Felipe Caicedo Caicedo itibaren Sankali, Gujarat, Hindistan
Quindlen’s slim book is a meandering essay on all things reading and writing. She touches on such topics as: her childhood reading life and the books in her home, the influence of bookclubs, the history of reading and writing, her feminist views and attitudes, formal education and thoughts on “required reading”, influences on her writing, and the future of the printed page. She also includes “arbitrary and capricious” reading lists that are fun and have interesting themes. I enjoyed and identified with many of her ideas and themes, but I think it could have been organized better for a greater impact.
Two of James' writing habits that I really appreciate are her evocative landscape descriptions and her inclusion of multiple perspectives. Neither is overdone, while the latter does not prematurely reveal the culprit(s) but does add depth and personality to minor characters. Dalgliesh in this ninth book (seventh, if you care to discount the Cordelia Grays) is still somewhat elusive; perhaps that's part of his charm.
Kingsolver at her best! A tale with multiple layers and wonderful characters and enough real characters to make the story intriguing.