Reading this and that

I enjoyed reading Changeless quite a bit, though the cliffhanger ending is rather annoying given the wait for book 3. Worth it, though! Unfortunately, I can't say anything about either plot or ending without giving away rather a lot, and I want you to read book one first! So quick, go read Soulless and then e-mail me. We'll talk.

I've been reading a lot recently. Escapism much? Not that I ever need an excuse. Given a choice between other options either pleasant or necessary and reading, the choice is rarely a difficult one.

Another book I read recently was Making Rounds with Oscar, one of my rare forays into nonfiction. Have you heard about Oscar, the cat who lives in a nursing home and always appears shortly before a patient dies, to be there for the end? I thought it sounded fascinating, and indeed it was a good book, though I didn't realize beforehand how much it would stir up from my dad's decline and death. Which in retrospect, duh, but there you are. I was thinking more of Dewey, the library cat, and less of issues of people bringing their relatives to a nursing home, dementia (my father didn't have Alzheimer's, but there were similarities of condition), and of course death. It was a good book, it wasn't so upsetting that I couldn't finish it, it was interesting ... but, maybe not a book to be approached lightly given the situation. Live and learn (hopefully).

Far more light and pleasant was Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, which I finally picked up several years after really enjoying the movie. I'm actually glad for the gap, and for once pleased to have seen the movie before reading the book, as there were several plot points changed in the translation, and that sort of thing drives me nuts. (Lady Bracknell Did Not Have A Tattoo, Period!) I was able to enjoy the book while only noting the differences, instead of stewing over them.

What else? Well, I mentioned the other day that I was reading How To Knit a Love Song, and I finished that. Very good! I don't read many romances, as often the writing quality is not that good (in my limited experience, don't be mad or anything), but since I read Rachael's blog I figured that wouldn't be a problem, and enjoyed it. The climactic scene at the end, well, I read it so fast I'm not exactly sure what happened, so you could call it compelling! And I wouldn't think non-knitters would feel excluded by the knitting content. I recommend, anyway.

I revisited the 80s in another non-fiction title (what's gotten into me?), You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried, which as die-hard John Hughes fans may have already guessed deals with the classic 80s movies directed largely by Hughes. Not only did I enjoy reading about the movies that were my favorites (I can recite half of The Breakfast Club along with the actors), but even found interesting the parts about movies that didn't catch my fancy, with the behind-the-scenes viewpoint and sense of fitting into the arc of the era. It was well done, and I enjoyed it.

And if you're thinking that I say that about a lot of the books I mention, well, if a book doesn't grab me, I don't finish it (life's too short), and in that case I rarely write about it. So if it makes the blog, that's generally a good thing. Sometimes I don't quite know why I want to finish a particular book (anyone else read The Travels of Maudie Tipstaff?), but I'm usually pretty sure when I don't want to read on. And I don't.

Now, what's next?