I'm currently reading Kept by D.J. Taylor. From the inside jacket flap: "Madness, Greed, Love, Obsession, Machiavellian Plotting, And a Great Train Robbery, In a Captivating Victorian Mystery About the Extreme and Curious Things Men Do to Get --and Keep--What They Want." I know a lot of you have read it, but I'm just now getting around to it.
Here are some of the other books awaiting my pleasure:
A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedomby David W. Blight and sent to me by the kind and thoughtful Anna Suknov with FSB Associates.
Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes by Mark J. Penn with E. Kinney Zalesne. Another Advanced Reader's Copy from the lovely Anna. I loved The Tipping Point and expect to enjoy this as well. From the jacket flap: "Mark Penn, the man who identified 'Soccer Moms' as a crucial constituency in President Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, is known for his ability to detect relatively small patterns of behavior in our culture--microtrends that are wielding great influence on business, politics, and our personal lives."
Little, Big by John Crowley. Recommended by James Hynes in his article Genre Trouble via Maud Newton.
Darkness Falls by Kyle Mills. Another ARC from Lauren at Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. Sam at Book Chase has reviewed this one and I was interested at the time, so when Lauren suggested it, I was all smiles. The novel is described as a page-turner, a "what-if" tale, and a compelling read about murder, terrorism, and a world-wide threat-- you can go to Sam's blog to read his review.
I'm also reading about 3 books on quilting...well, looking at the pictures and reading bits and pieces.
That doesn't cover the stack that awaits me, but that is certainly enough for tonight.
Well you're not entirely alone, because I haven't even heard of Kept! Sounds great though!
ReplyDeleteLittle Big is one of those that I really, really want to read.
Kept is a book I have looked at a number of times. It is out on sale and I very nearly bought it this afternoon! I'll be interested to hear what you think of it!
ReplyDeleteCarl -- I'm enjoying Kept so far; has a "mad woman in the attic" sort of thing going.
ReplyDeleteSee, I'd heard of Kept, but had never heard of Little, Big until reading the article by Hynes.
Marg-- Very Victorian...the beginning is a little slow as you adjust to the language and syntax. It begins with "newspaper articles" reporting two deaths a few years apart then skips back in time to when the men were alive. It reminds me of Palliser's Quincunx which is so reminiscent of Dicken's Bleak House.
I'm even more sold now that you've compared it to Quincunx! Love that book!
ReplyDeleteCarl -- It is definitely Victorian in language, and like Quincunx, has a Bleak House feeling. It is, however, much shorter!
ReplyDeleteI do love Little, Big. I keep meaning to read more by him.
ReplyDeleteThe odd thing about the latest reprint (the cover of which you've shown) is that is has the same cover as 2 other books released in the same season. One was a Canadian novel entitled Madame Zee - I can't remember the other one. But I recall seeing them all in catalogues at the same time and thinking that right there was the problem with using stock photography.
Melanie -- How interesting that the cover has been used by other books...could be very confusing!
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