And so it ends...

So, my holiday is over. By the time you are reading this we will be driving home or even perhaps arrived home! My last day of the holiday was spent reading, knitting, sitting on the beach, and a few other holiday-worthy activities with the husband and the mother.

The very first thing this morning, I listened to another short story from this book while knitting, which I think is a lovely way to start the day and I vow to do that occasionally even after the holiday is over.

3. Interpreter of Maladies [1999], short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri [audiobook].

Today's short story was titled "Sexy." It was pretty sexy. It also illustrated that the word sexy may have many different meanings. It was an interesting mixture of wild, ordinary, and subtle. I shall not say more lest I ruin the story for you. Like the others, this story is beautifully written by the author and also well read by the narrator.

In print (well, close enough, on the Kindle), I am reading two very different books simultaneously.

4. Middlemarch [1872] by George Eliot (aka Mary Anne or Marian Evans) [Kindle].

As previously mentioned some of the male characters are annoying in their anti-female bias, most obviously illustrated in the belief that women do not have the brain power to understand things beyond music and the arts. Harrumph. However, this is set in Victorian England so I shall attempt to refrain from offense but rather read deeper into the author's commentary on that time period and its social mores.

The other book I am reading couldnotbe more different, because it is science fiction, set in a fictional time and place (space?). However, it is similar in that one of the two worlds/civilizations described thus far has been used to illustrate very limited roles for women, while the other has been used to describe extreme equality, sort of. Fascinating stuff!

6. The Dispossessed [1974] by Ursula Le Guin [Kindle] is a utopian science fiction novel first published in 1974. It won the Nebula Award for best novel, as well as Hugo and Locus Awards. I do not really know what all these awards are about (I'll look them up!) but the Hugo award is almost always a guarantee of a book I will enjoy.  This book explores a variety of societal themes, such as capitalism, individualism, collectivism, and so forth. While this was the fifth novel published in Le Guin's Hainish Cycle, it's the first novel in the chronological story.

Le Guin is an American author of novels, children's books, and short stories, mostly science fiction and fantasy. She generally writes about fictional worlds with alternate politics, gender politics, religions, etc.

The Big Problem

The problem for me here is that both books [Middlemarch and The Dispossessed] are fascinating and I want to read them both but have to choose. I am reading a chapter or two in one and then a chapter or two in the other, as a compromise.  Perhaps I will not start another print [Kindle] book until I have finished at least one of these.

Open for Suggestions!

While I started compiling a potential 2015 reading list a couple of months ago, it is not written in stone and I am open for suggestions. Several of my friends have given me specific suggestions or links to lists of excellent books. Keep them coming!

Books Completed in 2015

Down here I will list the completed books with links to their info page on Goodreads and to the reviews I have written. I hope I can figure out how to link to my Amazon reviews eventually (Anyone? Anyone?). They are identical to my Goodreads reviews, really, but I know some people aren't on he Goodreads website. I suppose I also have to decide whether to number these in the order finished or in the order started? Decisions, decisions...  Numbers can be so confusing for me...

1. Among Others [2011] by Jo Walton [Kindle]. 5/5 stars [review: Goodreads; Amazon].
2. Knitting for Beginners [2014] by Susan Wilters [Kindle]. 2/5 stars [review: Goodreads; Amazon].
5. The Story of My Life [1902] by Helen Keller [Kindle] 4/5 stars [review: Goodreads; Amazon].

P.S.

I have increased the font size of the blog. I hope it is more readable now.