I'm sure if my high school friends and acquaintances had only one memory of me they would remember me with my nose in a book.
Next up: A Simple Favor...
And Others
I read while walking in the hallways, and while learning in classrooms during class... I went through so many books from middle school to high school.
In college, I was still a bookworm, but I had to switch gears slightly. Instead of devouring fantasy, mystery and romance novels I had to shift over to academic reading. I absorbed psychology, literature in English, Italian and Spanish and my other academic reading on a regular basis. When there was time, I'd read "fun" books.
Since college/my masters finished ages ago, I have gone through phases of being a bookworm. Some years I've read practically nothing while others I have read everything and anything I could get my hands on.
A couple of years ago, I managed to read 102 books in one year. They varied from children's fiction to psychology, studies of the brain and genetics. It was a good year for reading.
Since then, my attention has waned and I've struggled to read more than a handful of books a year. I use Goodreads to keep track of all the books I've read and to set goals for myself but sadly I'm behind again. I had set a goal of 30 books in January, but in July I realized I was so behind that I changed it to 25. I'm behind again.
I've read 12 books and I'm 4 books behind schedule.
I blame it on sleep. I keep falling asleep on the train instead of reading. I've been so tired on my commute since I average 5-6 hours of sleep a night. Hopefully, as the weather turns colder, I can make up the 4 books and hit my goal!
However, in the past few weeks I've been falling asleep less and less. The book I've been reading just keeps getting better and better.
I've been reading a beautiful book that I won in a Goodreads Giveaway (the first and only I've ever won... so far) and as I was getting to the end even my exhaustion couldn't stop me from devouring the pages one by one.
I've been reading Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield.
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| My loved and used copy of Once Upon a River |
Even from the first page of the book, I knew I would be absorbed by it totally and completely.
The writing is beautiful, lyrical but not so descriptive that the eye wanders. When I've read books like The Lord of the Rings the focus and attention to minute details has always driven me to distraction. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy those books too, I just find them harder to focus on.
Once Upon a River is all story. It is beautiful prose and lyrical writing that is plot driven. Because of the way the tale is woven I find it hard to give a brief synopsis but I'll try.
In this book, there are many stories and folklore connected by a single event: the appearance of a little girl who appears dead when found, but actually is not. Who is she? Who does she belong to? Is she Amelia, Alice or Ann? How did she appear? Why? How was she actually alive when she should have been dead with no pulse? Whose secrets will reveal the truth?
It's a mystery that I needed to know the ending to. The more you learn, the more you want to know.
The pace at the beginning of the novel moved steadily, slowly giving information about each character, tying them inextricably together. There are the people at the Swan (owners and patrons all telling stories), Daunt, the nurse Rita, the Vaughans, the Armstrongs and countless others affected by this singular event. But it doesn't feel like too many characters. Every line, every character is connected in an intricate web that the author somehow makes easy to follow. I was never lost in the story telling. I never questioned who was doing what or what. It was so clearly and beautifully written.
The mystery itself leads to guessing, but I can definitely say I was left surprised quite often.
By the end of the book, the pace moves even more swiftly bringing closure to one loose end after another. There is sadness and happiness and just enough mystery left to question.
I won't give anything away, but I strongly recommend reading this book. It is an ode to story telling and story tellers alike. I loved it and Diane Setterfield has become one of my favorite authors.
The writing is beautiful, lyrical but not so descriptive that the eye wanders. When I've read books like The Lord of the Rings the focus and attention to minute details has always driven me to distraction. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy those books too, I just find them harder to focus on.
Once Upon a River is all story. It is beautiful prose and lyrical writing that is plot driven. Because of the way the tale is woven I find it hard to give a brief synopsis but I'll try.
In this book, there are many stories and folklore connected by a single event: the appearance of a little girl who appears dead when found, but actually is not. Who is she? Who does she belong to? Is she Amelia, Alice or Ann? How did she appear? Why? How was she actually alive when she should have been dead with no pulse? Whose secrets will reveal the truth?
It's a mystery that I needed to know the ending to. The more you learn, the more you want to know.
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| Bookmarks and chapters... Don't read ahead!! |
The mystery itself leads to guessing, but I can definitely say I was left surprised quite often.
By the end of the book, the pace moves even more swiftly bringing closure to one loose end after another. There is sadness and happiness and just enough mystery left to question.
I won't give anything away, but I strongly recommend reading this book. It is an ode to story telling and story tellers alike. I loved it and Diane Setterfield has become one of my favorite authors.
I won't give anything away, but I strongly recommend reading this book. I loved it and Diane Setterfield has become one of my favorite authors.
I loved her book The Thirteenth Tale which is a gothic style mystery also quite story driven with beautiful language.
Next up: A Simple Favor...
And Others
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| Shall we begin? |
I too am an avid book reader and just started "A Simple Favor." I want to read it before the movie gives away the ending. And now I can add “Once Upon a River” to my list after this review. I am excited! Regarding the number of books I read...I have to say I do not count them. My I-pad library suggests a lot. But, I have found that sometimes if I read too many too fast I will look back at the book and think...now how did that end. I just had to re-read "The Wife Between Us" because I had forgotten chunks of the plot. Do you have that happen?
ReplyDeleteI've definitely done that in the past! So books that I'm really enjoying like "Once Upon a River" I really take my time to savor. I have a feeling I'll read it again and then maybe again because it's so lovely. I've been keeping track of the books I read for a couple years now, essentially since I discovered goodreads. It helps me be more aware of how much or how little I read (I've gone through dry spells where I haven't been able to do much reading). And since I typically review the books I've finished, it sometimes helps me remember the plots of various books. But still after a while it's hard to keep track of every book I've read. So I'll go back to certain books I've enjoyed and will reread as a refresher (and for the sheer fun of it).
DeleteI finished reading Once Upon a River a couple of days ago (it took me a little while to get my post up!) and immediately started reading A Simple Favor since I also wanted to read it before the movie comes out. I finished it pretty quickly since the mystery is so enticing and the writing quite straight forward. Let me know when you finish, I would love to know what you think of it!