summer reading
Jun. 30th, 2005 02:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellroseMy summer reading so far has been pretty... umm... unique.
So far, I've read one book on prostitution, about half of one called "Courtesans," about 18th century courtesans of England, and then a book called "Bare," detailing the stripping scene in Seattle in the 1980s and 90s, from the view of a woman who worked in it during school, and went back later after finishing a degree in journalism.
Now, I'm reading two books at once by Geraldine Brooks, the author of "Year of Wonders," which I read last summer - the current books are her most recent, "March" (a semi-historical novel about the Civil War experiences of the absent character of the father in "Little Women"), and her first book "Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women." I also checked out "The Harmonious Universe" by Keith Laidler, for my long-weekend reading and jury duty on Tuesday. And I'm still slogging through "London: The Biography" at intermittant moments. I'm totally stuck on "Kite Runner" - I can't seem to get into it, whereas all the rest of this has pretty much grabbed me by the shoulders and demanded my attention.
Right now, "Nine Parts of Desire" is completely eating my brain - Brooks is such a clever and insightful writer, with such a talent for expressing all the ambiguous and terrifically human angles of any subject. She doesn't preach, she doesn't forgive unconditionally, she doesn't pretend that people are saints or sinners, she just tells the stories, with all the warts and thorns right along with the beauty. I think I've found a new writing hero.
So far, I've read one book on prostitution, about half of one called "Courtesans," about 18th century courtesans of England, and then a book called "Bare," detailing the stripping scene in Seattle in the 1980s and 90s, from the view of a woman who worked in it during school, and went back later after finishing a degree in journalism.
Now, I'm reading two books at once by Geraldine Brooks, the author of "Year of Wonders," which I read last summer - the current books are her most recent, "March" (a semi-historical novel about the Civil War experiences of the absent character of the father in "Little Women"), and her first book "Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women." I also checked out "The Harmonious Universe" by Keith Laidler, for my long-weekend reading and jury duty on Tuesday. And I'm still slogging through "London: The Biography" at intermittant moments. I'm totally stuck on "Kite Runner" - I can't seem to get into it, whereas all the rest of this has pretty much grabbed me by the shoulders and demanded my attention.
Right now, "Nine Parts of Desire" is completely eating my brain - Brooks is such a clever and insightful writer, with such a talent for expressing all the ambiguous and terrifically human angles of any subject. She doesn't preach, she doesn't forgive unconditionally, she doesn't pretend that people are saints or sinners, she just tells the stories, with all the warts and thorns right along with the beauty. I think I've found a new writing hero.
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-01 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-01 12:46 am (UTC)