Thanks to John Wiswell for hosting this blog hop! Please go visit his blog for more #bestreads2011.
Here are mine :-)
A Classic
Portrait of a Lady. One of the great things about my Kindle is that there are so many free classics. This book, considered by some to be Henry James’ masterpiece, is definitely “slow hand lit.” James takes his time; the book’s pleasures are subtle ones meant to be lingered over, not swallowed in chunks. Definitely worth reading if you’re inclined to literary fare.
An Indie
As an indie author myself, I’m meeting other indies on a daily basis. There’s no way I could read all of the new books I’m finding out about as a result, but I am trying to at least sample and if something grabs me, read on. The Movie by Bosley Gravel is one that did. Said it before and will say it again, Bos is a writer to watch.
Where have you been all my life
This one sort of falls into the indie author category as well. Julie Harris is a midlister who has started bringing titles out as ebooks. I read An Absence of Angels and really enjoyed it. It’s historical fiction, great story telling, memorable characters.
And one print book
My dad lent me this one. Gregory Orr spent part of his childhood in Germantown, New York, where my father also grew up. The Blessing is his memoir. It opens on the day that Orr accidentally shot and killed his younger brother, but this is not a maudlin book. It’s a beautifully realized meditation on pain, grace, and art.
What struck you as memorable about An Absence of Angels? I’ve been meaning to try more historical fiction.
Hi, John — I don’t read a lot of historical fiction myself. I just thought it was great story telling. I also liked that Harris didn’t Disneyfy things. The characters are nobility but their social structures were more tribal than romantic.
An interesting list. I have not read any of these so I’ll have to go check them out. The Movie sounds like an interesting book.
Portrait of a Lady is the only I’ve heard of. Probably because it’s a classic. Never heard of the others.
I haven’t heard of many of the books the other blog hoppers (bloppers?) have listed either. But considering there are some quarter million new titles pubbed every years, not a huge surprise . . .
Bloppers is funny! LOL Yeah. Sometimes I think it’s a wonder I’ve heard of as many of the titles the others listed as I have. Everyone could easily have picked titles and authors I’ve never heard of.
:-) Glad somebody likes my sense of humor!
I need to read that classic. I read quite a few this year (Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was one in particular that stuck with me).
Shanan
http://thebookaddictnet.blogspot.com/2011/12/follow-friday-9.html
It’s a very “interior” novel. I read somewhere, I think it was James who said that a key scene consisted entirely of Isabel Archer sitting in a chair and thinking. It’s interesting to me as a writer to try to figure out how you can pull something like that off. Obviously you have to be damn good, but it also takes a bit of patience on the part of the reader — which is partly earned but partly a function of the reader’s expectation.
It’s one of those books that “might never get published today.”
I’m going to read some more James pretty soon here…would like to go through & read all of his major novels but we’ll see…
I read Portrait of a Lady back in college and really enjoyed it. I don’t remember why, so I may have to pick it up again to remember.
The good news is, it’s the sort of novel that you can read more than once — and quite likely the second reading will be a richer one.