I'm finally back after a whirlwind year. Having a baby and maternity leave left me with little time to devote to writing. I've missed posting to my blog and hope to get right back into the swing of things, starting right now!
One of the best things about the second half of a lovely year off with my son was afternoon naps. His naps, not mine. Afternoon naps meant and hour or two totally devoted to reading. I devoured many books in the last six months and thought that, this being my first post back in some time, I would highlight the best of the bunch.
The first novel I actually finished after my son arrived (general sleeplessness made for lots of failed reading attempts), was The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein. I have to admit, I was totally skeptical about a book narrated by a dog. I mean, how good could it be? Well, I LOVED it! I pretty much bawled my eyes out through the whole novel. Stein made this style of narration work and was able to tell the story of this family in a truly moving way. Definitely worth a read.
Once I realized I had time to read again, I went on a huge fantasy/sci fi kick. Here are some titles of note:
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. The second book in the trilogy continues Kvothe's adventures and was a book I couldn't put down.
Speaking of books I couldn't put down. I recommend hurrying up and reading the Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, before the movies come out. Excellent, quick read, with a very dystopian slant.
A Dance With Dragons, of course, I had on hold at the library before the book even came out. There's something about being the first to use the new library copy. Although, not my favourite of the series, I still spent every free second reading. I was glad to reconnect with my favourite characters absent from the previous novel. Can't wait for the next volume and hopefully we don't have to wait so long this time. As an aside, I also love the show. They are doing an excellent job and I'm totally looking forward to the next season.
So this is turning into a long post. I'll cut it off here. It's very nice to write about books again and I'll be back soon with a review of Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. About a third of the way through, and it is, for sure, one of the best books I've read in a long time.