Well, I was quite excited when my copy of The Longbourn Letters by Rose Servitova arrived in the mail the other day.
I'd read an excerpt on Twitter and that excerpt reminded me of Laurence Sterne. I felt that was reason enough to read it.
It's only 147 pages long. Just the sort of thing I like.
I felt I couldn't quite get started reading it, though, because I still had a book checked out from the library: The Guards by Ken Bruen. I've just begun it, and I must say, it sure starts with a bang:
"It's almost impossible to get kicked out of the Garda Siochana. You have to really put your mind to it. Unless you become a public disgrace, they'll tolerate most anything.
"I'd been to the wire. Numerous
Cautions
Warnings
Last Chances
Reprieves
"And still I didn't shape up.
"Or rather, sober up. Don't get me wrong. The Gardai and drink have a long, almost loving relationship. Indeed, a tee-total Garda is viewed with suspicion, if not downright derision, inside and outside the force."
I love the word derision.
And the first chapter is only four pages long.
I know I'm going to enjoy this book.
I've also lately been reading The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. I'm loving it. Each chapter has a theme: an object from Jane Austen's life. On this framework, Byrne rests a great deal of biographical information. It's a clever structure: it's roughly chronological but allows her to move back and forth in time, offering themed biographical chunks without having to apologize for the things that are not known about Austen's life.
I went to a library book sale in October and picked up three Commissario Montalbano novels, safely stowed on the stairs; two culinary mysteries, a gift for a neighbor, Woman Chasing Crows by Marc Strange, and a book that got lost and was just rediscovered: Black Star Nairobi, by Mukoma Wa Ngugi. Also, have recently rediscovered my copy of the Wright 3 by Blue Balliett.
1/18/19
I also started reading Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Joyce and Yeats, by Colm Toibin. I didn't start at the beginning (oh, yes, I did - I forgot), read all the way to the end, all while exercising care not to overlook anything salacious. But, I did read a good chunk of the chapter that interested me most, the chapter on John Butler Yeats. I suppose that was partly because I have the most nagging curiosity about the life of William Butler Yeats (if only I would apply myself), and naggingest little corner of that curiosity is Yeats' mother. She seems to have been an invisible woman. And John Butler seems to have been a biographer's dream: cantankerous, inconveniently, insistently independent, unembarrassed.
Sadly, did not get far before learning that my book club has selected Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life, by Jane Sherron De Hart. Very long: more than 700 pages. Clearly written, but slow reading for me: took me hours to read the first 100 pages. But very, very interesting.
I'd read an excerpt on Twitter and that excerpt reminded me of Laurence Sterne. I felt that was reason enough to read it.
It's only 147 pages long. Just the sort of thing I like.
I felt I couldn't quite get started reading it, though, because I still had a book checked out from the library: The Guards by Ken Bruen. I've just begun it, and I must say, it sure starts with a bang:
"It's almost impossible to get kicked out of the Garda Siochana. You have to really put your mind to it. Unless you become a public disgrace, they'll tolerate most anything.
"I'd been to the wire. Numerous
Cautions
Warnings
Last Chances
Reprieves
"And still I didn't shape up.
"Or rather, sober up. Don't get me wrong. The Gardai and drink have a long, almost loving relationship. Indeed, a tee-total Garda is viewed with suspicion, if not downright derision, inside and outside the force."
I love the word derision.
And the first chapter is only four pages long.
I know I'm going to enjoy this book.
I've also lately been reading The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. I'm loving it. Each chapter has a theme: an object from Jane Austen's life. On this framework, Byrne rests a great deal of biographical information. It's a clever structure: it's roughly chronological but allows her to move back and forth in time, offering themed biographical chunks without having to apologize for the things that are not known about Austen's life.
I went to a library book sale in October and picked up three Commissario Montalbano novels, safely stowed on the stairs; two culinary mysteries, a gift for a neighbor, Woman Chasing Crows by Marc Strange, and a book that got lost and was just rediscovered: Black Star Nairobi, by Mukoma Wa Ngugi. Also, have recently rediscovered my copy of the Wright 3 by Blue Balliett.
1/18/19
I also started reading Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Joyce and Yeats, by Colm Toibin. I didn't start at the beginning (oh, yes, I did - I forgot), read all the way to the end, all while exercising care not to overlook anything salacious. But, I did read a good chunk of the chapter that interested me most, the chapter on John Butler Yeats. I suppose that was partly because I have the most nagging curiosity about the life of William Butler Yeats (if only I would apply myself), and naggingest little corner of that curiosity is Yeats' mother. She seems to have been an invisible woman. And John Butler seems to have been a biographer's dream: cantankerous, inconveniently, insistently independent, unembarrassed.
Sadly, did not get far before learning that my book club has selected Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life, by Jane Sherron De Hart. Very long: more than 700 pages. Clearly written, but slow reading for me: took me hours to read the first 100 pages. But very, very interesting.
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