The Reading Week
I read a book that has been on my kindle for quite a while. I must have really wanted to read the book because I had also taken it out of my local library in hardcover form. The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell. An excellent first novel. It was about Shangai in the 1930s and the relationship between a daughter and her father. I also finished listening to 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard. This book kept lots of surprises till almost the end.
Kindle Ebook
Prague Winter: A Personal Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 by Madeline Albright. No further along, still stuck in 1942. The author of this book passed away yesterday.
The Abominable by Dan Simmons. I believe this book could have been a short story or is mistitled. It should be titled all you ever wanted to know about early mountain climbing at Mt. Everest. I am skimming large parts of it. I am not interest in the development of a 12 versus a 10 crampon.
Car Audio
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. This book also probably could have been a short story. The author can certainly write some of the most unpleasant characters I have ever experienced in a book. The other issue with the book which actually has nothing whatsoever to do with the book is the audio narrator.
It took me a few days but I finally remembered what other book I had listened to narrated by the same audio actor. His voice is very nice and he is a great audio book reader but I associate the voice with a Japanese novel I read a few years ago. Another book I kept thinking would get better but really never did. Over the past few year I have tried to expand my reading life outside of American and English authors. I have discovered some wonderfully written books by authors from Africa and the Middle East. I have tried books by authors from Eastern Europe and Japan. These are all "best sellers" in their native languages and all "important" novels but maybe I lose something in the translation because they have not sparked any reading joy in my life.
Ipod Audio
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. No further along since I am listening the book below.
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. This book can be so hard to listen to at times. I care too much about the characters (like I do when reading any Amor Towles book). I just want to reach in and shape one of the main characters, Emmett and tell him to cut his looses and stop chasing Duchess. Of course, if he did the book would be considerably shorter:(