This is going to be a lazy holiday, with lots of time on the beach - playing with Cherub, swimming, and curled up with a good book (I hope!). Thassos is a small island without much to see or do, which suits us just fine. If you are American and wondering why we would go all the way to Greece just for a beach holiday, there is a simple two word answer ... British weather.
I have been collecting books to take, and after a splurge with the Book People this is my current reading list (still time to add a couple more!) ...
- Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
- Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
- Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
- The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough
- The Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon
- The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
- Ithaka by Adele Geras
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (re-read)
Now please help me choose ... what should I start with?
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3 comments:
Very funny about those first 3 titles.
The only ones on your list that I've read are Reading Lolita and Harry Potter.
I really liked Reading Lolita, though I think I remember it glowingly in part because my initial expectations were so very low. It was a pleasant surprise. So I hesitate to talk it up for fear of producing the opposite reaction, let down because of too-high expectations.
I'm in the middle of Reading lolita--the only problem I have with it--is it is making me add to my evergrowing list of books to read, and even some to reread!
Happy reading!
That's alot of reading. The most I racked up was 4 books on a two week holiday. But that was years ago, and pre children.
The only one on your list that I've read is Reading Lolita in Tehran.
It was good, but I can't say it made a huge impression on me. Bits of the book have stayed with me. I liked the descriptions of the women gathering in the authors flat and divesting themselves of the chador, and looking like themselves at last.
I get the impression that Iranian women are quite feisty and opinionated, not at all meek and submissive and shuffling around in floor length shrouds. It's quite something to imagine how it must be for these women to live under the rule of the Mullahs.
That said, found the author a bit irritating for some reason. I can't quite put my finger on why. I found her a bit self consciously 'intellectual'. I think she had quite a high opinion of herself and that made her somewhat unappealing to me.
I like the sound of The Rose of Sebastopol. I like historical fiction, partly, I think, because it feels like quite an efficient use of my time in that I learn something 'real'. The Charlotte Mason 'Living books' idea perhaps.
Whenever I've read an historical novel I've always become a bit more interested in that period of history, and I definitely find it easier to remember historical details that way.
The Colleen McCullough book has had pretty poor reviews on Amazon.
Quite a mixed bag there. I'm interested to know how you get on!
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