Book Advice?
I’m obsessing nerdishly over what books from the Tournament of Books to read and which to skip. Here are the ones I haven’t read but am interested in:
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
May We Be Forgiven
Bring Up the Bodies
Beautiful Ruins
Might read sometime but not now: Dear Life, Building Stories,
Probably (or in the case of the Heti, mos. def.) not: Yellow Birds, Fobbit, How Should a Person Be, Ivyland
So, what should I read next? I was leaning to Beautiful Ruins, but it’s hard to lay hands on, and Bring Up the Bodies just came in for me, but I didn’t really care for Wolf Hall. And Billy Lynn just got eliminated, and doesn’t sound like a zombie contender.
So, what next: Bring Up Bodies, Beautiful Ruins or May We Be Forgiven?
Any on the maybe or no list that I should reconsider?
March 12th, 2013 at 11:13 am
My mom got me Building Stories for Christmas, and oh, how I love it.
That said, I’d go with Beautiful Ruins. And the caveat that I thought Bring Up the Bodies was an easier read than Wolf Hall. But you know I lurved Wolf Hall.
Nothing I read today in TOB made me want to read May We Be Forgiven, ironically.
March 12th, 2013 at 11:55 am
My spidey sense says Beautiful Ruins before Bring up the bodies, which I hope HHHH will upset.
Amy Rea lent me the Homes, which she didn’t like much either, but I haven’t read Homes yet, and think you Kate, were the one to first recommend it long ago–music for torching, maybe?
March 12th, 2013 at 12:29 pm
I was so-so on Beautiful Ruins, although I appear to be in the minority on that. I’m about 3/4 through Bring Up The Bodies and really liking it. It’s a tighter narrative than Wolf Hall.
March 12th, 2013 at 2:10 pm
I’m a big fan of Music for Torching. I’d definitely read that over MWBF.
March 13th, 2013 at 8:33 pm
For what it’s worth, I liked Bring Up the Bodies better than Wolf Hall, maybe because I knew more of what to expect and understood the writing style better.
Also, loved Gone Girl. I liked letting myself get sucked into it, even when it was going off the rails a bit. Kept me going til the bitter end!
March 17th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Bring Up the Bodies
March 18th, 2013 at 8:37 am
Jennifer, I’m in the middle of the AM Homes, and while most people didn’t like it, I’m really enjoying it, though I keep picturing Nixon as Frank Langella, not himself. I got Beautiful Ruins for .25 a day, so I think the order of operations is going to be: Finish May We Be Forgiven, Beautiful Ruins, Bring Up the Bodies and Billy Lynn.
I get far too dorky in March.