In One Place

I just finished the second book in the series, and I find myself drawn to the series the way people are drawn to a train wreck. Unlike Cornwell’s novels, the good guys don’t always win. In fact, it seems like the really evil people are winning. Yet, there are glimmers of hope and that’s what keeps me going, along with Martin’s terrific writing. He captures the richness of the world he has created from the descriptions of the frozen North to the waterfront of Quarth to the beauty of the godswood. While many of the characters seem flat, those who headline the various chapters offer complex personalities, with even the most evil having occasional glimmers of empathy.

I’m not ready to start the third book yet, and I’m not sure I want to watch the television series. But, I have been enjoying the wiki that follows the television show but also describes how it differs from the book.

2012 has been a year of change: we settled into the  farm, and I took on new work that led to lots of travel. I read, but not as much as usual, and I clearly took a hiatus from this blog. One of my commitments for the new year is to make regular updates as this is a record of my personal journey from reading to cooking to creating.

Here’s the reading list for 2012. 58 books. Mostly fiction. I went through a Maeve Binchy binge, a Mormon binge, a David Baldacci binge, and an Elm Creeks Quilt binge. I think the most compelling book was Little Bee. I would still say that The Family Fang and The Night Circus were favorites.

I begin 2013 in the middle of two books: The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards and Winter of the World by Ken Follett. I almost never read two books at once but I think this may become the trend. The Lake of Dreams is a print book and it stays upstairs on the nightstand. I read a chapter before bed. Winter of the World is on the iPad and that stays downstairs. I bought a treadmill and I prefer reading on the iPad while I’m walking. Thus, two books. It should help me work through both piles of books, both the analog and digital.

The Lake of Dreams was a serendipitous discovery: I had just finished The Memory Keeper’s Daughter and loved it. I was looking for the next read and discovered this book tucked on the shelf, part of a buying spree at the Island Bookstore in Corolla, North Carolina. It is a much different book although there is a veiled reference to her other novel.

The digital pile has been getting bigger by the day. I bought the George Martin Game of Thrones five-book bundle and am waiting for a snow storm to settle in and read. It comes highly recommended from a reader I respect. I subscribe to several ebook lists that share discounted and free digital books. This week, it was Truman by David McCullough for $3.99.  And two fluffy books that were free: The Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society about a group of Southern women and Mai Tai One On, a mystery set in Kauai whose main character runs the Tiki Goddess bar.