Update

Was just reading an article on Walloons & Huguenots in New Netherland (for work! sometimes I actually work at work!) and came across a reference to a Francois La Cheir / La Seuer, which reminded me of Sieur de La Salle (I don't know; I'm tired, I guess it's just good my mind didn't go straight to food [canned baby peas!]), which reminded me of that novel La Salle, by John Vernon, I started a while ago.  Started, and never finished.  I just realized I put it down maybe a quarter or a third of the way in and never started it again...at least I don't think I finished it.  Regardless, it doesn't say much for the book that I either didn't read to the end or the story had such little impact on me that I can't remember if I read it to the end.  All I really remember is a super annoying authorial voice, which was expressed as two different characters' voice.  Not recommended, obv.

Ohhhhh, St. Patrick's Day...

Well.  Been a while since I wrote about my books...life got a little crazy on St. Patrick's Day and is just settling down.  Good, bad, and awkward, but I think we're back to normal, and I am back to compulsively reading & buying books I can't afford. 
Due to the two-day hangover following St. Pat's, and the two smaller ones since, I didn't read as much as normal the last week, so not too much to report.  Finished The Rose Grower by Michelle de Kretser a while ago (maybe last Friday?  MAYBE Thurs., but I think I just came home from work and passed out, after trying not to die all day), and really enjoyed it.  It's about a family (and associated friends, etc.) during the French Revolution, and I really ended up liking it.  The political upheaval was always very present, but not overwhelmingly so, and the characters were nicely drawn.  It was interesting because it's written from the point of view of several characters, and the chapters switch in between with no real headings, so you need to read a bit to figure out who is talking, which is like in that book I started the week before (?), La Salle, but whereas it was annoying in the Vernon, I thought De Kretser used the device in a way that just made me read more carefully, and be more engaged with the story.  I'm not doing a very good job describing it, but I liked it, and would definitely recommend it as a story; as far as the history part of it being historical fiction, I don't know enough about the period to really know if it's any good or not, but it felt right.  It wasn't incredibly exciting or anything, almost Austen-ish in its quiet - but compelling - narrative flow, but I was pulled into it, and sad when it was over.  This is apparently the author's first novel, but I would definitely read more by her.
Also read The Nature of Monsters by Clare Clark, who wrote The Great Stink, which I raved about in this blog last month.  At first I didn't like Monsters as much, but I ended up being completely absorbed.  This one is set in early 18th century London, and centers around the tension between old traditional beliefs and emerging medical "science" - sort of.  Good NYT review has a better summary than I can give, or feel like writing, but I would say the important thing for me was that she has, once again, characters that are written so believeably they manage to feel totally familiar, despite being in a completely foreign setting, and she makes London come alive in all it's grimy foulness - and moments of crystalline beauty that are all the more special for their rarity.  I wonder if she is planning on just writing a series of books of London at different, stinking time periods...?  Neither one of these was really a good hangover book, though - you had to focus - so I didn't read much else.  Tried to read another one of those Sebastian St. Cyr books by C.S. Harris on Sat., but couldn't make my eyes focus (three girls, one 6 month old German Shepherd, 12 bottles of wine and a 70 degree days spent on Boston Common = me walking home, calling D to tell him his gf is fat, calling R to b*tch that Hsin Hsin wouldn't pick up - at midnight! - and then trying, and failing, to read).  I feel like I started to read a couple books this week/end, but gave up, but now I can't think of them.  Stumbled through the Harvard Bookstore yesterday in a total fugue state searching for something to "read me through the hangover" (as I apparently thought it was fine to explain to the checkout girl) and ended up with a used copy of Innocent Blood by P.D. James.  Enjoying it so far, I guess, but a little thrown by the fact I have already come across two references to "slant-eyed" Asian people - not sure if this was ironic or something, or just the author.  Have never really been able to get into James, so I don't know why that was what I went with.  Honestly, I think I was just wandering through the store's basement and suddenly realized I needed sugar and food, and grabbed whatever I had looked at last.  Did something similar on Sunday: met T for coffee and a rundown of my latest antics and poor choices (if you read this, T, thanks for always listening and never judging!), and we - of course - ended up wandering back and forth through Barnes and Noble, where I started a huge list of books in my phone, and then justified buying a paperback Shutter Island because "I had a really rough couple of days, and I need an escape."  Of course now I've gotten another book since, will be grabbing three from deposit today, and am only on page 5.  Oh, well - the one thing I can guarantee is I will get to it!  And I really think I need a non-drinking weekend, so a couple days of curling up with a good book would be idea.  Esp. because I think today I need to tell Flava-flav that I can't see him any more, so I will need to keep myself occupied so I don't break down and holler at him.

