A new year of reading

Another new year. Looking back over last year’s reading list, I see a drop in the number of titles digested, but the quality of them was quite good. I have found myself unable to review many because they still linger in my imagination, developing and expanding in a way that would be cut short if I tried to wrangle them into a few paragraphs. Does anyone else feel this way frequently?

I am still committed to reviewing as much of my reading as possible, if only so I may revisit these books in the future by means of my notes. To this end I spent New Year’s weekend catching up my reading lists and book journals, which always feels like coming home.

I must be seeking familiar comforts these days, as I returned to Shirley Hazzard for my first fiction of 2012. The Bay of Noon is the last of her novels I have to encounter. I started a few years ago with her most recent, The Great Fire, and then was compelled to locate the others, which I’ve been reading—accidentally—in almost reverse chronological order. Tonight I stumbled on this lengthy interview in The Paris Review from 2005. I knew some of her background from reading her memoir Greene on Capri, but this interview is especially valuable for her discussion on poetic influence and the craft of writing.

So I’m still here, reading and putting together some new reviews. I’ll be posting those in the coming days. Until then, happy new year and, as always, happy reading!

07. January 2012 by Mindy
Categories: Currently reading | 4 comments

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