What I’m Reading . . .

I finished (yesterday morning) A Week in October by Elizabeth Subercaseaux. (ISBN-13: 978-1-59051-288-3, Other Press LLC, August 2008) Wow, a very unusual book and what an ending! I thought I was ready for almost anything (given that the blurb on the back cover of the Advance Reader’s Copy said, in part, “This extraordinary tale of erotic tension, deception and resilience walks the line of suspense from page on to the unexpected, haunting ending that ponders the mysteries of a woman’s heart, where truth is a lie and a lie is truth (emphasis mine).” But, in fact, I was caught completely off guard. I’ve been looking for more information about how to contact the author, but nothing’s available yet. I would like to get it in the original Spanish (Una Semana en Octubre) to loan around to people. It was just so GOOD. Very mesmerizing.

Also, just finished last night, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. (ISBN-13: 978-1-56512-560-5) Another Wow . . . I’m reading it for the Second Saturday Book Club at the LaGrange Public Library, and I had originally planned to read it over the course of several days since I’ve been having a lot on my plate these weeks (it’s wedding season, and I’m a pianist) and not that much time to read. However, after the first day, I just couldn’t put it down. I was completely hooked. In fact, as I finished it, I wanted to go back and start it all over again. That’s always such a good sign.

So, I can’t believe that the only book that I’m actually in the midst of is The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart. That’s what I get for double-booking (an interesting, and useful, term that I learned from Sara Nelson in her book So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading (ISBN: 0-399-15083-8). She provides various lists of book titles, which just means that her title is truer than ever. Never had a name before for what I’ve been doing for years, except it’s more like triple-booking, or worse.

Reading and drinking in Italy (timesunion.com)

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