Well. I'm still reading Cathedral of the Sea by Idelfonses Falcones. It's a long book. I'm almost done, and I don't think it's going to end well. To the author's credit, it doesn't appear to be one of those sagas where everything turns out beautifully for the hero.
It's been snowing at Holden, so I was thinking about snow books. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan came to mind. It was one of my favorite books in elementary school. It's about Norwegian children in occupied Norway in World War II who secretly transport gold bullion in their sleds as they play right under the nose of the Nazis. It's a great story - I've read it many times, including once a couple years ago. Sheryl Schmeling sent a very funny picture about swine flu which also made me think of rereading children's books. Here's the picture:
Poor Piglet! But it made me think of reading the Winnie the Pooh stories. So this week I hope you'll think of some favorite childrens books and take them out and read them again. Comment on this post and let us all know which ones you really like.
We have had beautiful Fall days this week. The tamarack (larch) are all turning, and it's fun to watch the color march down the mountains. The picture is of Buckskin late this afternoon.
I took a detour from the Women's Book Group collection and picked one from my stash of to-be-read. So I'm making my way through Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones. It's set in 14th century Barcelona. It's in the Ken Follet, Arturo Perez-Reverte, Dan Brown, Edward Rutherford mode. I think Perez-Reverte is by far the best writer of the lot, and in this case he may just have a better translator than this author. It's a bit wooden. But it's a fast-moving story and I'm learning a lot about the society and culture of the times. That's not very encouraging, but does make some of our worst hierarchies and such look a little better! We visited Barcelona in 2002, and the story is set in the part of the city where we stayed, including being right by the church (Santa Maria del Mar) that gives the book its name. If you're looking for a bit of a late middle ages escape, this is a good one. The characters are well done, so I do like following what happens to them and sympathizing with their distress and success.
Here at Holden in the Fall and Winter we suggest books for discussion. I picked two that I haven't even read yet from the Women's Book Study collection: Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker, and Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I'll be reading those next, and am looking forward to them.
On another book note, yesterday I was excited to see that Hilary Mantel won this year's Booker prize for her historical novel about Oliver Cromwell, Wolf Hall. I really like her books, especially ffludd and An Experiment in Love. She writes all across the spectrum, which is fun. I'm not so sure about Oliver Cromwell, but at the same time I'm happy to read anything new by her.
We're having a "what's your current favorite read" discussion tomorrow afternoon. I don't know what I'll pick, there are so many good ones!
Poor Piglet! But it made me think of reading the Winnie the Pooh stories. So this week I hope you'll think of some favorite childrens books and take them out and read them again. Comment on this post and let us all know which ones you really like.
