Continuing on with my post from yesterday about what I’m reading at the moment. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones pictured above was a surprise Christmas gift. I think it’s an interesting book, I’ve nearly finished it and I do want to know what happens in the end. I’d probably give it 7 out of 10.
Once I’ve finished reading that one, I am excited to start reading two other novels that are waiting for me. They were both Christmas gifts too but they were ones which I put on the gift list for my family to buy, as I knew I wanted to read them.
Firstly, The Eye of the Reindeer by Eva Weaver. I chose this as I really enjoyed The Puppet Boy of Warsaw I read through my book club by the same author. This one is set on a remote island to the south of Finland in a former leper colony. I used to have a bookmark that said books and reading are “travellers cheques for the mind”. I do like that expression. I love real travelling (or I did when we were still allowed to do that), but I also really love travelling in my mind being led along by my imagination into a virtual world that another human being has conjured up in their own little head. Isn’t it just magical? Nothing so good as escaping your own life into an interesting experience of someone else’s. Maybe it’s because we’re all quite nosy at heart, we want to get under someone else’s skin and see things from a different point of view.
Secondly, I am really looking forward to start reading the latest novel by David Palin. David is a local author who also runs my book club. His novels can be quite dark (you have to be brave!) but also gripping. My favourite book of his so far is “This Changed Everything” which had so many twists and turns and I couldn’t put it down. He says this next book “The Half-Torn Page” is completely different to his previous work and seems to be about witches in 17th century Germany, amongst other things… interesting stuff. I will be on the magic carpet of my imagination travelling through time as well as across to mainland Europe. Reading work by someone you know also adds an extra dimension to the experience and you know you can ask silly questions afterwards like “what did you mean by that odd bit? etc”. I’m sure some of you reading my blog who also know me in person have learnt a little bit more about me through my writing; the way I think and see the world, what I choose to talk about, my moods, my passions, my thoughts. Some of it may have surprised you. Made you laugh. Horrified you that I could think such a thing? (hopefully not).. or in my good friend Pat’s words: “don’t you think people may think you’re a bit weird, Gail?” (I think that was when I was getting carried away talking about stroking trees). C’est la vie.
Anyway I digress waffling on about myself again, you can check out David Palin’s marvellous writing here.
As usual I’ve spent too long blogging today and now I need to get on with some other stuff. I’ve nearly finished talking about my books though… just a little more on that subject tomorrow.
The Windsor Waffle 