#WHATTOREADNEXT

   

I decided to dedicate a post to one of my all time favorite questions. I just finished reading a book (the second of the two novels listed below) which inevitably leads me to ask myself - What Should I Read Next? Up above is a photo of the candidates. I'll eventually get to each of them, God willing. But which one should I tackle first?


1) The General in His Labyrinth - by the one and only Gabriel García Márquez (who happened to write what may be the greatest novel of all time, my beloved Love in the Time of Cholera)

2) The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love - by Oscar Hijuelos (I enjoyed the movie and when it comes to adaptations, I prefer to first read and then watch. But reading this particular book will move me another step along in my quest to read all of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners) 

3) Purity - by Jonathan Franzen (who I consider to be a bit of a fool and a jerk for the Oprah snub, but the guy sure can write)

4) The Turner House - by Angela Flournoy  (Since I can never read too many novels by People of Color, particularly Caribbean and African American authors. I've heard good things about this particular one)



I'm having trouble deciding on my own so invite you to leave comments of recommendation. Thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to help me out. See below for reviews of the last two books I read. 




Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Not many perfect books have been written but a handful can make a legitimate claim to the title. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is the type of novel that would have made me fall helplessly in love with reading if I wasn't already there. The steady handed prose does not try to shock or even take us by surprise, but instead takes readers on a fascinating journey up a family tree, leading us to the end of a narrative branch where we reach its strange fruit.

View all my reviews



The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stieg Larsson was not a great writer. Not by a long shot. But he had a knack for creating indelible characters. Lisbeth Salander is a fascinating woman whom readers first meet in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In The Girl Who Played with Fire we learn about her background, gain insight into the events she managed to survive and thus shaped her into a pint sized dynamo with a knack for overcoming astronomical odds. We're introduced to her evil father and comic book style villain of a half brother. There are also a bunch of secondary characters in this book that seemed barely necessary. Since this is the second part of a trilogy, presumably there is wrapping up of subplots and fuller development of background characters in the final installment. And I will probably read the third book since I've come this far. I'll continue to overlook flaws in writing that often seems amateurish in order see the crazy ride that Larsson created through to the end.

View all my reviews

Twist ending. I decided to go with a book that wasn't on my list. A work of non-fiction. 

                               The Secret Life of Houdini

Additional twist: I've read a whole bunch of books since writing this post but STILL haven't gotten to the three referenced above. As soon as I finally pick one up, I'll let you know. Since many of the books that I did read instead were wonderful - no regrets!

@mudhousebooks My novel Matters of Convenience is available at Amazon in print (paperback), Kindle and audio formats. Readers loved, reviewers adored, word of mouth spreaders revered. #booktok ♬ Please Please Please - Sabrina Carpenter