Winter Reading

I read in waves. What I mean by that is this: I am constantly reading, but the ferocity depends on my mood, which I believe is effected by the moon just like the tides. (Not really, but you get the idea.) When I finish a book, I explore my bookshelves, allowing my reading muse to guide me to my next choice. I love feeling pulled towards a book, like it is inevitable that I will read this novel next, or this mystery, or that history. And from page one (if I am truly guided by my reading muse) I am pulled in.

My reading tide is fiercest throughout the winter months. It is because I dislike being cold, and prefer cozying up on the couch with my cat, my book, and a warm mug of cider and slowly, quietly, pass the long evenings.

Are there other book-loving souls in Winston-Salem who share this habit? 

My winter months are full of a variety of reading. Here’s what I’ve read and am reading so far this winter:

The Little Book by Selden Edwards — I gave this book 3 (out of 5) stars. It started off promising, but I felt that by the end the author was trying to pack too much into it. I think the fact that the author spent over 30 years writing it made him feel as though he had to include everything, when he should have left more to the imagination.

Synopsis from Goodreads: “The Little Book is the extraordinary tale of Wheeler Burden, California-exiled heir of the famous Boston banking Burdens, philosopher, student of history, legend’’s son, rock idol, writer, lover of women, recluse, half-Jew, and Harvard baseball hero. In 1988 he is forty-seven, living in San Francisco. Suddenly he is —still his modern-self —wandering in a city and time he knows mysteriously well: fin de siècle Vienna. It is 1897, precisely ninety-one years before his last memory and a half-century before his birth.”

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin – I gave this book 4 stars. I enjoyed the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire saga very much. This second book I found started off in the same fashion, but towards the middle lagged. It did pick up near the end and left me on quite a cliff-hanger, guaranteeing that I will pick up #3 (as if I wouldn’t anyway). I have seen a few of the HBO series “Game of Thrones” and find it to be good, though not as good as the books!

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin – I gave this book 3 stars. I am being sucked into the mystery genre more and more. I love inspectors, especially from other countries. I feel that Rankin’s Rebus will be just as entertaining as Mankell’s Wallander, and I’m eager to continue the series.

Synopsis from Goodreads: “Detective John Rebus: His city is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders…and he’s tied to a maniac by an invisible knot of blood. Once John Rebus served in Britain’s elite SAS. Now he’s an Edinburgh cop who hides from his memories, misses promotions and ignores a series of crank letters. But as the ghoulish killings mount and the tabloid headlines scream, Rebus cannot stop the feverish shrieks from within his own mind. Because he isn’t just one cop trying to catch a killer, he’s the man who’s got all the pieces to the puzzle.”

First Lady by Michael Malone – I gave this book 4 stars. I love the wit and intelligence Michael Malone puts so gracefully into his novels. This is the second in the Justin and Cuddy series that I’ve read and I hope he will write more. I wonder if it’s possible to enjoy his books more if you’ve lived in Piedmont North Carolina your entire life? I doubt it, because I already enjoy them so much. I find his total comprehension and inclusion of North Carolina, more specifically Hillsborough and Raleigh, to be enlightening without being overly colloquial. (Not to mention, the author is one heck of a nice guy!)

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies – I gave this book 5 stars. It doesn’t happen often. This book is incredibly complex, while being extremely quick to read. I made myself slow down while reading in order to absorb the subtleties of Davies’ language. I appreciate him making small-town Canadian life so real for the reader, while not being overly sentimental. How lovely and how strange is this little book that is essentially about nothing remarkable. Spanning the majority of the 20th century but capturing an entirely different world from what I’ve known. I love this quote about the book and find it quite true:

“Fifth Business stands alone as a remarkable story told by a rational man who discovers that the marvelous is only another aspect of the real.”

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown – I am currently reading this book now. I sat down to start it yesterday over morning coffee and found that I quickly went through 60 pages. Without my full assessment to tell, I’ll include the synopsis from Goodreads:

“The Andreas family is one of readers. Their father, a renowned Shakespeare professor who speaks almost entirely in verse, has named his three daughters after famous Shakespearean women. When the sisters return to their childhood home, ostensibly to care for their ailing mother, but really to lick their wounds and bury their secrets, they are horrified to find the others there. See, we love each other. We just don’t happen to like each other very much. But the sisters soon discover that everything they’ve been running from-one another, their small hometown, and themselves-might offer more than they ever expected.”

I hope you’ll join me at Reynolda Manor library on
Wednesday, February 15th, to hear Eleanor Brown talk about her
debut novel. It will be out in paperback and I think it is a perfect book club selection (as well as a fun and quick winter read!)
Check out details: www.bookmarks.roundtablelive.org.
The event is FREE!

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