march picks

Due to unfortunate events, i shall post my march reading "list" on my blog this month. it's not what you'd call a list, as it's only two books. but one of them was a bit difficult to get through, and i neglected to download or borrow an audiobook this time around. the beginning of spring is a hard month for reading. now that it's nice outside, all i want to do is grab a good book and sit on a park bench, or on the beach and just breathe in words and air for a while.

The Exquisite, by Laird Hunt
i plan to write a full review of this book in the coming weeks. you see, it's a forthcoming Coffee House Press book, due out in September, i believe. i was honored that Fish let me take a sneak peek at Hunt's new work. i enjoyed his other works as challenging and beautiful pieces. but, what i will say now, is this one is amazing. i am really looking forward to it's arrival in bookstores so i can re-shelve it, cover out, across the city.

Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian
firstly, i know it's an oprah pick. i never thought i'd read an oprah pick. but a year or so ago, b and i were driving long distance, and decided to read aloud to kill the time. this was the book in her bag. it's got a catchy beginning, so i picked it up as a lunchtime reader in march. a teenage girl watches her midwife mother go through a horrible court case involving the supposed childbirth-related murder of one of her clients. sorry, but you can tell that a man wrote this book b/c even though it's about women, and he did his research well, it still lacks the estrogen. i do give him good credit for trying so hard though. predictable ending, good moral questioning and decent writing make this a perfect oprah pick. oh, and he said in the beginning that this was a work of fiction. so no worries... right?

on deck? Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton, Pride & Predjudice by Jane Austin