I have two full months before the fall semester begins. I'm determined to make the most of the time and do a great deal of reading in addition to all of my other activities. As I've mentioned before Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth, Mantel's Wolf Hall, and Orhan Pamuk's Snow will be consumed come hook or by crook. They are my priorities.
Yet, loads of new books are demanding my attention. You know how it goes. To rest my mind at the pool, I've ordered C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton. I do love Kinsey Milhone's gutsiness and her lackadaisical care for her personal appearance. If her hair gets washed, fine; if it doesn't, then that's okay, too. There are more pressing worries in this world. I've ordered it for my Kindle, which I only tend to use in the summer, because I can read it in the sunshine unlike the Nook.
Then Chris Bohjalian has a new novel, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands--a post-apocalyptic sort of novel about a teenage runaway trying desperately to survive after a nuclear disaster in Vermont, which is to be released next Tuesday, July 8. I'm almost sorry to say I have a predilection for post-apocalyptic fiction. Not everyone's taste, I'm sure, but I'm drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I've lived most of my life in the scary "downwind" perimeters of nuclear power plants and have always protested the use of nuclear power. Not to mention the fact that the Seabrook, New Hampshire and Vermont Yankee power plants are notorious for being old and having less than the best designs and engineering. Seabrook is offline now, though Vermont Yankee in the western part of the state is still! operating, forty-three years, long past its sell-by date, and is all too close to us here in northeastern New York.
It sure is nice to have a summer free to read what you want. I used to be a big fan of Sue Grafton back when audio-books came on cassette tapes. For a while Kathy Bates was reading them, which was great fun.
ReplyDeleteI treasure the summer for that reason! No matter how ultra-humid and hot it gets, I can be a vegetable and just read in an air-conditioned room.
DeleteI'm glad to hear that you've been keen on Grafton. If I had to boil down the key to my attraction to her mysteries, it would be Kinsey's utter irreverence for everything. Love that attitude! I don't know Kathy Bates, I'm sorry to say. You know, it's so hard to find library copies of the first 16 or so books in the series. Worn out. I read them on the Nook or Kindle. Happy summer reading to you!
I have bought a shameful number of books in the last month! Everywhere I turn there is some fantastic book that I want to read. Wolf Hall is so good, you will love it. I have Parmuk's Snow on my shelf as well, I'm trying to alternate fun, easy reads with more serious, longer books.
ReplyDeleteHave you read Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake? If not, you should. It is definitely post-apocalyptic....
Oh, me too! I go crazy in the month following my birthday through mid-July, usually. My other off-the-walls super-extravagant book purchases happen from a week before Thanksgiving through Christmas. I'm so glad I'm not alone!
DeleteYes, I have read and really liked Oryx and Crake--read it when it was first published and really liked it, but I haven't read the subsequent books that were connected to it. Have you?
Judith