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Yesterday, I spent the dreamiest afternoon just snuggling up on our couch in the living room under a thick, white comforter and reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which Justine passed on to me. It was blissful.
After last weekend's whirlwind trip to New York and next weekend's departure to Sicily, all I wanted to do was just curl up and be a homebody for once! I made myself a cup of tea and kept some snacks next to me so that I could fully indulge in a big, fat reading afternoon. It was so nice! I read until it was dark outside and John came in to turn some lights on - he found me in the same position I had been in four hours ago.
When I was a child, I devoured books from the library like they were candy. I read so much and so often, that my eyesight worsened when I was 8 and I had to wear glasses by the time I was 9. In college, I majored in English and brought all my favorite books from home to place on my dorm room bookshelf because I found it comforting.
As an adult, though, I'm having a lot of trouble a) finding the time to read and b) discovering new books that I like. This may sound ridiculous, since I've worked in book publishing for over seven years now, and follow a lot of bookish types on Twitter. I own a Kindle and my shelves are full of books I haven't read yet. In fact, I'm constantly getting recommendations from friends, but a good book still seems hard to come by. I even joined a book club a few years ago but soon discovered that it really wasn't for me.
So I'm curious: what are you reading right now? Are you loving it? I'm nearly half-way through Americanah and am completely in awe of Adichie's writing. It's beautiful, personal, raw, and evocative. I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm finished!
p.s. an example of a book I loved.
You already know my (incredibly positive) feelings about Americanah, but if you like her writing I'd also recommend "Half of a Yellow Sun". I also just finished the incredible "Agaat" which left me feeling whole once I finished, and earlier this year loved "The Goldfinch".
ReplyDeleteGreat, thanks for the suggestions, Robin! "The Goldfinch" has been really popular among my friends.
DeleteIt's absolutely gorgeous and I think totally worth all the hype! I just started "Super Sad True Love" story and have a few other books on my list on this Pinterest board – I'm also a book worm if you can't tell :) http://www.pinterest.com/robinreetz/books-to-read/
DeleteI'll definitely be checking those out, Robin!
DeleteI can't think of anything I've read recently that I'd recommend :/ I seem to have the same problem; it's hard for me to find books I absolutely love (but when I do, it's an awesome experience :D). I'm currently reading The Bone Clocks (which I like so far), and I've got Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, 1Q84, and Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage on deck.
ReplyDeleteOH! I totally lied. I recently read The Ocean At The End Of The Lane and LOVED it. I'd picked it up when it was first published but couldn't get into it for some reason. Tried again a few weeks ago and read it in one sitting.
DeleteThanks for all of your suggestions, Maslo! Definitely going to thumb through those the (go, alliteration!) next time I'm at a bookstore.
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