more books to read?

Did I want to read a book called Corpse at St. Andrew's?  Like Scotland?  The phrase written on the back of a DDs receipt would suggest I did...will need to investigate further.  AFTER cleaning the apartment, bah.  I could be blogging or watching House, or reading The Rose Grower,but apparently I will have a random staying at my place tomorrow night, so I need to clean.  Again, BAH.  Thank goodness for the Black Eyed Peas station on Pandora right now...briefly, though - The Rose Grower, by Michelle de Kretser, is surprisingly engaging.  Started it yesterday, liking it a lot.  Gave up on La Salle, for now - style is weird, def. too much for a exhausted/sore Friday last week!  Her Fearful Symmetry was perfect for post-electrolysis hunkering down though.  Glad I finally read it, and totally worth what I paid (which was 50% off the hardcover price to be fair though).

Chick-lit follow-up

So, last night I had a really wonderful time doing absolutely nothing with T, my dear, dear friend and former roommate.  We sat around on my couch and talked about serious matters and inconsequential fluff, watched the season premiere of America's Next Top Model, and had prosecco & creamcheese brownies from the Black Sheep (yes, I brought them from Amherst to Boston, and it was totally worth it!).  F***ing phenomenal.  And, of course, with a friend who knows you as well as T knows me, and who you are as open & comfortable with as I am with her, the serious things can be dealt with in a light way that makes them easier to process, and serious insights can be found in the fluffier chats.
I also finally got to give her her Christmas present, which included The Monsters of Templeton, which I have already declared my love for in this blog.  I am so excited for her to read it, and I was also really happy because she told me how much she had liked The Flamenco Academy (which, again, I originally read the same weekend as Monsters of Templeton), and even passed it on to a friend.  Some books I read and never think about again, or they're just good for a break from real life once in a while, but some books have a bigger impact, and I think the best sign of a book is if you recommend it to someone you care for and respect.  I've said it before, but these are two books I just thought were fantastic, and I am so, so excited that someone I love thought so too!
They're both novels by women, about women, and both - in some ways - about growing up and finding your (female) self, but if they're chick lit, they're chick lit in the best way.  I was thinking about them again last night, because I gave one (so now both) to T, but also because I have been really bothered by this currently chronic leg/back pain that I assume is a result of the surgery I had in December.  At first I was trying to escape the pain by reading really "light" books, thinking I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything too serious or well-written, but these were two books that I thought were very well written, and end up dealing with some quite serious emotions and situations, but they're so compelling and real that as a reader you just get dragged in, and that makes a real escape possible.  Heresy's really not cutting it for me in that sense right now (although a combo of prosecco & chocolate-coma, Heresy, tylenol pm, and CVS-brand muscle rub are somewhat helpful - minus the fact my apartment now smells minty/mentholy-fresh all day long!), but I am going to try to scope out my shelves for a weekend winner. 
Have La Salle, by John Vernon, with me today: I needed to bring a book because I am going to the doctor's to get checked out, and need waiting room reading, but I'm too close to the end of Heresy, and it's too heavy, to bring it with me and finish it in ten minutes, so La Salle was the lightest book I could grab quickly.  Don't even remember when I took it out from the library or why, but at least it will be a surprise, even if it's not great!