So I've been home for several weeks, which means lots of rereading. Some of the stuff I've reread:
Lord of the Rings, The Alleluia Files, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Illusion (the only Paula Volsky book I've ever been able to get through, but I love it), Mansfield Park, The Chronicles of the Chrestomanci Book One, a ton of random romance/ popular novels, and all the Harry Potter books.
New Stuff:
~Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
This book really sucked me in- I read it in one 3-4 hour sitting. It's fairly dense, and uses challenging language, sometimes excessively I felt (I started keeping track of how many times I spotted vertiginous.) However, the language really builds up the imagery in the story, some of which is exceptionally vivid and disturbing. I wouldn't recommend it if you have a queasy stomach- there's TON of mucus imagery along with plenty of violence, but the story and setting completely seized my attention.
~The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
I've just started this, thanks to Lucy. It sure doesn't start off with a "hook"- two chapters about the heath? And I still have trouble picturing it, other than that's it's hilly and dark. Once I came to the character driven chapters I started to enjoy it quite a bit. I've only read this for about an hour so far, but I should finish up in the next few days.
