I've been reading as well as sketching, and I keep meaning to tell you about the books I've finished since I wrote about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. There is now a list of six of them, so I'd better post at least cursory reviews.
My former manager recommended the novel Revolutionary Road
, which was recently made into a movie with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. I really enjoyed this book, although it's not a happy story. The novel tells the story of a disaffected couple during the 1950s. They hate the materialistic, smug culture of the time and see themselves as special and apart from their suburban neighbors, but their lives do not bear out their self-image. Their delusions about themselves and the lack of honesty in their marriage lead step by step to disaster. Even though it is about a different period, I think it still has a lot to say about our culture.
I read several mysteries. As I've mentioned before, I love both Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti series, set in Venice, and Elizabeth George's Thomas Lynley series, set in England. In The Girl of His Dreams,
Commisario Brunetti investigates the death of a gypsy girl and finds him coming up against some typically Venetian institutional obstacles.
In Careless in Red (Inspector Lynley)
, Thomas Lynley is grieving for his wife, murdered in the last novel, so he is hiking the Cornwall coast to get away from everyone. When he comes upon a body at the base of a cliff, he is drawn into the investigation and discovers more than one mystery in the surfing town where the murder took place.
A couple of months ago, I had a thread about mysteries and some of you recommended Julia Spencer-Fleming's mysteries about Episcopal priest Clare Fergusson. Well, I bought the first one in the series, In the Bleak Midwinter, and I really liked it. The main character is complex and has some unexpected aspects to her, not least of which is her attraction to the married chief of police. I'm definitely going to keep reading this series.
I also read one spy novel: Secret Asset (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)
Finally, I've read Susan Vreeland's novel Luncheon of the Boating Party
So that's the list of books I've read since the last time I posted a review. I'm up to 17 books this year. Not as impressive as people who read a book or more a week, but still not too shabby.







