Thursday, January 12, 2012

Weekly Check-in


Currently Reading:
  • The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern. Funny and odd, a bit too long. I am reading this for my book club which doesn't meet until the end of January. I don't want to post about it until I hear (and think about) everyone else's reactions. I'm reading this on the Kindle.
  • The Oriental Wife by Evelyn Toynton. I discovered this on the new fiction shelf at the library. I never heard of it or the author, but it's good. It's about Jewish refugees in New York during World War II so it's from a different perspective than what I usually read. 
Recently Sampled:
  • The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan. I read the extract on the Kindle and liked it. I want to read it soon. Several people have recommended this to me.
  • 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Another Kindle sample, this time not a success. I always want to like Stephen King because I like his plot ideas but I can never get beyond his overly casual writing style. I won't read this.
  • Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. My first impression was of amateurish writing and maudlin situations. This I checked out of the library but I plan to return it unread.
I'm Hearing About:
  • The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. Everyone is talking about this and asking me if I've read it yet. Do I want to read a book about baseball? My friend Jane liked this a lot, but she likes baseball. It's the same with that TV show Friday Night Lights, which Jane also liked and about which I keep hearing. But it's about football.....
  • Swamplandia by Karen Russell. Another one people keep recommending. I downloaded a sample; maybe I'll read that next.
I'm writing this blog post in an effort to be more intentional with my reading as per my New Year's resolution. I'd like to continue doing these once a week, but we'll see...

2 comments:

LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD said...

Great idea and nice format! I keep hearing good things about those two books as well. I like baseball but don't really know the game well enough to understand most references so that suggests I skip that one. Swamplandia just sounds like someone trying too hard. But I will be interested to hear what you have to say — even if you just sample them. I just sampled (like that word!) an historical novel by a woman who's written all kinds of well-received history titles and I gave up after 70 confusing pages. Felt proud of myself rather than guilty.

gina said...

Interesting post. I finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet b/c it was for a book club, but imo it's definitely not worth finishing.

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