Christmas Books

Well, I see the poll results are in and ... it's a TIE! I am adding both Shalimar the Clown (Salman Rushdie) and The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett) to my short list. I was going to put up another poll, but I've got these two to read and I got a bunch of cool books for Christmas.

I stopped reading the Byron biography because it got really boring. How do you make Byron boring? He's one of the most salacious and dynamic poets in the history of the entire universe. But the biography is boring. I'm going to power through it eventually, but for now it's going to be on the back burner.

I also started reading The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson, but after about 40 pages of that, I was bored again. Something is happening to me as a reader. I get bored so easily lately. I spend so much time in school thinking and theorizing and hypothesizing that when it comes to reading I don't want to put in the work. Which is really sad. So not only has law school taken away a lot of time that I used to devote to reading, it's taken away my desire to read anything of depth.

But, I got some good books for Christmas, and my excitement for reading is not gone. Here are the books I got:

My favorite is the Pride and Prejudice graphic novel. Anyone who knows me knows my affinity for P&P - in any incarnation. Even though they were cheesy, I liked the trilogy of books telling the story from Darcy's point of view. I liked it when zombies were added into the story. And now I love the graphic novel. I am not exactly thrilled with how some of the characters were drawn - why is Mary drawn so sultry? - but it's fun. All of the best lines are still there, even if the story is simplified some. Thanks Bryan!

The other two books look good too, and they'll be added to the TBR shelf. It's now possible to give kindle books as gifts, so I got a few of those too. One of which I already read.

Maids of Misfortune by Louisa Locke.

This book was not great. The plot was thin and easy to see through, and I guessed the outcome right away. But it was a fun, light romp through the streets of "Victorian San Francisco," whatever that is. It ends with a nice setup for a long series. My biggest complaint is that it was kind of a mystery/romance novel, but there was no sex or mystery. It was a g-rated murder mystery. Everything was set up for me to hate this book, but I really liked it. I think it was just what I needed at the time - It didn't take any brain power and it transported me to another time and place. I honestly would be interested in reading the next book in the series as another escape.