Monday, February 23, 2009

The Lure of Books and Unplanned Naps on Days Like This



With my paperwork pile finally conquered, I've worked hard these last several days on maintaining this current state of up-to-dateness. No charge receipt has gone unfiled, no bill unpaid, no mail unopened.

With gray skies and pouring rain and my time thus cleared to work on projects, to finally put into albums those photos going back to 2002 or to play downstairs with my glass, I've chosen the luxury of picking up a new novel and falling asleep while reading it. The projects will wait. Softly drifting into an unplanned nap is oh-so-enticing.

Another of my authors has fallen off my must read list. December Wedding is the eighth book by Anita Shreve that I've read and possibly the last. Her competence is unfailing, yet I found myself bored with her characters and their problematic lives. Was it that in all cases new love was purchased at the price of marital fidelity? Perhaps this contributed to it. I lost much respect for Barbara Walters when she disclosed her affair with a black married man. It was decades ago and she said that people back then would have judged her harshly while today people were more understanding of such things. I had the sense that she was focusing more on his race than his marital status.


I think I've come to a point where I want more from a novel than even a competent author such as Anita Shreve chooses to deliver. I like a sense of history and of place and of culture, particularly those that differ from my own. One of these days I'll write about some of my favorite books. There are so many wonderful ones. I'll be reading Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns next. I found his first novel, The Kite Runner, to be compelling, but a bit too brutal for me. With this book, I'll discover if Hosseini will be added to my GLA.*

*GLA stands for Grocery List Authors, those authors who I like so much that I'd even read their grocery list (once). I'd previously referred to them as my laundry list authors, but have since realized that I don't know what a laundry list is. I believe Margaret Atwood used the term in a lecture I attended. She described herself as such an author for many people, saying that she could get away with this only once.

9 comments:

new*me said...

One day..........I will have more time for reading. I really love to but lately when I try to read at night......the kids and life have exhausted me so much that I fall asleep :(

Kathy said...

I love the grocery list reference! I love reading and lean toward cozy mysteries and historical fiction and non-fiction. I'm probably one of the few readers in America who does not follow Oprah's reading list. Her books just make me cringe...I loathe cruelty and torture in any form and refuse to read these "tough" books. There are just too many good books out there to choose from!
Just for fun...Lorraine recently told me there was a series of Romance books featuring NASCAR and pointed out a dozen of them that were available on e-bay! I had the winning bid and can't wait to see how the author portrays racing in her books. I'm not a fan of steamy romance novels, but how could I pass up a chance to read some with NASCAR in the background!

Lorraine said...

I love this post! For great fun and entertainment and yes romance, read Elizabeth Susan Phillips, it's a delicious read everytime...;)
it's fiction, of course, the only non-fictional books I've ever read and I've too many to counts were from Holocaust survivors. The books hurt so much, but you get a glimpse into the incredible bravery of some people, but not enough, not nearly enough

Lorraine said...

I forgot also, if you want very interesting 'legal' fiction books which are actually very informative as well as entertaining and mysterious, read Perri O'Shaughnessy (Pen name for to sisters, one who was a trial lawyerand the other and writer) The series is about Nina Reilly a legal egal, and it's really interesting...
AND Of course there's Jonathan Kellerman's series about the Children Pshychiatrist, who deals with trauma and children, again fictional but based on some reality as Jonathan Kellerman is a child psychiatrist.... lol so many possibilities

Lorraine said...

Dr Alex Delaware series from Kellerman, forgot to say lol

Mick & Cathy said...

Do you use an online site like Flickr to store your photos on the net ?
I find it useful because its easy to link to family & friends you want to show them to, they can also be watched as a slideshow.

laughingwolf said...

just started reading another book i won recently, 'starquest' by hywela lyn... she's welsh but living in england for the time being

Unknown said...

I dont have much time for reading these days. But sounds like you have had a good afternoon.

ArleneWKW said...

Annette: I remember those days and treasure these ones. Sometimes I wish I could go back to the younger years, then am glad that, at each stage, life has provided me with its own kind of joy.

Kathy: I'm glad you've found the NASCAR books. I don't watch Oprah, but have enjoyed many of the books that she's recommended. Cane River, a multi-generational story that begins with the rape of a young black slave, and A Fine Balance, which takes place in India, are among the best books I've read.

Lorraine: I try to avoid Holocaust themed books. The Book Thief, about which I wrote a few posts ago, is a very worthwhile exception. As with you, I tend to find these books too emotionally difficult. When it comes to legal fiction, I enjoy John Grisham and Scott Turow. For total trash, I can breeze through James Patterson; I feel like I'm rotting my brain and warping my psyche when I do so. Right now I have too many unread books to think about new authors, but I'll check back to your comment when I'm ready for something new.

Mick: I don't use Flicker, but I sometimes use Shutterfly.

Laughingwolf: How did you win a book?