Quite by happy chance I came across these two brand spanking new Penguin Specials releases on the bookshelves at the library. As the website states, “Penguin Specials are designed to fill a gap. Written by some of today’s best and most exciting writers, to be read over a long commute or a short journey, in your lunch hour or between dinner and bedtime, these ebooks provide a short escape into a fictional world or act as a primer in a particular field or provide a new angle on an old subject. ”
Except, of course, now they’re being printed and, despite their digital availability, it’s taken their being turned into hard copy for me to a) come across them b) pick them up. This example demonstrates more about me as a reader than I think it does about any greater ‘digital versus print’ debate – not that I want to start one – and what I’m feeling up to tackling at the moment: short is good, in sum. Bradley’s reimagining of the Rapunzel tale is thoroughly enjoyable, as is Cochrane’s fictionalisation of an actual sea journey that took place in the early 1800s and the conflict that occurred between Captains Bligh and Short throughout its duration. I freely admit to being partial to nautically-themed tales: I’ve read a few Horatio Hornblowers in my time. (Incidentally, the Penguin Specials page also lists Barbara Baynton. A word of advice: short story writers and readers need to get their eyeballs on her work, if you’ve not already. Amazing.)
Revolutionary Road? Well, let’s see. The other night I tweeted:
I’m about 40 pages into Revolutionary Road and it’s making me ‘I need a drink to stop FEELINGS’ depressed.
— Karen Andrews (@Miscmum) June 20, 2013
And, honestly, I’ve not been able to bring myself around to picking it up since. I will – because it is incredible – but wow. I feel like my sense of hope has been subjected to water-torture.
What are you reading this month?
