Going Back to Reading

Just the briefest of posts to say that I've finished two projects that have kept me from reading: one was a writing project and the other an editing job. I'm returning to reading immediately, but to which book I'm not definite--hence, the abbreviated post. I'd like to read one of my TBRs, but I have more than $60 in Barnes and Noble credit to divert me. Now that is exciting! I'd like a fun, frivolous read to start.

Spring is trying to approach, but temps will fall to 22 degrees tonight, then up to the 40s tomorrow, a bit on the cold side for April, but not unheard of. We hope we stay in the 40s and low 50s for a while so that all the snow can melt gracefully. Also praying for no big storms. We've had huge snowstorms in April. I will return soon with something much more substantial, I hope.

Dealing with Utter Blog Neglect and The Ivy Tree

In truth, what I'm dealing with is what I'm hoping will be a temporary divergence from reading for pleasure. I do read before bed for about a half hour, but that's nothing compared to my January and February reading.

 I became immersed in several projects this month, during this so very long month of waiting for spring in the North Country, where we have continued to have near zero and zero nighttime temperatures. But the sun! The glorious sun warms the house in the afternoons. This weekend and next week we will be boasting about temperatures in the 40s. I pray we don't become too warm too soon, so that we can have our multi-feet of snow melt gracefully.

I'm nearing the end of The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. I was perplexed with the characters at first, and I'm still at sea with Mary Grey who is posing as Annabel Winslow, one of the likely heirs to Whitescar in Northumberland. It is summer there now, which is lovely. I am enjoying it, though I have been scratching my head over all the characters who remain elusive, even at this late point of the novel. There's Con, the cousin, who is determined to inherit the estate,  his sister Lisa the housekeeper, Adam Forrest on the neighboring estate, Lisa (Annabel's cousin and another likely inheritor), and Mary Grey herself posing as Annabel. Who is Mary Grey, anyway? Have you read this book? What were your thoughts? Yes, I recommend it wholeheartedly, though you'll be perplexed the entire time!

Reading Upheaval and Flynn's Sharp Objects

When you pick up a novel and the back cover includes a lengthy blurb from Stephen King, explaining how terrifying the book was for him, you know you have a horror novel in your hands. I did not even see the quote until I was more than halfway through the book, because I was reading so compulsively. Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects is very accomplished and extremely well-done, a much finer novel than Gone Girls, to my mind. The horror toward the end--well, yes, it gave me the heebie-jeebies, but I was prepared. Mind, I can't even get near the third chapter of a Stephen King novel, so Sharp Objects was definitely not a Kingish or Kingian-Horror type of novel. Just good ol' family horror and very well done. Please refer to my previous post as well. Do note: I don't read horror, but I could so appreciate Flynn's considerable skills--character development, strong plot, well-handled setting. Yes, I recommend it, without doubt. If you tend to be a squeamish reader, though, I would recommend reading a detailed synopsis before trying it.

March Priorities and Reading Upheaval:
I am most certainly reading March, the Civil War novel by Geraldine Brooks for Caroline's month of March Literature and War Readalong  I must post my thoughts by March 31. Geraldine Brooks's The People of the Book is a peak favorite of mine. So incredibly well done. I adored it. So I have high hopes for March, which won??? Was it a Pulitzer or the National Book Award? It won something big.

My reading upheaval is that I've catapulted myself into a children's book writing project, so I'm spending lots of time reading children's books. No question about it: This cuts into my adult book reading time, but carry on with grown-up books I will! Currently I'm reading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. The novel feels strange to me, 70 pages in, because I don't find any of the main characters likeable, including the protagonist, Mary Grey. Yet what I'm noticing is that I'm becoming more interested in her as the pages fly by.

We were dumped with 18 inches of snow and frigid temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday. The snow will extend the winter sports season, which is fine with me, but near zero temperatures are not welcome.

The Wind is Not a River (Great Read!)

I so appreciated the research and painstaking care that Canadian writer Brian Payton put into his 2014 debut novel, The Wind is Not a River. As I mentioned in a previous post, John Easley is a journalist who fakes his way into the World War II combat zone in the Aleutian Islands in order to inform Americans about a brutal North Pacific war they know absolutely nothing about. When the combat plane he's on is gunned down and crashess into the ocean, John is the sole survivor who floats ashore onto one of the Japanese-occupied Aleutians. His incredible struggle to survive on a wintry, barren North Pacific island in the midst of thousands of occupying Japanese is interlaced with the struggles of his wife in Seattle to find him and bring him home. The writing is near-perfect, the characterizations full of deep emotion--exquisite! I highly recommend this book. Payton casts a spell.

I've nearly finished Gillian Flynn's debut novel Sharp Objects and will report on it soon. I don't have far to go now, and it's easy to see why Stephen King had so much admiration for this novel. (!) I can honestly say that I have found it difficult to put it down, yet the Kingsian elements are making me hope I make it through to the end in an intact emotional state! Gads. While I'll agree that Gone Girl had some great surprises, I believe that Sharp Objects is a better novel from the point of view of the characterization of Camille, the protagonist, and the incredibly tight infrastructure of the plot. Gone Girl has some supreme plot points. But if a new novelist is to be published, he or she must  have a flawlessly tight plot, excellent pacing, and high drama. And that's Sharp Objects. Yes, Gone Girl has been on the bestseller list since forever, but super-hyped great surprises sell more books than better debut novels.

Nicola Upson Temporary Disappointment, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, & Progress

Oh, drat!
I don't know what's wrong with me, but, for the time being, I have had to set aside Nicola Upson's Fear in the Sunlight, after reading all the way to page 75! How discouraging! For some unknown reason, I'm not able or my brain is simply not willing to deal with the complexities of all the characters that populate what I'm sure is an excellent murder mystery. I have no doubt it's exemplary; I'm just very disappointed that the huge cast, each member with his or her accompanying emotional baggage, was driving me to distraction. I hope I feel in the mood again soon! This was to be another TBR read. I bought the book last spring when it was first published. To be continued...I hope!

So, I've started reading another TBR, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, which is to be my crime novel/murder mystery read of the moment. This novel, published years before Gone Girl, seems to be rather grim, with young girls being slaughtered in a southern Missouri backwater town by a serial killer. I'm continuing reading because fortunately there are far fewer characters and I can keep a grip on the plot. The young female journalist is a steadying presence, although she has mental health issues that date from way back. Intriguing.

I'm continuing to be fascinated by The Secret Rooms and I'm nearly finished with the exquisite The Wind is Not a River, which has been a rewarding read. More on this later. Please do consider Nicola Upson, I do think she is a great writer.