Lonely Friday

I am all on my own this weekend, well, I am doggy sitting, so not really alone. And it is the cutest dog in the world, so I will probably be more than fine. Although he makes for a rubbish conversation partner. So hopping around on all of your blogs will definitely cheer me up! :)

This week I:

• reviewed 'Wand of the Witch' by Daniel Arenson and loved it. 
• reviewed 'Across the Nightingale Floor' by Lian Hearn, recommend it to all lovers of historical fiction and Japan.
• looked at 'In The Mouth of Madness' and how it represents the author and reader

I am soon going to start reading 'If On A Winter's Night A Stranger' by Italo Calvino from 1979. It's originally Italian and I'm putting it on my Classics list for Classics Club. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings by RoseCity Reader.

BB:

'You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away.'

What is brilliant about this novel is that in the uneven chapters Calvino tells us how someone prepares to read a book, in the even chapters we get the story that is being read by him. I really like this opening because this is exactly how I think sometimes!


F56:

'Continuing my run, I pass another house in which a telephone is ringing, and I think: There is a telephone chasing me, there is somebody looking up all the numbers on Chestnut Lane in the directory, and he is calling one house after the other to see if he can overtake me.'

He is being chased by a phone? By someone who seems to know ll the phone numbers? That is actually pretty scary! I wonder whether this is from the book, or whether it happens to the reader. I really hope the former, for the reader's sake!

 Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read and this week's question is:

Do your reading habits change based on your mood? Do you read a certain genre if you are feeling depressed or happy?

It's a bit strange with me. Sometimes when I am tired or the weather is depressing me, I won't feel like reading at all. I wouldn't be able to focus on a book long enough to get lost in it properly. Sometimes though, a book is exactly what I need. I think it depends more on the books at hand. If I'm depressed and all I can find is Shakespeare I'll probably despair. If 'Pride & Prejudice' is there waiting for me though, I will use it as a literary aspirin. It's not so much a genre that I go for but more the gravitas of a book. A really heavy and dramatic story, such as 'Hamlet', is not the right thing to read when you're grumpy or depressed. Something with a happy ending that is relatively light, such as 'Pride and Prejudice is the perfect read for that mood.!

So, how about you?