Catching Up on Reading

I preach reading like religion for writers, and here I've been so bad the last few weeks about writing in abundance, and not reading like I should. With Mothers Day weekend, and subsequent business, I decided to play some catch up.

Book club read The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd for last Thursday's meeting, and we had a really active, meaty discussion about it. Book discussion can be hit or miss. Sometimes, the conversation is slow. This book was not only beautifully written, but it inspired all of us to add our two cents. Lots of overlapping and talking-over: the best kind of book club meeting. It's a great book - highly recommended from me. The dialogue feels as though it isn't period appropriate, and some of the scenes - in historical accuracy - are brutal to read, but the novel is definitely worth the read.

For next month's meeting, I'm reading The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. I'm only a hundred pages in or so, and while the narrative is...well let's just be honest and say depressing...the prose sucked me right in. I'm big on pretty prose. Pretty prose is important. Barry is Irish, and there's just no faking that authentic, lyrical, melancholy of Irish writers.

I also treated myself to Interview With the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. It's high time I read those - some real vampire literature. For so long, I was tainted by the mental picture of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise from the movie - the antitheses of my ideal vamps, but I've finally managed to shake it off, and can't wait to dive into the books.

Still working on The Once and Future King a little at a time. It's a massive volume of all the individual books, and the writing is droll and unconventional. I shall persevere - it's a classic and deserves to be.

I have an addiction. I'll admit to it. Some women can't stop buying shoes - I can't stop buying books. There's worse vices to have, I'm thinking.