There used to be a lot more about reading around here
Looking at the last few months, I notice I haven’t been updating what I’ve been reading. I dug out the notebook I use to keep track of these things, and I made the discovery I haven’t updated that since the summer either. Oh dear.
From what I can remember back to August, there have been quite a few rereads of stuff I’ve read in the last year or so – comfort reading, if you will. The rest of what I remember falls into three categories: stuff for book club, stuff that was memorable, and stuff I’ve forgotten [1].
The first category includes Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto, Elmore Leonard’s Out of Sight, Christopher Moore’s Lamb, and a few I’ve read in the last year or two [2]. I’d forgotten how much I liked Leonard’s style, especially after a string of books that took fifteen paragraphs to describe the colour of the protagonist’s hair; his fast-paced storytelling doesn’t give you any time for introspection or deep analysis of the meaning of the blood spatter of the just-murdered character. He’s been shot, he’s dead, let’s move along, people, because there’s nothing more to see here.
The second category is a little harder to remember. There’s a bunch of things I have written down in my notebook, and there are several titles and authors that spring to mind, but I’d like to beg your indulgence for a few more days to get them written down.
[1] I know there’s been several paperback romance novels, but don’t ask me to name authors or titles.
[2] Kevin Brockmeier’s The Brief History of the Dead, David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars, Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time-Traveler’s Wife.
I am somewhat amused to note that you are having trouble remembering your second category, the memorable books.
However, on that note, I am even farther behind on my book reviews, so I shall just keep all smarmy comments to myself. Now, where’s the “submit” button?