“A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.” -Graham Greene
Loved:
The End of the Affair, Graham Greene: Greene has quickly become one of my new favorite authors. The weight and solidity of his prose, coupled with the rich, multi-faceted characters and plot, made The End of the Affair one of my favorite recent reads. I've since purchased pretty much his entire published works and am excited to read much, much more!
Enjoyed:
The Nine, Jeffrey Toobin: The last biography on my 101 in 1001 #76, this wasn't so much a biography of a person as of an entity - the Supreme Court, in the latter half of the 20th century and early 21st. I was fascinated and deeply enjoyed the portraits of judicial lions like O'Connor and Scalia, along with a peek at the machinations under the surface of the Court.
Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan: Quick, light, satirical read saturated with name-drops of designers, ritzy vacation destinations, and fabulous restaurants. I flew through this and its sequel - would've been a great beach read this summer!
China Rich Girlfriend, Kevin Kwan: See above. Neither book will win a Pulitzer, but they were light, fast, and fun.
The Fortune Hunter, Daisy Goodwin: Goodwin is one of my favorite authors, and the time period and setting (mid-1840s in England) is also one of my favorites. The class stratification and glittering society depicted in the novel scratched my ongoing itch for more "Downton Abbey" in my life.
Tolerated:
Three Sisters, Three Queens, Philippa Gregory: I usually really enjoy Philippa Gregory as a trashy historical sexy romance type read, but for some reason her latest offering fell really short for me. The "protagonist," Margaret Tudor (queen of Scotland, grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots), was whiny and unlikeable, and the subject matter felt tedious to me...perhaps because so much of it is simply another lens on the Henry VIII tale I've read five million times before.
Re-reads:
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen: I LOVE JANE AUSTEN. I saw "Sense and Sensibility" at the Guthrie last Thursday and re-read this as a refresher/in tandem with the play - and it delighted all over again. Elinor Dashwood is one of my favorite characters in literature for her cool, pragmatic approach to life, and I have such a soft spot in my heart for S&S and all its wit and warmth.