Life's a Stitch

I was thinking how I’ve honed my reading selections during covid times. Most of my books are audio selections chosen from Bookbub and Kindle Daily Deals, for $4.

 

Why don’t I use the library? I listen while walking in places where I don’t need to be super aware of my surroundings, or those with an absence of nature sounds. As listening  doesn’t occur on a daily basis, it sometimes takes longer to read than the allowed loan period of an audio book from the library. If you know my spending habits I’m not about to pay full Audible prices either.

 

Reading while walking also precludes books with a complicated cast  of characters. I listened to the My Brilliant Friend series by Elena Ferrante, all those Italian names! Solution? On the kindle sample of the first book, there is a list of characters that I copied and pasted to my phone notes. 

 

How do I choose the next book from my low budget sources? Common cliche plots are ruled out – the ones resembling Hallmark movies – big city woman gives up high powered position to open a small town book store, tea shop, flower shop, cupcake bakery, B&B…  as are books that depict floral bouquets or flowy haired men on the cover. 

 

Forget the overused story of cleaning out granny’s attic and finding a letter in a trunk, drawer or box, divulging family secrets. And don’t want to read those based on a famous painting and the subject’s fictional relationship with the artist.

 

Looking at my Goodread lists my preferences indicate a leaning toward memoirs and historical fiction, particularly those depicting stories of immigrants. I’ve read a good share of Asian historical fiction, thanks to a former summer student from work, whose double major delved deeply into said topic. The same goes for Hispanic translations due to my heritage. I gave equal time to my Polish side by reading Michener’s Poland, a substantial volume. I drift toward social worky themes reflective of my career, but try to resist.

 

I tend to stay away from time travel and/or magical realism with some exceptions, recently the Shadow of the Wind and Lights on the Sea, both translated from Spanish. Same for epistolary novels, those written in the form of a series of letters. They just don’t grab me.

 

An occasional mystery is OK, but no spine tingling psychological thrillers, please. My preference in WW2 books are those written by men lest they devolve into romantic sleeping with the enemy tropes.

 

Humorous stories appeal to me, lifting the mood of the pandemic – like the Rosie trilogy or the 100 year old Man who Went Out the Window and Disappeared.

 

When I sit down to read I want something with a lot of pages, feeling like I’m getting my money’s worth. The Goldfinch fit that bill. I pick books with a minimum reader rating of 80% on Amazon, not always foolproof.

 

So there you have it, I’m as picky about reading as a four-year-old can be about eating. I’m throwing it out there…any suggestions?

 

The days are getting noticeably longer, later sunsets and earlier rises, perfect for my morning walks. Time to get out of bed and plug my ears with those cold white buds to enjoy some Herman Wouk.

 

A spectacular sunrise from my bedroom window: