What I Read/What I'm Reading

Two great novels which are going to spoil me for whatever I read next. First book is one I finished reading -- had brought it on the Ohio trip and read during meals, finished when I got home.

This is a book about a couple with a "When Harry Met Sally" relationship. Each chapter is one year on the same date: July 15th. And it goes over 20 years of ups and downs... and each one being involved with other people, the man got married at one point, and you sort of know they are going to end up together. The ending was a total surprise... in fact, I had to go back and re-read the paragraph because I thought it couldn't have said what I thought. I would definitely recommend this book. An easy read, but a semi-intellectual one if that makes sense. A smart read.

By the way, it takes place in London, and it's fascinating to see the tiny little differences in language -- take away food instead of take out food... removal van instead of moving van... and then the annoying (to me) habit of abbreviating things... like va-cay for vacation etc... and I suppose it's less annoying when real British people are saying it, unlike Americans trying to sound sophisticated or whatever.

And now I'm reading "A Circle of Wives" which is a page-turner. I'll let Amazon explain:

When Dr. John Taylor, a plastic surgeon who specialized in treating disfigured children, is found dead in his hotel room, the case is assigned to Palo Alto detective Samantha Adams. More accustomed to investigating bike thefts, Samantha is astonished to discover that her first homicide case contains layers upon layers. It seems that Taylor was a bigamist, married to three women at the same time; only his first wife, the icy Deborah, knew of his complicated marital history, as she was obsessed with holding onto the status and the money that came with being married to a wealthy plastic surgeon and even helped manage her husband’s hectic schedule, penciling in time for his two other wives, earth mother MJ and pediatric oncologist Helen. Each chapter, narrated in turn by his wives as well as the detective, reveals a complicated man whose different marriages nurtured different aspects of his personality. 

This is one of those books where each chapter is about 3-4 pages long, and so encourages that "oh, one more chapter" mentality. At first I thought the book required too much of a jump in faith to believe a man could do this, but as the book progresses (I'm about halfway through) you can see how he did it. Also, am guessing about who the murderer is, but it's not clear yet. 

If either of these appeal to you, Amazon has each "USED"  for one cent plus $3.99 shipping. That's how I bought them... and I really do recommend both.