Consumed by Great Reads

I finished Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason early this morning, and I can say I truly enjoyed it. I think mysteries and police procedurals are marvelous escape engines for the times when I'm under stress. I'm looking forward to reading more by Indridason and by other contemporary Icelandic writers. But my next detective novel will be one by the Scottish writer Ian Rankin--I've decided that much, thanks to Katrina of Pining for the West! The Rankin book will be for my personal Scottish Literary Challenge.


After finishing Jar City, I plunged into The Small Room by May Sarton. (Scroll down for more info about Sarton and The Small Room discussion coming up at the end of the month.) I read nearly 50 pages and am in a state of rapture. As you know, I love Sarton's writing, and this story is hitting so close to home! A new Ph.D. is launching her teaching career in a small New England woman's college, where there is much tension beneath the congenial surface. In addition to this link to my work life, the book was published in 1961 and evokes the dawn of the '60s in ways I didn't think were possible. (I'll wax on about this at a later date, when we discuss the book at the end of this month.) So far, I'm smitten beyond fathoming. This hysteria can often be a bad sign; inevitable disappointment may be around the corner, but I don't think so.

Oh! And the W.W. Norton paperback book cover! It is a beauty. I'm so glad I decided to buy rather than borrow.