It's time for this week's WWW Wednesdays, hosted by Should Be Reading blog (head over and check them out!).
This link up asks three questions
- What did you recently finish reading?
- What are you currently reading?
- What do you think you'll be reading next?
What did I recently finish reading?
I finished this one over the weekend, and I'm still not sure what to make of it. The memoir of a young writer as remembered across the chasm of many intervening years, the voice lends itself sometimes to a fond recollection of her younger self, and at other times a to a somewhat bemused, nearly parental chastisement of the choices she made. While I found her circumstances interesting (working for "Jerry" Salinger's agency in the 1990s) I found the main character frustrating, and her willingness to put up with boyfriend Don's lack of respect infuriating. The parts relating to her job and her reading life, I loved, the portions relating to her train wreck of a personal life I skimmed. Which isn't meant to judge her for youthful inexperience - we've all been there - it's just that while I lived it I had no choice but be immersed by it. Now, in a book I'm reading, I do have a choice, and it'll take a lot to make me really enjoy spending time in the awkward stage of life. Even though in reality it is often the most important phase - the one that teaches us to stick up for ourselves and make better decisions in the future.
What am I currently reading?
I started The Paying Guests, but it didn't really suck me in. So instead, I'm reading The Woman Who Went to Bed for A Year, which seemed appropriate given that a) I haven't been feeling that great lately and b) the weather has begun to turn - both leaving me wishing I could do the same. It's by Sue Townsend, author of the infamous Adrian Mole diaries, and thus promises to be as insightful as it is hilarious.
I also rekindled interest in Let the Great World Spin after coming across it on vacation, so the other day I picked it up and started reading. I'm 23 pages in and so far we've had in intro featuring an urban high-wire act in New York, been introduced to the main character's family in Dublin, seen he and his brother from childhood through the death of their mother, the return and subsequent re-departure of their father, the slow descent of the younger brother into a (frequently) drunk homeless man/wandering philospher who departs Dublin for New York by way of Brussels and the main character moving out of his childhood home and getting blown up.
Before you start screeching about spoilers, let me remind you that none of this can really count as a spoiler BECAUSE IT ALL HAPPENS IN THE FIRST 23 PAGES OF THE BOOK. Phew. Despite the whirlwind plot progression, the writing is stunningly beautiful and can support such vast amounts of action in such a meager number of pages. The only challenge will be keeping up - both emotionally and in terms of plot.
What do I think I'll be reading next?
Hmm. I'm not really sure, so I'll stick with my answer from last week - I'm still waiting to get my hands on The Maze Runner books, and I suspect I'll need something a bit easier after my current reads. So hopefully I'll dive into this series next!
Alright, your turn - what books have you just finished? Raves? Pans? Share in the comments!
