Now reading…
I don’t have a book to review this week, mostly because I’ve fallen back into my bad habit of reading multiple books at the same time. Here’s what I’m in the middle of:
The Female Thing. I requested this from the library because of Flea’s positive review. (While she thought she was behind the curve in reviewing it, I had never heard of it.) So far, it’s mostly annoying me. Kipnis seems to be provocative for the sake of being provocative, and to believe that "women’s magazines" are an accurate reflection of women’s psyches.
This year I will… A little book with advice on how to achieve your goals, from losing weight or quitting smoking to being more patient with your kids. Nothing wildly innovative, but a useful set of reminders.
The Lay of the Land. Richard Ford can sure write amazing sentences. But I’m not sure that anything’s going to happen in the entire book. When I finish a chapter, I feel no compulsion to start the next.
With no one as witness. One of the recent Lynley mysteries by Elizabeth George. I’m not liking it as much as her earlier ones — I think they were more interesting when Lynley and Havers hated each other. But it keeps me turning the pages.
January 31st, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Read Kipnis’s dialogue about the book with Daphne Merkin at Slate. Kipnis comes off as pretty reasonable, whereas Merkin comes off as someone whom some readers might be forgiven for wanting to punch.