After the emotional thumping of 'On Chesil Beach' I thought I needed something a bit lighter.
I duly wandered into a couple of the local bookshops and did a browse.
I like browsing.
I end up buying a lot online - I live, after all, in a provincial town in an none-English speaking country: The fact that there are several bookshops in the town with a range of books in English is itself something of a miracle.
Don't try ordering though - the Romanian system can't cope with ordering.
Amazon (the UK one) saves my bacon regularly, even though the postage is unreasonable, almost punitive.
I wasn't sure what I wanted - i just knew it was to be lighter - possibly a Crusty (Agatha), possibly sci-fi; maybe something foreign - as long as it wasn't too intense.
There are some good Chinese and Japanese novels - the publisher Vintage seems to be making inroads into lesser explored territories; and sci-fi is over represented - too much in fact to go through, and the girl stocktaking in front of them restricted my enthusiasm somewhat.
Then two clear choices popped up - a classic, 'Memories of My Melancholy Whores', a García Márquez. I thought that was a good choice after all that sexual frustration of the McEwan.
And 'Death in the Truffle Wood' - whose blurb promises not only good crime fiction, but loving descriptions of French food.
After the early 60's English of the last novel, the French won hands down.
So, expect some delicious crime and good pig fodder next up!
I duly wandered into a couple of the local bookshops and did a browse.
I like browsing.
I end up buying a lot online - I live, after all, in a provincial town in an none-English speaking country: The fact that there are several bookshops in the town with a range of books in English is itself something of a miracle.
Don't try ordering though - the Romanian system can't cope with ordering.
Amazon (the UK one) saves my bacon regularly, even though the postage is unreasonable, almost punitive.
I wasn't sure what I wanted - i just knew it was to be lighter - possibly a Crusty (Agatha), possibly sci-fi; maybe something foreign - as long as it wasn't too intense.
There are some good Chinese and Japanese novels - the publisher Vintage seems to be making inroads into lesser explored territories; and sci-fi is over represented - too much in fact to go through, and the girl stocktaking in front of them restricted my enthusiasm somewhat.
Then two clear choices popped up - a classic, 'Memories of My Melancholy Whores', a García Márquez. I thought that was a good choice after all that sexual frustration of the McEwan.
And 'Death in the Truffle Wood' - whose blurb promises not only good crime fiction, but loving descriptions of French food.
After the early 60's English of the last novel, the French won hands down.
So, expect some delicious crime and good pig fodder next up!
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