With my reading time this Sunday I’ll be attempting to finish American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, a novel based very loosely on the life of Laura Bush, in the guise of Alice Lindgren. I believe Sittenfeld’s goal is to work out what the First Lady may be feeling at this critical juncture, when her husband is almost universally despised. It’s a good read so far – I am slightly more than halfway through and have heard that it falls off around this point. I haven’t yet found that to be the case, although the skipping about in time does get distracting. All of a sudden, Alice’s daughter Ella is 9! It would have helped to have some brief passages about the time in between, because now it feels like a 20-something is already in her forties and she shouldn’t be, if that makes any sense!
I’ll also be writing reviews today. I’m working on four of them and I’d really like to catch up so that I can post reviews sooner after reading the books. I read too fast for my reviewing speed a couple of weeks ago and got behind. My goal for the week is to get back up to speed before my hopeful weekend away visiting some friends.
Up this week:
– Finishing The Power Makers by Maury Klein, or at least I hope so. I feel like I’ve been reading this book forever. There’s just too much technical detail and it goes so slowly. I’m tempted to kick it to the curb, but parts of it are interesting, so I haven’t done so yet.
– The Watercooler Effect by Nicholas DiFonzo. This one promises to be interesting, though you can never really tell. I’ve heard positive reactions, so I am hopeful.
– Any fiction title! I will need it with those two non-fiction books. I’m not sure what it will be yet. I’ve acquired several slim award winners, like The English Patient and Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner, so I suspect I’ll be sneaking those in between selections from my ARC pile.
Have a good week everyone, and see you next Sunday (and on your blogs earlier)!
I am curious about American Wife. Will you write a review next week, or give us a brief overview when done? I know what you mean about sneaking in those books in between the ARCS. LOL
I agree – I have to discipline myself to write the review soon after finishing a book, or I get caught in the rhythm of my next book and don’t do justice to the first!
I try to “weave” fiction in between my non-fiction books as well, to change the pace and emotion of my reading time.
I’m way behind on reviews, too. I have at least three to write to catch up on. On the one hand, I don’t have to hurry to finish things but on the other it’ll take me longer to write each one because the books aren’t as fresh in my mind.
I usually write my reviews immediately after finishing the book. It’s easier that way, and I don’t forget to, either.
I have Power Makers on Mt. TBarc, I want to get to it, but it’s thick… I suppose I’ll read it while reading another. I thought I’d requested The Water Cooler Effect, but it never came, so I don’t know.
I’d like to catch up on reviews, too. But for some reason, I just can’t seem to make myself sit down and write them.
I’ll be interested to see what you think about The American Wife – I’ve got that on my TBR stack for this summer, and I’ve heard very mixed reports about it. Laura Bush isn’t really one of my favorite people, but she’s certainly the best thing about George, so it should be interesting.