The Mountain: Books at My Feet

A long week of frigid temperatures. It's 6pm and 8 degrees, and we'll dip well below zero tonight as we have every night since last Sunday. Our daytime high is finally higher at 14 degrees, which it's been the last few days, but I'm beginning to be bothered by my face freezing every time I go snowshoeing. Sasha is having a terrible time with her feet freezing on our treks. I'd keep her at home, but, golden retriever that she is, she howls like an unholy bloodhound if not allowed to accompany me. Warming temps are coming, they say.

Thanks to the blog "Stuck in A Book," I've purchased House of Silence by Linda Gillard for the Kindle. The book seems to be available only via Kindle. I was captivated by several key themes and ideas central to the book. 1) It's a gothic; sort of a "Rebecca meets Cold Comfort Farm," supposedly, if you can imagine. This is hype, but it led me to investigate the book further. 2) It's set during Christmas and the winter season. 3) For the rest of my inspiration, please visit Stuck in a Book's description. 4) The download only cost me $3.50. 5) I can't resist gothic romance. It's a weakness I've had since I was age 15.

A library treasure is Ich blieb in Konigsberg, which, miraculously, I was able to borrow on Inter-Library Loan from another New York State college. I have it for less than a month, so this time only gives me the chance to read a dozen entries and realize I must purchase a copy. As it turns out, I must order from Germany. In any case, because I'm relentlessly studying Europe 1945-1948, and because the book is a personal journal of a young woman living in the "former" East Prussia [then Poland] during these years, I'm keen to read it. As I've mentioned before, my German reading knowledge is much better than my speaking, but not by that much. The diary is clearly simple and easy to read, I can see, but I'll still be tied to a dictionary.

And another fiction title that I'll get to as soon as I finish Third Reich by Bolano:
The Life of Objects by Susanna Moore, published last September. Do follow the link to a Studio 360 retrospective and discussion with Moore about the novel.