OCTOBER READING

Well, I succumbed and bought a Kindle. I love it. Fortunately I bought it after a few price drops although it is still pricey. However, for traveling it is such a treat. I loaded it with a bunch of classics which are free or at the most 99 cents. And I boarded the plane with only my 10.2 ounce Kindle for reading--not my usual two or three books.

Amazon has a nifty no-charge option to order a sample of a book which is about one chapter in length. I ordered three samples: The Shipping News, The Lost Symbol, and The Children's Book. And of course, I will still be buying (cheaply through Abe, etc.) or borrowing beautiful books!

But in the meantime, I have read a few books this month. Watching the English, written by Anthropologist Kate Fox, was an educational read about the quirks and manners of the English. Sometimes tedious so I skipped a few sections, but I learned a lot about the English which is interesting to an Anglophile like me.

Cider with Rosie, an autobiography by Laurence "Laurie" Lee, is about Lee's growing-up years in a small village in the Cotswolds during World War I. He didn't write this book until the late 50's yet his writing details very specific incidents as if they had just happened. I didn't expect Lee's writing to be so finely crafted and lush. He could describe a leaf 17 different ways and I would enjoy reading each description.

Cemetary Yew was another Cynthia Riggs book set in Martha's Vineyard. Her series with Victoria Trumbull are well-written escapes for me. I love to read a book that includes a change of season that I'm not experiencing!

Finally, Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor was a lot of fun. Written by my friend Matt Latimer, it is far more harmless than former Bush staffers have whined about publicly. If you are political you will enjoy the inside view from the Pentagon and the White House.