Summer reading
Here’s some of the fun stuff I’ve been reading lately:
- Lost and Found, by Carolyn Parkhurst. Not as wonderful as her first novel, The Dogs of Babel, but a quick read. It’s set in the middle of an Amazing Race type reality show, which makes for some pointless absurdities (the characters spend much of the book carrying around a single ski pole and a parrot) as well as an excess of characters, but I liked the way the relationship between the mom and daughter evolved.
- The Necessary Beggar, by Susan Palwick. This is more of a fable than a novel, with many of the characters being more roles than people. But I liked the idea of illegal aliens who were truly aliens, and I thought the portrayal of the pressures on the oldest daughter rang true.
- His Majesty’s Dragon, by Naomi Novik. Dragons and sailing ships in the Napoleonic wars. A bit weak on character development, but who cares?
- An Innocent, A Broad, by Ann Leary. What may be the most flattering book ever written about Britain’s National Health Service. A memoir of how Leary went into preterm labor while in London, and her experiences dealing with bedrest and the NICU far from home.
I’m #283 in the holds queue for Anne Tyler’s Digging to America.
August 9th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
I loved An Innocent, A Broad.
August 10th, 2006 at 5:59 pm
Digging to America is worth the wait! I just finished it and really enjoyed it.