Greetings from the West Coast! The pod has been unpacked (almost completely) and our collection of books has taken over our small but classy apartment. Here is what I’m reading (quickly, so that I can beat my sister in our summer book race):
- The Invisible Sex by J.M. Adovasio, Olga Soffer and Jake Page: a book about prehistoric archaeology and women.
- Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani: I found Trigiani via Goodreads best historical fiction recommendations, and her writing isn’t the best but her stories are interesting. She lacks the magnificent detail of my idol, Geraldine Brooks, but her characters are human and the plotlines are realistic, if a little mundane. Also, questioning the “historical” category of this fiction, since it takes place in 1978.
- The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. Man, that guy was ANGRY. I just finished a scene where the gang vandalizes construction equipment and rarely has a scene sounded like so much fun.
- The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler! I read Saint Maybe a little while ago and decided to try this one and it was such a good call! Tyler is like every writer I admire but with more heart and humor. Her writing in the Accidental Tourist is amazingly funny. We love and can’t believe Macon is a real person, but he totally is.
- Fun House by Alison Bechdel. I’ve been meaning to read this for a long time. Enjoyed it. Did not expect so many literary allusions.
- Tristan and Iseult, via Librivox (a free audio book site). Weird but interesting to read the originator of Romeo and Juliet and King Arthur. Best in small doses.
