Friday 13 May 2011

Take Five Books


The idea for this post comes from Stuck in a Book.  A brief look at five books currently or recently on your shelf.  It’s a great idea and here are my five books.
1. The book I’m currently reading - War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.  This is part of my reading for the East European Reading Challenge.  I did read War and Peace decades ago, but this is a new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.  I am enjoying the book immensely, though at over 1,200 largish pages it will take me ages to finish - I am only at page 182.
2. The last book I finished - The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa.  I don’t normally read so many classics at the one time, but this was the book of the month for our Reading Group.  I felt it did not fully succeed as a novel, but did enjoy much of the flowery baroque writing.  
3. The next book I want to read -  Ritos de Muerte by Alicia Giménez Bartlett.  This is part of my own personal challenge to read at least one book a month in another language.  Mostly these will be in Spanish.  I came across Giménez Bartlett via José Ignacio Escribano’s bilingual blog.  It is a crime novel and the first of her series featuring Inspector Petra Delicado.  Looking forward to this very much. 
4. The last book I bought - Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell.  I have not read many of Mankell’s novels, though I have been an avid follower of the various Wallander series on TV.  This is a bit of departure for Mankell, as Italian Shoes is not a crime novel.  It is rather a bittersweet, though at times tender account of how a 66 year old recluse is forced to confront his past and come to terms with himself and the future.  A lovely book.
5. The last book I was given - Dark Blood by Stuart Macbride.  I was given this book some time ago, but have yet to get round to reading it, though I have it pencilled in for June.  Macbride is another in a long line of great Scottish crime writers.  In his case the crimes are set in Aberdeen.  This will be my first Macbride book and I am looking forward to it.
If you want to find out what others have been reading then please go to Stuck in a Book and check everyone out.  I would also recommend that you all try this fun little meme for yourself and post it to Simon at Stuck in a Book.  Good reading.

1 comment:

  1. Your first to make me feel very inadequate, as they are both books I dimly intend to read at some point... but I tend to read short books by preference, so... W&P will have to wait!

    ReplyDelete