Reading Horizons, May 2019

What I’m reading now

Circe by Madeline Miller is the selection for our next book club meeting.

My knowledge of Greek mythological figures is at an embarrassingly low level so I hope that isn’t going to prove an issue. I have a copy of a guide to Greek and Roman myths close at hand if I need some help.

All I know about Circe is that she was a sorceress, the daughter of Helios and she features in Homer’s The Odyssey.

The first few pages are promising.  If I get on well with this I have a copy of her earlier book The Song of Achilles yet to read.

WWWWednesday is also about…..

What I just finished reading

I’ve been making great progress with my list for 20booksofsummer (or in my case 15booksofsummer) which is taking me on a virtual holiday around the world.

I’ve had to make one substitute because the book I had chosen to take me to Finland, The Midwife by Katja Kettu, proved unreadable. I switched to another Nordic country, reading The Room by Jonas Karlsson. A highly amusing, quirky tale – I’ll post my thoughts on this in a few days.

Robert Seethaler’s novella A Whole Life has been the best of the 15booksofsummer I’ve read so far.  It’s an exquisite tale about a quiet man who spends most of his life in the Austrian Alps. Andreas Egger endures hardship and tragedy but survives by changing and adapting to his new situation. This is about the most beautifully understated work of fiction I’ve read in decades.

What I’ll read next

When I finish Circe I’ll probably return to my books of summer project.

I have one more book by a European author on my list – Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallader

Then it’s across the Atlantic, stopping first in New York to take Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 

This post is for WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.