Summer is a prime time for reading, isn’t it? Usually. But some summers are so packed with activity that reading is done only in bits and snatches. Nevertheless, thanks to the High Summer Read-a-thon, hosted graciously by Michelle at her blog Seasons of Reading, I found some quality reading time this weekend and at last made some progress with Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It is our July selection for TuesBookTalk Read-a-Longs and I am finally past the half-way mark and starting to discover some of the book’s chilling secrets. It begins to remind me of a Shirley Jackson story, but set in a remote Swedish fishing village. Lindqvist ’s novels have gained a wide international following, and I was glad to have this little push to read one of them. I came across his name in the course of my Northern Lights Reading Project, and when I finish this book, I will review it there.
In nonfiction, I started reading Becoming Madison: the extraordinary origins of the least likely founding father by Michael Signer. I visited Madison’s newly restored home of Montpelier in northern Virginia a few years ago, when the main house was opened to visitors and the archaeology of the entire plantation was well underway, and this sparked my interest in Madison’s life. Signer gave an excellent talk about Madison on C-Span’s BookTV last weekend, and after listening, I spent much of the rest of the day reading his book on my kindle (ah, the joys and temptations of instant book gratification!).
I hope all this year’s participants had a lovely Read-a-Thon, and I did too, after all. Visit Seasons of Reading to find out what everyone was reading, via the wrap-up links.
The Fictional 100 
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