What I'm reading this week (4/4/16)

Well, I had a wonderful three days off. I think next time I'll remember not to read a chunkster on a read-cation. I always feel like I'm reading and reading and reading and getting nothing read.

Last week I finished:

I read Emma start to finish last week (my copy is 450 pages), and that felt like an accomplishment. I can't read most classics very quickly--the language trips me up--and Austen is the worst for slow reading. And this book in particular seemed to bog me down. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for Emma. For much of the book I had decided it was one of my least favorite Austen novels; it was tedious and all of the characters seemed to be caricatures. This is a book about judgment and meddling, but in other news: no first cousins dated/married each other in this one! But the book grew on me as things started to come together. As for which Austen man I like more: I think I'm a Mr. Darcy rather than a Mr. Knightly girl.

I finished Appleblossom the Possum, and I miss Appleblossom and her family already. It really was a well done book.

Last week I began:

 

I half-heartedly began The Soul of an Octopus (from my April reading list) last week to give my Emma-weary mind some diversion, and although I'm only a handful of pages in, I can see why this one won so many awards. Sy Montgomery loves what she writes about.

This week I'll finish:

 

My audio re-read of The Latehomecomer has gone quickly. I've enjoyed listening to it in the author's voice (though it's not the best listening experience), and I'm struck again by the beauty of this young author's memoir about the immigrant experience. I highly recommend it. She has a new book coming out in May called The Song Poet, which is a memoir of her Hmong father.

This week I'll be reading:

I had to interlibrary loan a copy of H Is for Hawk, because both my library and the city library had no copies available. I think it just came out in paperback this month, so folks are rediscovering it. I plan to read it and return it as quickly as possible so the next person on the wait list can have it. I have very little idea what this one is about, which often works out well for me.