How One Book Makes You Read Another...

I just finished reading Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte). I had never read it before. I mostly stayed away from those books unless I had to read one for an English class. My sister seemed to really like them (you know, the Bronte Sisters, Jane Austen...) so I figured they could be her kind of books. I read Pride and Prejudice because it was on the syllabus for first year English. It was okay, but never made me want to pull out any of the others by Austen. So, anyhow, I was reading the Jasper Fforde books and the first one, The Eyre Affair, has a lot to do with Jane Eyre so I kept thinking I should probably read it. When I was at Cole's, picking up some books for Mark, there was Jane Eyre, just waiting for me on the bargain stacks. It was alright and added much to the appreciation of The Eyre Affair. Now I am onto the next in the Jasper Fforde series and I am content. It seems to have a lot to do with Hamlet and I have already read that several times.

I do want to say that I have loved reading Edith Wharton for some time... but she was American so for some reason that made the difference for me.

I Don't Know How It Happened...

A year or so ago I picked up two interesting looking books that I found in a used book store. They were by Jasper Fforde. I meant to read them, but they went into the 'stack of books to read' and I forgot about them. Then, the other day, I packed up the first one and thought it would make a good 'car reading book'. It was The Eyre Affair. I LOVED IT! I quickly tore through the next book in the series and then when I was about 25 pages from the end of that one I drove to two book stores to find the next three books in the series. If you like books (and reading about books), if you like funny books (like Douglas Adams kind of stuff), if you have read a lot of books, particularly classics and you would enjoy reading about a universe where the Complete Works of Shakespeare is legally mandatory in all hotel rooms (right next to the Gideon's Bible, the Koran, and various other religious books), then you would like this series. I am halfway through the 3rd book (Well of Lost Plots) and very much enjoying it!

Change in Plans...

Okay, so I put Odalisque down and picked up Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs and whipped that off in two days. I needed a break from Stephenson because the writing is so dense. I have picked up Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter and hope that will move along as well. I will get back to Odalisque later.

Sleepy... few pages read...

I finished The Vagabond King last night. It was hanging on for a few days there because I would only get one or two pages read before I found myself asleep. I have picked up Odalisque, which is the next in the Baroque Cycle (Neal Stephenson). I think I would be going through these faster if it weren't Spring Break. I don't have the 1/2 hour in the car waiting for Oliver after school, so that's a lot of my reading time gone right there.

I forgot to mention I read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. My sister lent it to me. It is the same author who wrote Remains of the Day but is nothing like that one (I am assuming based on my recollection of the movie). It was very interesting and sad in a way. I wanted an uprising and that was lacking. I do recommend the read. The concept was brilliant and the writing is really good.