reading

Just a quick post to talk about books as I endeavor forever to get back into reading. (Reading also seems to be a good way to manage my anxiety for some reason.) Here's what I've checked out from the library: The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal, Closer by Dennis Cooper, The Swimiming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst, Indecency by Justin Phillip Reed, Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon, and An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.

I've been reading Closer, but I'm not particularly enthralled by it. Since I have so many, I may end up returning it without finishing. I also don't think I'll be able to handle The city and the Pillar right now. I read part of it some time ago and wasn't digging it, but I think that was just my state of mind at the time. I'll have to come back to The City and the Pillar, I think. I started The Swimming-Pool Library in the summer, but ended up not finishing because I found myself not really reading it. The words went in, but I was just sort of glazing past it all. I think I just wasn't in the mood to read, but I've found myself thinking about The Swimming-Pool Library, so I think I need to return to it.

Indecency is a book of poetry that I've had on my to-read list for awhile. That'll be an easy read, but I think I'll save it for it later. I'm most excited about Among the Burning Flowers and, to my surprise, it's a third of the length of Samantha Shannon's other books! Thrilled about that. I think that'll be my read on the plane tomorrow.

An American Marriage wasn't on my radar at all, but a bookstore runs a few book clubs and this is the pick for the literary fiction book club that's meeting mid-January. I know hardly anything about it, but I'm going to try to get through while I'm away next week and then start up the book club circuit. I expect I'll write up some reviews and thoughts as I get through the books.