Monday, August 12, 2013

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


I've been on a little bit of a It's Monday break while I finished up The Son, by Philipp Meyer, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki and Swimming to Elba by Silvia Avallone. I had those three books going for about three weeks so for a while I didn't have much to say on Mondays. I also finished Tony Hawks' delightful Round Ireland with a Fridge, and Peter Ackroyd's fun London Under, a history of the city beneath the city.

This week I'm starting fresh with two new reads. The first is a gigantic Italian novel called The Art of Joy, by Goliarda Sapienza. This book runs around 700 pages and has been a big hit in Europe. When it showed up at the bookstore I was immediately intrigued and then the review on NPR basically sold me.  It's very racy- like, from page one there is a lot of sex- and NPR described it as a mash-up of David Foster Wallace, Margaret Atwood and more, so that should give you a hint of what to expect. I'm also finding it to be breathtaking, addictive and really fun.

I also started Ben H. Winters' The Last Policeman, a pre-apocalyptic crime novel set in New Hampshire, at a time when a giant asteroid is poised to strike the Earth in six months' time. It's a very solid read with a great premise and takes the time to examine the choices people make when the whole planet believes its number is up.

What are you reading? I need to catch up with you all! See more at BookJourney.wordpress.com.

5 comments:

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Curious about The Last Policeman, I've read a few positive reviews already. enjoy

bermudaonion said...

I'm looking forward to your review of The Art of Joy.

Andi said...

The Art of Joy sounds intriguing! I just finished The Song of Achilles and am finishing up Rebecca.

Athira said...

I loved Last Policeman - I'm looking forward to reading the next in the trilogy. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Hi. I'm currently reading 'The Fault in our stars' by John Green