It’s a male-centric list, I know. Not by any design, and I have other titles by women lying about I could/should have picked up instead, but I wanted to get that out in the open straight away.
In truth, my reading lately hasn’t been all that thorough or satisfying in the sense I’m getting much back. That’s not to say the titles aren’t worthy or without merit – it’s more of an indication of where my brain is at. I usually get like this when I’m writing – I should be reading poems, not prose. Poetry feels like middle ground.
The Ocean at the End of the Lake and Eyrie are on loan to me from Jasmin. It didn’t take long to finish Ocean and again, in parts, I was reminded about two areas in which Gaiman excels: 1) his ability to really nail a child’s point of view and 2) what you might describe as ‘domestic menace’. For the latter, it’s not quite the uncanny, more like an acknowledgement that to witness our loved ones do or say their worst isn’t as remote a likelihood as one might suppose.
Every time I’ve picked up Eyrie I’ve read a page and fallen asleep – that’s an indication of how tired I’ve been, not about the book!
I love Russell Banks’ work, so I was all ‘squee!’ when I saw this new collection of short stories, A Permanent Member of the Family, had been released.
Last, and perhaps most confusing of all, is Gaysia. I started it first, actually, and put it down halfway through and haven’ t managed to pick it back up again.
What are you reading this month?
