Archive for June 3rd, 2010

Yes, I Am Delusional

June 3, 2010 @ 7:48 am | Filed under:

My summer reading list.

Oh, I crack myself up.

It’s all the books I have started in the past year or so, read big chunks of, am truly eager to finish, but haven’t for one reason or another. (Dunno if I’ve ever mentioned it, but I have six kids.)

If I stand a chance of whittling down that list, I may have to swear off certain blogs for the summer. Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray, for example, has a knack for inflaming my booklust. A hazard to the TBR pile, she is. In the best possible way. šŸ˜‰ I mean, how can I resist an opening like this?—

Guy Gavriel Kay’s Under Heaven has reminded me of just how important story is to a novel. Set in a fictionalized version of 8th century China (called Kitai), this is Lord of the Rings for the history crowd. No elves or dwarves (although there are ghosts and other slightly fantastic/gothic elements) but it has the same type of deep rich world building and a plot that is equaled only by an amazing set of characters. I honestly did not expect to love the book as much as I did.

So, you know, that one squeezed under the wire onto my library reserve list.

Colleen’s full review at Chasing Ray. I admit I stopped at the first paragraph so I wouldn’t hear too much detail about the story itself—Colleen’s opener was what persuaded me I wanted to read the book. After I do, I’ll go back and read the rest of her post.