Finally finished The Briar King (Greg Keyes) several nights ago - what a relief. The second volume is out, called The Charnal Prince, but I think I won't continue reading this series. Far too much beheading, impaling, evisceration, etc. for my reading pleasure. Alas, because the story is really quite good. And I have to admit I'd like to know what happens to the few characters who remain standing at the end of this, the first, volume. There's a lot that bewilders me about this story, mainly the fact that the royal family in this strange time and place traces its lineage back to someone named Virginia Dare. Call me crazy, but I think that was the name of the baby born to the English colonists in what was called The Lost Colony, on Roanoke Island in Virginia. The first English baby born in the New World. Yes? And in this book there is a place called Virgenia, and a language ditto. So, when and where is the setting of this fantasy? Okay, I may eventually have to pick it back up just to see if this question is ever answered. Has anyone else ready any of this? I wouldn't mind getting the answer to my bafflement the easy way.
I went in to return Briar King, also pay my hefty late fees, and picked up two promising books. Sharyn McCrumb is one of my favorite writers - her series of Appalachian mysteries based on folk ballads is outstanding for plot, characters, but most of all for place. The Tennessee mountains are alive in these novels, written about with great personal affection. One of my favorite contemporary characters comes from these books - Nora Bonesteel, an elderly woman with The Gift of seeing the past, sometimes also the future. So, anyway, when I found a new Sharon McCrumb on the New Books shelves, I snagged it. Even if it IS about NASCAR. Yes, you heard me, NASCAR. It's a novel, probably a mystery, and it shows you that I'm willing to read just about anything McCrumb puts her hand to. It's called St. Dale, so there you go.
Gail grabbed it first, however, so I'm reading the other one, Mosaic, by Soheir Khashoggi. I don't know this author, but it looked interesting, had a good cover (yes, I do, often), and is about a very contemporary problem - the clash of cultures and religions. Here they clash in a microcosm of the larger world, a marriage. I'll say more when I have read the book.
It occurs to me that during the snow days, the sick days, I read several books that I never mentioned here. The one I remember most clearly is Anita Shreve's Light on Snow. Though she's written a whole slew of novels, this is the first one I've read. They have seemed to be too much in the Oprah Winfrey Mature Chick Lit vein previously. I don't know if they are or not. This one was an easy and pleasant read, especially for someone who had trouble keeping her eyes open with the flu. Not great literature, but a good story with believable characters. She's not Neil Gaiman, but then - who is? Except Neil Gaiman. I don't pretend to be a reader of Great Literature, don't get me wrong. I'll read more Anita Shreve, in all probability.
5 comments:
I have to admit that I've read very little popular literature--never anything by Shreve. And I just became aware of Gaiman as I was doing some research into the horror/fantasy genre in order to be up so speed on a student story about zombies. Through all my research I ran into the delightful film, GINGER SNAPS, which I loved. Have you ever read Angela Carter's gory retellings of fairytales, THE BLOODY CHAMBER?
In the email you wrote me I thought you were talking about McCrumb's Ghost Riders, so I hurried over here to see what you wrote about it. I didn't realize that she had an even newer book out. I've got to hurry to the library and see if they've got it yet. Like you, I will read anything that she puts her name on. Living here in Tennessee, I know many of the places and people she writes about. If you haven't read them yet, check out Ghost Riders and The Songcatchers. The Rosewood Casket is also excellent.
Not my kind of books but yes, Virginia Dare was the first English baby born here, on Roanoke Island.
Neat!
V
Ahh, nother McCrumb fan. I think Duane is, too (Fdtate). Haven't read her but anyone who can write about Nascar and make it interesting must be a talented writer.
I too, had a bout with the flu and enjoyed reading a few books. Hope you're all better now.
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