I always wonder why people think that summer's a good time to read trash, while winter's the time to read deep, hi-brow stuff. I mean, I get the "beach-reading" thing and all, but doesn't it make more sense to read trash - sort of the literary version of hot chocolate or a plate of nachos - when it's cold and gloomy, and dig out the Tolstoy - the literary version of vodka (lots of it) fresh outta the freezer - while you're sunning yourself?Think about it - there you are, glistening with baby oil and iodine, while all the poor Russians are slogging through house-high snow? "Man," you say to yourself, as you flip from your back to your stomach. "Just reading this makes me feel like I'm freezin' my patoot off!" See, perfect summer reading.
Then, when the ice and brrrrr set in where you are, that's when you dig out the "star" biographies and bodice-rippers. "Whoa!" you shiver, as you throw another log on the fire and another tot of brandy in your hot chocolate. "That Justin Timberlake has had such a tough life!"
Or maybe not.
I've just started The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (see reading list a few posts down). I have an early morning flight to beautiful Columbus, Ohio, my home-away-from-home for the next two+ weeks, so I needed a good paperback to take along on the journey. Terrific so far.
What are you reading this summer - dark, gloomy Russians or feather-brained heiresses?
2 comments:
The Shadow of the Wind is brilliant.
On the whole though I'm more of a trashy-all-year woman!
Have you read The Starbridge Chronicles by Susan Howatch? I think there are five of them set in and around a cathedral. Then she follows them up with three books that feature some of the characters. Now they are intelligent page-turners!
I'm actually about to start War and Peace. I can't say time of year has much affect on my reading choices, although the summer workload tends to be a little lighter so I have the brainspace for a big reading project.
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