Keep Reading
I have not written about books lately so here are some reading ideas.
Recently I went to Thailand and between dealing with time changes, long flights and time to relax I read 8 books. Some of them were not really worth talking about but a few were really good.
The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmun De Wall was my very favorite. This book hit all my sweet spots. It is packed with real history, wonderful fictitious characters and something new to learn about. A friend suggested this book to me a while ago and it took some time for me to get around to reading it. This book made some very long flights go much more quickly.
My second favorite book was The Presidents Daughter by Barbara Chase-Riboud. She also wrote the wonderful novel based on the life of Sally Hemming’s. The President’s Daughter continues with the life of one of Sally’s children who passes as white and leads the reader up to and through all the tention before the Civil War.
Sometimes I think historic fiction was invented just for me.
Now I am wrapped up in two very long books. Snopes: The hamlet ; The town ; The mansion combines three Faulkner novels into one volume. This is how he wanted these books to be presented but it took several years for it to Happen. A lot of people have trouble with Faulkner. I admit it takes me a while to get into the rhythm but fortunately he writes nice long books that give you plenty of time to get with his style. I love the way his sentences twist around themselves and tie my brain in knots. I am so glad he was such a prolific writer.
I am also reading Katherine The Great A Portrait of a Woman. This is by Robert K. Massie who also gave us the wonderful and very readable biography of Peter The Great.
These books are both nice and long and will keep me busy for the next week or so.
I am thinking about reading War and Peace again. I think winter makes me want to settle in with nice long books.
The retirement gift I have given myself is to turn off my computer around 4:00 make a cup of tea and sit in the recliner treating myself to a good book.