With a two-week holiday in April, I did manage to get a lot of reading done, even if this list doesn't seem to show it at first glance - it's important to notice that I read not one but two GIGANTIC hardbacks - both around 800 pages long (and both very good) amidst the other stuff. Yeah, me!
Margarettown, Gabrielle Zevon. The story of a relationship with a complex woman, told from the man's point of view, using an unusual device to explore the woman (Margaret)'s personality, etc. Like the other Gabrielle Zevin novel I've read, this was clever and enjoyable. I don't want to ruin it by saying too much.
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt. I read The Secret History about a billion years ago (i.e. when it came out, more or less) and just loved it. I remember I read it in almost a single sitting in a hotel room in Basel - I was with Geoff, who was on business, and it was cold and I had a miserable cold, and there was this amazing book...well, I didn't see as much of Basel as I might have (though I did still see some of it, don't get me wrong). Her second novel, The Little Friend, was fine, but didn't grab me like the Secret History, so it was with mixed feelings I approached this one, which I'd had as a Christmas present. However, it did not disappoint. Totally compelling (sometimes in the way a train wreck is), peopled with great characters. A tour-de-force. Though not an entirely comfortable novel, mind you!
The Silver Metal Lover, Tanith Lee. This is a re-read, from many, many years ago - can't remember why I decided to read it again - a conversation or something reminded me of it. I really liked it when I first read it (probably about age 15) and I still found it an enjoyable tale. I used this as a travel book on the train to and from London meeting up with friends in the Easter holidays as there was no way I was taking The Goldfinch with me (hardback copy, 800 pages...). It's a nice fantasy story about a girl who falls in love with a (very sophisticated) robot.
The Enchanted April, Elisabeth von Ardin. I think this is a re-read as well. I know I saw the film, probably when it came out, and I'm pretty sure I read the book just after that, but I don't remember it well. I saw this on a table in Waterstones and really fancied reading it again - and again, I used it as an interim book while reading big hardbacks. This is one of those lovely, understated books, which seem gentle but actually have quite a bit to say.
I Know This Much is True, Wally Lamb. Another large hardback which I've had knocking around for ages. My friend Barbara, who knew how much I liked She's Come Undone, passed this to me back when it came out, and because it was a Large Hardback, I stuck it on my shelf and it kind of just stayed there. Last summer when I was in the US I read a later Lamb novel (The Hour I First Believed) and remembered I still hadn't read this. And then forgot again, of course. I remembered about it when moving books during our recent redecorating, and decided The Time Had Come... Anyway, this was a great story, with good characters, and I really wasn't sure where it was going to end up. It's about twins, one of whom is a paranoid schizophrenic. And it's about other stuff, too. A nice, epic tale, but very well done. It's funny, I think that on the whole I tend to read more books by women authors, but there are some male authors who do big tales very well, who I really like (e.g. John Irving (mostly), Patrick Gale, Wally Lamb, Robertson Davis).
Sex and Stravinsky, Barbara Trapido. I normally like Barbara Trapido a lot, and this one was ok, but I didn't like it as much as some. I think this is because it's about someone who is an expert in comic opera, and the book itself is set out like a comic opera. It just didn't grab me as much as most of hers do.
Garment of Shadows, Laurie R King. Latest (I think) in the Mary Russel/Sherlock Holmes series. More like the prior ones than its predescessor, The Pirate King, which was a kind of Gilbert & Sullivan pastiche (in addition to being a Sherlock Holmes pastiche). I think this is a agreat series, and I enjoyed the story in this one as well as the characters (including the return of some old favourites).
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, G W Dalquist. (50 pp) This seemed promising from the blurb and the beginning, but I just couldn't get into it. Perhaps steampunk isn't for me, or perhaps it was just this book.
Washington Square, Henry James. So, after an unsuccessful book choice, I like to fall back on something I know I'll enjoy. I had picked up this one because I love the new Penguin Modern Library covers, and I haven't read any Henry James in years (never read this one before). I do like the way he writes! Reminds me I should go back and re-read some Edith Wharton.
