Tuesdays on the Margins. Sorta.

So despite my passionate declaration that I was going to just stop reading books that weren't awesome and just read all my awesome books in a big awesome string of awesomeness, I have found myself partway through a dozen books again. Here's the rundown:

Songbook by Nick Hornby: According to Goodreads, I've already read this, but I don't remember reading it AT ALL, even while (apparently) re-reading it. It's magnificent. I was leaving for physio and had forgotten to find a book, and only grabbed it because it was the right size (small and light enough to hold in one hand while my shoulder was being buzzed, iced and womanhandled). Ended up grinning like a dork and laughing out loud through the whole physio appointment. You know that quote that says writing about music is like dancing about architecture? I imagine that Nick Hornby could do the kind of dance that would make you go "Hot damn! I finally understand what the Taj Mahal is all about!"

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff: I'm going to Zarah's this week-end, and she's hosting book club, so she told me which book they were reading so I could check it out. It's about Mormons - the 19th wife is Ann Eliza Young, Brigham Young's 19th wife, who rebelled against polygamy and denounced it publicly and in writing. This history is intertwined with a modern-day sect that practices polygamy and a son who was thrown out as a child and returns to try to clear his mother's name. I have to say that the 'mystery' seems kind of lame - every time it returns to his storyline the mystery part is advanced so infinitesimally that you wonder why they bothered. But his storyline apart from that is compelling, and the parts dealing with the history of LDS are also very readable. It's long, but I'm getting through it faster than I thought I would.

Synchronic: 13 Tales of Time Travel edited by David Gatewood

I think I got this through Kindle Unlimited when I signed up for a free trial. I don't think I'll continue with Kindle Unlimited - a couple of books I've actually wanted to read were available free through it, but mostly it's self-published crap and nothing current or in demand. I'm a sucker for time travel fiction. Some of these are meh, a couple are almost great but rely too much on that lack-of-closure, not-spoon-feeding-the-reader crap (I get SO pissed off if I can't figure out exactly what happened and I feel like it's because the author was lazy or trying to be too cool) and a couple are amazing.

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon: The enduring power of the printed word? A pandemic of decaying language called the word flu? Sounded right up my alley. But didn't grab me at all. I had the ebook from the library, read a bit, let it expire once, borrowed it again and didn't even open it. Not sure how I'll proceed.

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell: I loved Cloud Atlas (the book AND the movie). I borrowed this from the library, realized I'd never finish it during the lending period (David Mitchell requires time and space to stretch out in), so I bought it. I started reading it and was liking it. then stupidly read a bunch of negative reviews. Started reading other stuff. I will go back to this and finish it.

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs: I loved the previous book in this series, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and I think the only problem with this one is I should really go back and read the first one before continuing, so I keep reading a few pages and then putting it down indecisively.