What I’m Reading
As I’ve mentioned before, I have a scattered attention span– so I usually don’t focus on a single book at a time. Just a quick update on what I’m currently reading.
What I’m reading now…
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
I was lucky enough to borrow a copy of this ARC.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.
This is an excellent story. Really loving the world-building and the two main characters.
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
Fascinating biography, and it really sheds a lot of insight into the current world situation. This focuses on the systematic way some multinationals have manipulated and bankrupted third-world nations using ‘economic hit men’. They insinuate themselves into the confidence of corrupt officials, and encourage them to pursue infrastructure projects the country generally doesn’t need, using contractors from outside the country, to the benefit of only a small, selective group of people within the country. To do this, they take out exorbitant loans the country can’t possibly afford to repay, so when the country inevitably defaults, its vital resources can be seized and exploited.
I can’t help drawing parallels between this practice of predatory lending on an international level, and the current crisis going on in the U.S. economy– when it comes to both mortgages and student loans.
What I’m re-reading now…
Divergent by Veronica Roth
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.
Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.
There’s talk all over the blogosphere about this best-selling novel, so I’ll just confine myself to saying it is eminently re-readable. I even bought a copy for my dad.
And what I’m planning to read soon…
Possession by Elana JohnsonVi knows the Rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.
But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them….starting by brainwashed Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers’ hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous: everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.
This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.
Elana was a regular contributor to the QueryTracker Blog which dispenses advice to authors both new and experienced. Since I’ve been following it pretty much since my first manuscript all those years back, I heard about it the day she announced her book deal– and I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to read this book! Very excited about it.