On My Nightstand

I think I’m off to a great start with 20 Books for Summer (in my case 10 Books). Several of you recommended The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, translated by Alan R. Clarke, and that’s the book I decided to kick off my summer reading. This fable is about a young shepherd boy who decides to follow his dreams to see the pyramids in Egypt but there are some missteps and adventures along the way.

I’m really enjoying this. I know it may not be for everyone but it’s light and fun and I feel like I’m falling under the spell of waiting to see what treasure he will discover. Here’s a sentence I really liked:

“Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”

And, isn’t my copy pretty? I believe this is a 10th Anniversary edition.

The other book I’m reading is Mouthful of Birds by Samantha Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell. According to the book description this collection of stories features women on the edge, men turned upside down and the natural world at odds with reality. I expected this to be similar to The Houseguest by Amparo Davila, translated by Matthew Gleeson, which I read earlier this year and loved but unlike The Houseguest I feel like some of these stories are too short and I’m left wanting a bit more closure. There have been a couple which are outstanding and I’m about halfway through so I’m hoping the rest of the stories are going to blow me away.

Finally, my last read is The Lurkers by Sandi Tan. From the description: The residents of Santa Claus Lane do their best to stay out of each other’s way, but desire, fury and mischief too often propel these suburban neighbors to collide. Precocious Korean American sisters Mira and Rosemary find their world rocked by a suicide, and they must fight to keep their home. This sounds like it has a lot of possibilities right?

I think this started off with a good story but it’s failing to meet my expectations. I don’t like any of the characters and find them all almost too bizarre. I love quirky characters but in this story you do feel like you are lurking about finding things you’d rather not find about the people in your neighborhood.

Anyway, these are my current reads and hope to finish at least one book this weekend and move on to some new stories. What about you, have you already started your 20 Books for Summer if you participating or any other summer reading projects?