I'm Baaacckk

Five years later (wow....), it's me again. I have always been reading, but work and life has taken me away from this blog. It is a new year and a new decade for me, so I am back at it.

I started the year finishing Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead after reading Patrick Radden Keefe's Empire of Pain and becoming obsessed with the opiod epedimic and the Sackler family's role in it. 

I have been turned back onto Zadie Smith after discussing the author with some friends. I remember becoming enthralled with White Teeth when it was first published in 2000 (although I cannot recall what it is about...) and then being disappointed with her follow-up. Since her seminal work, she has become a prolific writer and I enjoyed both Swing Time and On Beauty The latter was especially fun to read given that the novel takes place in Boston and what looks to be Cambridge, reflecting Smith's tenure as a Resident Fellow at Radcliffe.

Over time, I have come to appreciate and even prefer female writer. The voice tends to be different and something that resonates with me more. As I have matured, I realize certain truths about reading that reflect me. In my 20s and part of my 30s, I finished every book I started. No matter how tedious. I suppose it was a matter of principal. No books life behind! I let go of that and now have no problem closing a book and leaving the characters forever, fate unknown, even after investing 80 pages into their lives.

I have always noticed the difference in voices, including along gender lines. I relate more to a woman's voice. Not that I will only read books by female authors, but I am more true to what I read (versus what I should read) and the books I have read reflect this.