Monday, July 25, 2011

Page-Turner

So, it's late July and I'm making my way through my summer reading. I just finished "The Dirty Life" a memoir by Kristin Kimball, about her dramatic transition from New York City writer to farmer. Kimball met and fell in love with a farming/man-of-the-land purist (and this is putting it lightly) and tells of their first year together tending to the land and planning their wedding. Not sure why I keep steering toward non-fiction like this (another recent read being "The Bucolic Plague" about two city boys attempting the same thing). Perhaps when I think life on a farm in the countryside sounds wonderful, I need to read memoirs like this to shake me back to reality. Anyhoo, it's a decent read if you're up for it.

I've now moved on to "The Secret History," by Donna Tartt. This book has quite a following and I'm just now discovering it. It was released in 1992, and given that I was a freshman in college, obviously I was focused on so many other things in life, namely, me, so the book wasn't on my radar.

I'd heard a lot about this book in recent months and last week read an interview with the author of "The Help," Kathryn Stockett, who mentioned how much she loved this book, and that the character of Bunny is her all-time favorite villain. So, after not being able to get it via Kindle (only an audio book version was available), I ventured to Barnes & Noble for a hardcopy. To say I'm entranced is an understatement. I look forward to every night when the kids have gone to bed and I can delve back into this book. (Although I've since learned that the audio version is narrated by Robert Sean Leonard from "Dead Poets Society" fame, which is spot-on for this novel. So, I'd be interested in hearing him narrate this story.)


That's what I'm reading right now. Have you read "The Secret History?" If so, what are your thoughts? What else are you reading these days?

Happy Monday, friends. Hope the week treats you well.
Images from Penguin Books and Alex Chilver Illustration

5 comments:

Heather said...

I am adding both of these to my to-read list. Thanks!

helen tilston said...

I just finished reading "when I am playing with my cat, how do I know she is not playing with me Saul Frampton (about Montaigne). Loved it very much and am re-reading it. I just picked up the Diaries of James-Les-Milne and it looks promising.
Thanks for your suggestions and review
Helen xx

Town and Country House said...

I had to laugh at your comment about reading books about the farming life. I'm the same way about cooking--whenever I think my next life should be as a caterer/chef, I read some sort of cooking school memoir and am snapped back to reality! I'm hoping to get to The Bucolic Plague this summer, and I will have to check out The Secret History. First I've heard of it, but I was a brand-new mom in 1992, so that's hardly a surprise!

Town and Country House said...

I had to laugh at your comment about reading books about the farming life. I'm the same way about cooking--whenever I think my next life should be as a caterer/chef, I read some sort of cooking school memoir and am snapped back to reality! I'm hoping to get to The Bucolic Plague this summer, and I will have to check out The Secret History. First I've heard of it, but I was a brand-new mom in 1992, so that's hardly a surprise!

Bunny from New Mexico said...

Fabulous book! Read it years ago and then passed it along to my son (he was at UT-Austin studying engineering at the time), who passed it along to his little sister recently (she's a sophomore at UNM) - it's long been one of my faves. Love the blog as well - if you have a minute after you finish The Secret History, please check it out www.ilovenewmexicoblog.com.