrast when reading in summer heat!) I’m spinning out the first half, because when I got halfway into the first volume, I simply couldn’t put it down until I had finished it.
Malcolm Sutton’s Job Shadowing – “As we hang on through each plausible yet impossible turn, the parllel worlds Malcolm Sutton effortlessly creates pull us ever closer to the underlying currents and desires that make the personal political, then twist back around to become deeply personal once again.” (So says Jacob Wren, who wrote Polyamorus Love Song) This isn’t exactly a comfortable read, but it sure gets me thinking!
Jill Sexsmith’s Somewhere a Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You – I’ve annoyed everyone in hearing distance while reading this collection, constantly reading aloud “just this sentence”. (But there are so many awesome sentences. And paragraphs.) Maybe if I was reading in a burst, her style would wear on me, but parcelled out, over a couple of weeks, I have found them just wonderful.
Paul Quarrington’s King Leary – He’s positively offensive at times (much of the time, actually), but also wholly credible. This has been on my TBR for years, and now I’m enjoying just a couple of chapters each day: enough to make me smirk!
Tracy Barone’s Happy Family – Beginning with a highly dramatic opening scene in 1962, the story spills forth into other narratives and the author’s screen-writing experience is evident immediately. Readers need to be prepared to set aside perspectives almost as quickly as they’ve settled into them, but there is a strong promise of resolution as the story grows in complexity.
Frank Viva’s Sea Change – Unexpectedly funny, whereas the dark colour palette led me to expect a more sombre coming-of-age story. It’s perfect for summer reading, as the story of a boy sent to the Maritimes for a holiday, and I’ve stopped to read a passage aloud three times in just four short chapters. This bodes well!
How about you? How about your stack? How about your someday-stack?
A lot of new-to-me books in your stack there. I’m intrigued by the Scottish Banker of Surabaya, mostly because one of our friends here in California is from Surabaya. I’ve not read any Ian Hamilton books before.
This is an unusual position in which to find myself, for although I still do like the idea of Ava Lee’s character on screen, I’ve set aside this fifth volume. Here are my thoughts on the first volume. Perhaps it’s my current reading mood, but the repetitive descriptions of her physicality and her brand preferences (which are present in every volume, and yet I’ve read four) are getting in the way of my enjoying the story just now. If the idea of this doesn’t bother you, I think you’d quite enjoy the series.
I’m keen to read Job Shadowing as well as Double Teenage–I do love BookThug books.
I’ll be interested to see what you make of the Ferrante. I’m only one book in and not desperate to carry on.
I’m loving Book Thug books too. They really make me think, and keep me engaged in the work differently.
Even though I love novels which explore women’s friendships, the Ferrante doesn’t grip me the way it seems to have many readers. I’ve never felt like I simply must pick it up, but I like it well enough while I’m reading it. This doesn’t bode well for three more volumes, especially with so many other series unfinished. Have you tried her shorter works and/or stories? I’ve heard a couple of those were truly standout.
The Company of Crows has caught my interest, as well as Somewhere A Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You (even just for that title!). And Sea Change sounds delightful – coming from someone who doesn’t usually read graphic novels. Is it for kids or adults?
I’m plodding along through my library books, alternating with a few books for review. Between those, I’m not getting many read from my own shelves. Everything I’ve picked up lately, though, has been good reading, so I’m happy!
I ended up seriusly loving The Company of Crows. It’s one of my favourites for this year! Sea Change is written for kids, but something about the tone makes it tremendously appealing for me, and I think you’d love the situation/scenes.
Sounds like you’re on a roll. You only have another month with your library stack, right? I’ve been reading quite a few library books too, but, like you, almost all have been very good, so I’m not complaining!