Reading

I'm keeping track of the books I'm reading on my LibraryThing discussion list. I have now reached the 2008 goal of 50 books. I wonder how many I'll get through before the end of the year. My family is not impressed--they say I read all the time.

The 50th book is Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi. I highly recommend reading Persepolis and Persepolis 2. Satrapi is an Iranian who was sent to Europe as a teenager during the Iran-Iraq war. Iraq was bombing Tehran and fundamentalists were coming to power in Iran--danger on both sides. Her parents fortunately had the means to send her to live with a friend/cousin in Vienna. These are graphic novels, and although I haven't liked them in the past, these are wonderful. The illustrations intensify the emotions in the story. There is now a movie, too.

I have been trying to read some new authors this year. Among them are: Julie Kramer (1st time novelist), Georges Simenon (Belgian mystery writer a la Agatha Christie), Robin White (mystery-thrillers set in Siberia), Stephen Booth (police procedurals set in English Peak District).

One notable book I have read is Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, which is on this year's Man Booker prize longlist. I hope he makes it to the shortlist, at least. Child 44 is set in 1950's Soviet Union, where no crime exists. Leo Demidov, a state security officer, begins unofficially looking into a far-flung series of child murders with shocking results.

I love reading these books with cultures, countries, and people who are different from me. Child 44 and Robin White's books really give you the feel of living in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. Even though the stories are fiction, I think the feel for the culture is real. And this is one reason I read.