Monday, January 19, 2015

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?





What I Want To Be Reading:

I saw the movie Calvary this weekend, and it was stunning, gutting, and thought-provoking.  Brendan Gleeson did a tremendous job playing a parish priest, with all of the complexities, problems, and really difficult questions it brings up.  It sparked a conversation about faith, intellect and morality, (if you're interested in that sort of thing, definitely see it) and someone recommended I take a look at Graham Greene - I've settled on The Power and The Glory and can't wait to tackle it.

What I Am Reading:

I've been stalwartly plodding through the first 233 pages of The Secret Wisdom of the Earth by Christopher Scotton, because I was so excited by the idea and heard such good things about it.  Now that I've gotten halfway through, I think it might get there.  Maybe it's because I started reading it after going through some heavy hitting female authors, and maybe it's because I've spent considerable time around people from Appalachia, but I'm having a hard time seeing what everyone is raving about.  What I think is most disappointing, and the biggest loss in terms of potential character development and plot depth, is how Scotton writes his female characters (in spite of the fact that they are mostly minor).  Isaac Babel can describe women by the density and swing of their breasts, because he's Isaac Babel - but for any writer born after WWII, I think it's a questionable writing choice.

What I Will Be Reading:

After a lot of waffling, I finally ordered some books from my list! Book mail, the best kind of mail, will be arriving within a few days, and I'm starting with Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen.

What are you reading this week? What have you been reading this weekend?


2 comments:

  1. A lot of people really enjoyed Mrs. Poe, I hope you're one of them (: I think I'm going to try to finish Macbeth this week, and maybe dive into a new book, though I've yet to decide whether I want to reread the second Harry Potter, or start something new.

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    1. Thanks! I can't wait for it to arrive :) Enjoy the rest of Macbeth - I've never read it but LOVED Julius Caesar when I read it, if you're looking for another Shakespeare...

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