As of today, I have either read or listened to six books:
1. The Cart Before the Corpse by Carolyn McSparren
2. Scandalmonger by William Safire
3. The Mosaic Crimes by Giulio Leoni
4. The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk
5. Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone
6. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz – audio book
I have written reviews for most of them at LibraryThing. As indicated in the last post, I have a higher opinion of the McSparren book than most of the other readers. Maybe it’s because I’m so grateful to have time to read anything that I’m happy with even the fluffiest of books. It might also have to do with my expectations going in: it’s a chick-litty murder mystery…were you expecting Dickens? It entertained me for the few hours it took me to read it and that makes me happy.
I went to LibraryThing to post to the “What Are You Reading Now” forum but since I’m really not sure what to read next, I had to leave without posting. I started The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber but have not completely committed to it. I’ve also made a little progress on In Search of Jefferson’s Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace but again, am not completely committed. Finding the next book is certainly not a problem with access. There are piles of books in the bedroom and the linen closet. I’ve got five or six pages worth of books on the Kindle. So, how to decide?
For one, I’m looking for something a little lighter. While I enjoyed both The Fifth Sacred Thing and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, they were somewhat depressing and violent. The first one presented a grim view of the future and the second one presented a grim, but evidently quite true, portrait of life in the Dominican Republic. Both books included somewhat explicit descriptions of torture and murder. Both books showed human beings at both their best and their worst, but mostly their worst.
So, no torture, please. And, with the beginning of the semester putting pressure on my schedule, I guess I want something that doesn’t make me think too hard either. Any suggestions?
On a side note: Carbone’s young adult fiction book about Jamestown was terrific! It was historically accurate but its focus on the young Sam Collier made it engaging. The character of Samuel was well-developed. The author will be attending the weekly Monday evening meeting of the Virginia Society for Technology in Education that takes place on VSTE Island in Second Life, beginning at 5 PM SL time. Hope to see you there!
