So Many Books, So Little Time (to blog)

Oh, I've been reading. I've been a reading maniac. Let me tell you what I've enjoyed.

My friend Heidi was right. I did get my hands on an advanced copy of The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters.



This book will be released on April 30, coincidentally, the day I will be seeing Ms. Waters in NYC! This book is different from Water's other historical novels: it is a slow, creepy, slightly supernatural novel. It has her astonishing writing and detailed historical accuracy but feels like an old-fashioned novel - which is a good thing! I just think she may lose some of her fans, even if she picks up more hard-core historical fiction fans (as she did with Night Watch). In the realm of "Sarah Waters novels" it is a very good book. In the realm of "all novels" it is exceptional. I stayed in bed for 12 hours straight with this book, slowly reading and absorbing the expertly drawn characters and constantly being surprised by the subtle historical details that just suck you into a time and place.

After Waters, Trigiani felt like a shock. I read Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani and, after shifting gears and getting used to the severe genre change, very much enjoyed it.



Valentine is one of three daughters in an Italian-American family in New York. She runs the family business with her grandmom - get this - making shoes! Of course, times have changed since they opened in Greenich Village in 1903 and the business is drowning in debt. Valentine is asked by Bergdorf Goodman to compete for the opportunity to have her custom designed and custom made shoes grace the Christmas window displays. She is up against huge names (Prada among others) and this could make or break the family business. Add a trip to Italy, an on-again, off-again New York boyfriend and the possibility of a fling in Italy, plus some family drama and surprises and it makes for a really satisfying, quick read. This is the first of a new trilogy and is cute, stylish and fun.

I've discovered two new authors that I cannot get enough of. The first is Simon van Booy, a British short story writer who will be giving a talk at my library in early summer. While he edits books of philosophy and is working on a children's book and a novel, his two books of short stories is what really caught me. His first, The Secret Lives of People In Love, takes place all over the globe but deals with themes that effect everyone: love, loss, loneliness.



His next collection of short stories, out in June, is titled Love Begins in Winter.

My other new favorite is a Canadian writer named Helen Humphreys. I only took her new book - The Frozen Thames - out of the library because, well, it was about the Thames.
But it turns out, that didn't matter. This is a writer so skilled at short stories, that she could write about doorknobs and it would be beautiful and fascinating. The Frozen Thames is forty short stories - the Thames has frozen forty times - that touch on what was happening in London during each freeze. The point of view is always different - sometimes royalty, sometimes peasants, sometimes children, sometimes third person. The stories are very short but incredible effective. Each story is based on facts from Humphrey's research.



When I discovered that Humphreys has been publishing books since the late 1990s, I was thrilled! I grabbed Wild Dogs next from the library (which is rumored to be on its way to Hollywood) and I can't wait to start it.