I've been waiting for the new thread to start -- I've been having a great reading year so far!!
Possession, Byatt
Quote:
"Literary critics make natural detectives," says Maud Bailey, heroine of a mystery where the clues lurk in university libraries, old letters, and dusty journals. Together with Roland Michell, a fellow academic and accidental sleuth, Maud discovers a love affair between the two Victorian writers the pair has dedicated their lives to studying: Randolph Ash, a literary great long assumed to be a devoted and faithful husband, and Christabel La Motte, a lesser-known "fairy poetess" and chaste spinster. At first, Roland and Maud's discovery threatens only to alter the direction of their research, but as they unearth the truth about the long-forgotten romance, their involvement becomes increasingly urgent and personal. Desperately concealing their purpose from competing researchers, they embark on a journey that pulls each of them from solitude and loneliness, challenges the most basic assumptions they hold about themselves, and uncovers their unique entitlement to the secret of Ash and La Motte's passion.
I had a hard time starting this one -- but once I got going, it was really intruiging, The addition of the poetry and letters adds a really unique dimension to the storyline.
Room, Donahuge
Quote:
In many ways, Jack is a typical 5-year-old. He likes to read books, watch TV, and play games with his Ma. But Jack is different in a big way--he has lived his entire life in a single room, sharing the tiny space with only his mother and an unnerving nighttime visitor known as Old Nick. For Jack, Room is the only world he knows, but for Ma, it is a prison in which she has tried to craft a normal life for her son. When their insular world suddenly expands beyond the confines of their four walls, the consequences are piercing and extraordinary. Despite its profoundly disturbing premise, Emma Donoghue's Room is rife with moments of hope and beauty, and the dogged determination to live, even in the most desolate circumstances.
I was a bit afraid to read this one, I thought I'd just be too disturbed by the premise. But it ended up being very satisfying, especially the relationship between Ma and Jack, and her struggle to regain her own identity.
#1 Possession, #2 Room, #3 Twenties Girl, #4 Water for Elephants, #5 The Night Villa, #6 I'm Down, #7 Summerland, #8 Shakespeare:The World as Stage, #9 Sold, #10 The Mysterious Benedict Society, #12 Saving Fish from Drowning, #13 The Day the Falls Stood Stil, #14 The Chocolate War, #15 I'm Looking Through You, #16 M is for Magic, #17 Catching Fire, #18 Mockingjay, #19 Yiddish Policeman's Union, #20 The Book Thief, #21 The Windup Girl, #22 Blockade Billy, #23 Beyond the Last Village, #24 Bones of Faerie, #25 Wee Free Men, #26 Once a Runner, #27 Fablehaven, #28 Horns, #29 Fast Food nation, #30 I am the Messenger, #31 Arcadia Falls, #32 Square Foot Gardening, #33 Haunted Ground, #34 Impossible, #35 Going Bovine, #36 Shades of Grey, # 37 In Defense of Food, #38 Bossypants, #39 The Warmth of Other Suns, #40 Bloodroot, #41 Museum of Thieves, #42 The Magicians, #43 Mystery, #44 Save Me, #45 The Name of the Wind, #46 Hoot, #47 Mockingbird, #48 Relic, #49 So Cold the River, #50 The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, #51 Doc, #52 A Discovery of Witches, #53 22 Brittania Road, #54 Monsters of Templeton
Edited by kofduke - 8/2/11 at 7:28pm
While I like the beginning of the year, I kind of have a bittersweet feeling about starting at #1 for my number of books again.
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