I finished reading Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, and it proved to be interesting and well-written right to the last page. The three "case histories", and the characters involved in them, were interesting in and of themselves, but woven together through the entire novel, they made a tapestry of depth and beauty (it that textile imagery too much? sorry!). I don't think I will listen to the second book, but rather read it - I seem to recall that I tried to listen to One Good Turn some time ago but did not like the narrator. It is the one book of the first three in this series with which I am least familiar. I'll see if the library has a copy and try to get to it soon (I just put it on hold).
Since finishing the Atkinson book on Sunday, I've been mired in a book rut. I didn't know what I wanted to read, it seemed too early to start my next book club book (but I did anyways), there wasn't enough time to start a serious reading project that I could reasonably expect to finish before I had to diligently read and finish my next book club selection, so it was just one of those kinds of weeks, unfocused and book-drab. I started, but am not making a serious effort yet to get into, Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis. It's OK, but not really my type of book. It reads too much like a non-fiction "memoir", which I never read, and I don't usually read humourous novels. It is interesting enough that I will finish it in time for my book club meeting, but it's not one of those books that I just can't put down, so I haven't been reading it with much gusto this week. The unusual heat, my continuing dental problems, along with a few other issues, made me a less-than-enthusiastic reader recently - I needed something I could really sink my teeth into (figuratively, of course!).
Now it's too late to read something else, as my book club is meeting in a week, so I have to stick to the Fallis book. It was the One Book, One Community book choice in I believe 2010, and it won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour. The author released it as a podcast chapter by chapter, read by himself, then self-published it, so it has an interesting history. I'm sure it'll be a good read, just not what I want to read right now. That's what happens with book clubs sometimes, though - you have to read something at the time it is scheduled, not at the time you personally feel in the mood to read it.
On another note, I am planning to go to the Princess Cinema this weekend to see the film version of "We Need to Talk About Kevin", and I'm not sure how I will feel about it. The book was perfectly written, I can't think of any way that it could have been improved, so I'm afraid to see it translated on the big screen in case it is missing some of the elements that make it such a fabulous story. The book does not have much in the way of action, it consists mostly of episodes and reflection, and I quite liked imagining the scene, or episodes, in my own way and then envisioning Eva's and Franklin's responses to them as reflected through Eva's recollections alone. I hope I'm not disappointed, but really there are excellent actors cast for the parts, although I can't really imaging Tilda Swinton as Eva, as good an actress as she may be. She may surprise me, though, and I think John C Reilly will be perfect as Franklin. I don't know anything about the actor who plays Kevin, but what an awfully difficult (and awful!) role to play. I'm so excited, but also worried that I will be disappointed. Still, I've been waiting for this film to be released for YEARS!! I can't NOT go and see it.
On that note, I will close.
Bye for now!
Julie
Julie
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