summer reading

I've been reading, reading, reading -- waiting for back surgery which will take me out of this misery I've been in for far too long. Some re-reading (my favorite when I need comforting): Pamela Aidan's Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy. I especially love books 1 and 3 -- An Assembly Such as This, and These Three Remain. As you might guess, this is Pride and Prejudice from Mr Darcy's point of view. They are charming, and vastly better than the usual fan-fiction.

And some new (to me) books. Among the best, so far, is The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz. My daughter recommended it to me, and what a treat! Izzy Spellman is a 28-year-old private investigator working for her parents' San Francisco PI firm, and her travails with boyfriends, snoopy parents and a 14-year-old sister who would put Veronica Mars out of business are hilarious. Best thing? It is apparently the start of a series!!!

Right now I'm in the middle of In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, which breaks my current, pain-induced rule of no-sad-endings (goes for movies too), but it is gloriously written and very compelling. I'll finish it and then go back to light and frothy. A friend loaned me Diana Gabaldan's Outlander series -- heaving bosoms and time travel? I am so there!

Reading on the Plane

School is out, ending, as it always does, abruptly and with many loose ends. At least this year we didn't have to pack up the entire collection for a move.

This morning I finished the last of the Earthsea series, The Other Wind. Oh how I love these books. I will probably read them again before too long, a common practice for Lindi, but not for me.

Right now I am faced with what reading material to bring with me on my very long flight to Ethiopia. Lindi has insisted that I bring a Jane Austen, and I have chosen Emma. I also have Cynthia Voigt's Jackaroo. I think I'll bring The Chalice and the Blade, something I've been wanting to read but am too fidgety to commit to. Sitting in the confines of a coach airplane seat for 15 or so hours will probably do the trick. However, I'll also have plenty of knitting to distract me, and reading or knitting is always a hard choice for me.