upcoming reviews

The blog is going on the back burner for a few weeks as I finish up classes for the semester. However here's a list of some of the books I will be reviewing and sharing with y'all as soon as I have free time again :)

Keeper and Kid by Ed Hardy
Tin Lizard Tales: Reflections from a Train by Schuyler T. Wallace
Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese
True Detective by James A Huebner

Booking Through Thursday: Spring!

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?

Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

I've been noticing tulips, and dafodils blooming, and the little May violets poking their heads up early over the past sunny and warm week. Also my daily walk have seen lots of wild rabbits hopping on lawns enjoying the greening grass (and I suppose sitting on shallow nests under bushes since the same three have been in the same yard all week). Last night we had our first real spring rain of the season. I love spring showers with their gentle warm sprinkles. I find it fun to walk through them as I ended up doing after class, as opposed to rushing to dryness when autumn rains take place.

I don't notice a change in my reading choices per say when the weather gets nice. But, my choices of reading spaces totally changes. I love to settle down with a good book in the hummock of a tree's branches, or sitting leaning against it's trunk feeling the grass tickle my legs, and the rough texture of the bark behind me. I revel in reading in dappled shaded area where you get little bits of sunlight dancing around you. I love to read outside, even though I have to be careful of the sun's rays.

I actually find myself reading gardening books more in the winter in anticipation of spring, and while lighter fiction does pop up a little more often in the warmer weather I still reach for the heavier fiction and non fiction about the same as in colder weather.

How about you? Does the weather change how you read?

Book Review: Without Blood by Alessandro Baricco

Read and reviewed for Armchair interviews

Hidden in a small hole beneath the floor of the farmhouse, Nina witnesses the bloody end to a war which had torn the country in two. Salinas, the leader of one side, kills her father for the horrendous crimes done in his hospital by his side during those war years. The resulting fight, leaves both her father, and brother dead. However, when her hiding spot is found by the boy who is with Salinas, Tito, and left undisturbed her life changes in ways she is not expecting.

Many years later, now an elderly woman, she runs into the elderly Tito who is now a lottery ticket seller in a large city. Tito, the last of the three men involved in the deaths, recognizes her instantly. He has his fears of this girl child from his past, now a grown woman. She invites him to sit down and have a drink with her, and then tells him about what happened to her after he saved her life, all those years ago.

Without Blood is a short but engaging story. It examines the ways that war affects people, and how a simple kindness can bring strength when needed. The exploration of the human psyche and the way the story delved into human suffering and happiness made this small book a very engaging read. I expected a story about revenge, after reading the first part, and was very surprised by the way the second part of the story unfolded. This was the second novella by Alessandro Baricco that I have read, and I look forward to exploring more of his writing.