Reading List: Something Old and Something New

This summer I’ve been on a re-reading kick. Earlier in July, I revisited Robert Penn Warren’s, All the King’s Men, which had been a summer reading assignment going into my junior year of high school. At that time, it had quickly risen to the top of my, then relatively short, list of favorites. First of all, I couldn’t help but be attracted to Warren’s language and style—almost unfeasibly long, descriptive sentences and unexpected metaphors. It’s certainly not for everyone though, and even I’ll admit that there are sections of this 400-plus pager that you can’t help but skim. What I remember from my first read though is being impressed, even astounded, by the spider-web effect that Warren achieves, weaving all of the plots and characters together by the end into a (melo) dramatic climax. Once again, not for everyone, but if you have a taste for the gritty political underworld and lyric prose, it suits that contradictory bill.

My most recent read was another school requirement, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. I remember not being all that impressed with Mockingbird when I read it in 8^th grade English class. But, upon finishing it up the other day, after racing through the last few more-exciting-than-I-remembered chapters, I recognize, much more than I did eight years ago, why it is considered a classic. One thing that has remained constant in both readings though: my disbelief that the voice of the narrator, Scout, is feminine. Read it for yourself; I’m interested in other opinions on this.  

How this connects to Chicago: Naturally, after finishing it up the other day, I needed a new book to read. Maybe it’s snobby, and it’s probably ridiculous, but I don’t like library books. But neither do I enjoy shelling out $18 for a book at Barnes and Noble. Luckily, in my neighborhood, there are three (that’s right! Three!) independent bookstores. One of them, Unabridged Books, is right around the corner from both my apartment and my home away from home, Caribou Coffee.

This place is heaven. It’s everything chain bookstores are not. Where Barnes and Noble are Borders are huge, often crowded, and always commercialized, Unabridged Books is small, almost maze like, with tiny rooms each housing its own particular genre, perfect for hiding in to sneak some literary taste-testing. My favorite part: the note cards that line the shelves offering staff reviews and awards won by certain books. That, and the extensive sale room, which, unlike the ones at the big stores, houses unexpected titles, not just the rejects of the previous month. On my most recent visit I snatched a copy of Michael Ondaatje’s lesser-known memoir, Running in the Family. I’ve read a couple of his novels and enjoyed them, and so far the dreamy descriptions of Sri Lanka and the accounts of his flawed but charismatic family members suggest the $4.50 I paid for this one was a steal. 

UPDATE: Looks like To Kill a Mockingbird is a favorite beach read. Who'da thought? I wonder what Harper Lee would think about that. I was expecting fluffier picks, more in the vein of Emily Giffin or Jennifer Weiner, but I'm not complaining!