Books

As predicted, today is quite rainy, so I thought that I would participate in Chantler63's book club, which I have meaning to do for quite a while. If you are not interested in this, feel free to skip the long posting below. :-)

Since I retired at the end of August, I have put some of my free time to good use and have finished reading two 1000+ page books. Don’t be put off by the length, they were both well worth reading and difficult to put down.

The first was my own book club's selection for September and it was by an author that none of us had ever read before, being the book snobs that we are. The book was "11.22.63" by Stephen King. Normally his books would be a genre that would hold little interest for me so I read this reluctantly and am quite glad that I did. The whole premise of moments that unalterably change history is the key to what makes this book so fascinating. For those of us who grew up in the U.S. and lived through the Kennedy assassination, the book also brings back memories of historical, cultural and environmental elements that may have since been forgotten. Stephen King is a wonderful story-teller and we were all quite surprised at how much we loved this book.

I also just finished reading the “Edge of Eternity” by Ken Follett. This book, along with “The Fall of Giants” and “The Winter of the World,” is part of his "Century Trilogy." It follows the lives of four families, American, British, Russian and German, throughout the political and social turmoil of the 20th century. For anyone who loves historical fiction and wants a review of the last century, this is quite good. The author weaves wonderful fictional family sagas in and out of the major events of this period and it is most entertaining. The final volume didn’t seem to be quite as polished as the first two. Certainly there were many who were waiting for its publication, so it seems they may have rushed it to print.

Both the King book and the Follett book have been very well researched, and the history alone makes both worth reading. The great story-telling is the bonus.
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I have been in a book club with the same group of women for over 22 years and during this period of time, we have read some extraordinary books. I have kept a record of every book we have read with notation as to which ones stimulated exceptional discussions. If you are interested in the book list, I am more than happy to share it. Feel free to contact me by email (in my bio) and I will send it to you.

This blip is also part of two other challenges today: Chantler63's October word challenge (Culture) and Plumbum's Winter Challenge, "Indoors, if Wet."

Now I think I will curl up with a good book and a hot drink for the rest of this rainy afternoon.