What are you currently reading?
Peril
Sara Labriola is a married woman haunted by the shattering secrets of her past—and terrified of the future. Tired of living in fear—and knowing that if she stays in her marriage she'll be killed—Sara decides to do the only thing she can: she makes herself disappear.
One afternoon, without telling a soul, she packs a single suitcase and leaves her life in Long Island behind....more
I'm reading this because I'm considering de-trunking a trilogy of Mafia novels that I started in college. But one of the things I realized in the years since was that I was trying to write a thriller without ever having read a thriller. I like it so far, but I'm surprised by how literary it is. It's essentially a story of a bunch of very sad people doing terrible things because they don't know how not to do them. But it's a beautiful exercise in character motivation. And each time a character's POV is introduced, it's introduced at a pivotal moment - when the story starts for them. The switching POVs and intense 1st person is very nice, and it's a lot like what I have in my files. It's nice to know that it's a valid writing style for this sort of book. I thought I had to pick a character and stick with her. (Of course, when I was writing the first one, there was no way I could have handled multiple threads and switching POVs. I was still a baby writer. I'm pretty sure I've at least graduated into Elementary school now.)
What did you recently finish reading?
Cara M gave  to: | |
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Cara M gave  to: | |
| Hornblower in space! Lots of weapons specs and delicate politics, and the brutal type of war that you get when you're in a tin can bobbing around in space, or in a hollow log bobbing about in the water. Tons of fun though. | |
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Cara M gave to: | |
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I do love me some adventure novels, whether sci-fi or nautical, and if they are chock full of Horatio Hornblower references, that's even better. :D
Sea of Shadow was a re-read, and it was as brilliant if not better than the last time I read it. A member of my writing group was asking about exotic fantasy, and I thought of this, and then just had to read it again. The translation, I think, values faithfulness over flow, but after you get used to it, it's not distracting at all. Oddly, though I love Sea of Shadow, I've never been able to finish the next book, perhaps because I really could sympathize with Yoko, and the MC in the next book just isn't as interesting as she is.
What do you think you’ll read next?
Oh my, my pile of TBRs is towering and huge. But whatever it is, it may not even come from that pile. I suppose I will find out when I read it.
Peril sounds fascinating. It's not the sort of book I usually read these days, but I love that intense pov experience, especially with well-drawn characters in difficult situations.
ReplyDeleteThanks for playing along! I do this every week on my own blog and really enjoy it.