On a typical day, I can get 20 minutes of reading in while eating my lunch and another 20 minutes before I fall asleep. Every once in a while, there is a sweet Sunday afternoon, where I can stretch out on the sofa for a couple of hours. Reading is pretty much my favorite thing to do. I read to both learn and escape.
I’m currently reading local author Tara Conklin’s first novel The House Girl, which is told by two narrators in different time periods. Her latest novel The Last Romantics has a huge wait at the library, but I am patient. I’m also halfway through Michelle Obama’s Becoming. She’s an honest and affecting writer; I wonder if she will write more? Next in the queue is Michael Ondaatje’s Warlight. I wasn’t as enamored of The English Patient as many were, so I’m curious to see what I think of this new book.
For book club, we are reading Chappy by Patricia Grace, my pick. My book club chooses a theme for half the year. Right now, it’s “indigenous writers and writers from occupied lands.” I was recently in New Zealand and realized how little I know about the history of the country. This novel was one step in learning more about Māori life and culture. I found the book by scanning librarian suggested picks online at Tūranga, the newly opened central library in Christchurch which I visited when I was there last November. Yes, I go to libraries on my vacation.
What are you reading? What else should I be reading?