I finished up two of the five books I was reading last week, decided to drop one, and have added a couple. It turns out to have been an exceptional reading week for me because I absolutely loved Louise Penny's A World of Curiosities and enjoyed every page of McIlhenny's Gold by Jeffrey Rothfeder. I'll be, I hope, enjoying this bunch just as much for the rest of the week:
I've read a little Andre Dubus III before, and have always been impressed by the depth of the characters and issues he tackles in his fiction. This one is no exception. Such Kindness tells the story of a working man who never wanted anything more in his life than a family of his own. And he had one right up until the moment he fell from a rooftop and so injured himself that he will never be able to work again. Flash forward and he's lost everything: business, home, and family. This is the story of how he copes with his new life without losing his kindness.
In addition, I'm still reading three from last week: the circus-life novel The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman, the noir crime novel Oddyssey's End by Matt Coyle, and the historical roadtrip book Spying on the South by Tony Horwitz. Lots of variety to choose from, so it should be a pretty good reading week.
Good luck getting the Verghese read in such a short amount of time. I've been avoiding books over 400 pages lately just because of my own mood, impatience, and short attention span due to stress and tiredness. But I really like the sound of Such Kindness. Andre Dubus III is not an author I've read before, but I'm thinking I need to check him out. (As long as his books aren't super long.) ;D
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that his books, as wonderful as they always seem to be, are relatively short. This one comes in at just 311 pages, for instance. Making decent progress on the Verghese book so far - on page 175 at the moment, and it's as good as I'd hoped it would be.
ReplyDeleteWhat you describe about your current mood when it comes to reading, etc. is pretty much where I was before I decided to take a deep breath and slowed down. Seemed like I was always fighting with some internal deadline that kept shifting on me anyway as soon as I got close to meeting it.
Hi Sam, Years ago I read Abraham Verghese's memoir My Own Country and it was exceptional. Dr Verghese is someone I need to read more of and another talented writer is Tony Horwitz. I was sad to hear of his passing. He was still relatively young and had so many more books in him but I am grateful for the books he was able to write and thanks for reminding us of these talented authors.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed several of Verghese's books in the past, and was completely caught in his nonfiction as with his fiction. That's the main reason I decided to attack this long book while I had the chance, and it's been quite the ride already. I don't think I've read Tony Horwitz in the past, but this travel memoir is well constructed and it's quite interesting. I hope you go back and revisit these fellows sometime since you seemed to really enjoy them in the past.
ReplyDeleteOne final thing. Confederates In the Attic by Tony Horwitz. It's the book he is most known for and I have read it and I highly recommend the book. It combines travel, history and also Tony's childhood and how he first got interested in the Civil War due to his grandfather's interest. The book is humorous too and just a great read.
DeleteThanks for bringing that one up. I had forgotten that it was a Tony Horwitz book. I really enjoyed that one and still have a hardcopy edition on my history shelves.
DeleteI enjoyed your review of Such Kindness, and I had not heard of the author, Andre Dubus III before. I am curious about what other books by that author you have read and liked.
ReplyDeleteI remember particularly enjoying one from about ten years ago of his called Dirty Love. It's actually a series of linked novellas in which one or more of the characters from one story show up in another one down the road as secondary characters. It's all really intricately constructed and taken as a whole it creates a very believable world in which you keep learning more about the novella/s you've already read. But honestly, Dubus has never disappointed me at all. Everything of his I've picked up always leaves me feeling that it was time well spent.
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