Today's Book Blogger Appreciation Week theme—Forgotten Treasure
Sure we’ve all read about Freedom and Mockingjay but we likely have a book we wish would get more attention by book bloggers, whether it’s a forgotten classic or under marketed contemporary fiction. This is your chance to tell the community why they should consider reading this book!
I don't necessarily like giving out-and-out orders like 'You MUST read this book NOW' -- I rarely comply with those sorts of orders myself. If someone whose judgment I value tells me I HAVE to read a certain book, I file it away in my brain and come back to it two or three years later.After I read the book and love it to death, I wonder why I waited so long.
Hmmm. Pure perversity I think.
Anyway, book bloggers have certainly done me the favor of telling me about all sorts of books that I must read, now, immediately, Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200.
I do appreciate that, and my book wishlist keeps getting longer and longer. All the same, I stick to my own idiosyncratic reading choices and I'll get around to those books you mentioned when I'm good and ready.
Are there books that I'd want to shout about over the rooftops? Definitely! Middlesex, The Blind Assassin, and Sea of Poppies are the books I'd rave about the most from the past year or so. They're no secret, though.
When I try to think of books that haven't been blogged about enormously... come to think of it, I don't remember seeing much mention of Martin Cruz Smith and his marvelous detective, Arkady Renko. Gorky Park is absolutely fantastic, and I think I liked Polar Star even better. About Renko, I wrote:
Only because Renko doesn’t act in accordance with what’s expected of him... does the story unfold the way it does. It’s in essence the story of a man breaking all the rules: discovering the rules of his own morality...
I think it’s Renko’s intuition that’s so appealing about him. He is a fascinating character, so unexpected because he knows himself only partially.
I haven't read the others in the series, but someday I'd like to. Have any of you read the Arkady Renko books?
You know, I've never read Gorky Park, despite my Russian-involvement. lol So it sounds like I need to fix that!
ReplyDeleteThese books look very interesting. I love all the books I'm discovering today.
ReplyDeleteEva, it's one of my favorites, and (knowing very little about Russia) I thought the Russian characters were fantastic. Would love to know your thoughts on it!
ReplyDeleteMichelle, Thanks for visiting! I know, so many great books have been discussed this week...!
I've never read anything by Martin Cruz Smith - I must remedy that!
ReplyDeleteHi Swapna, I really love his writing style and his insight into his characters! I'd love to know what you think if you do read something by him.
ReplyDeleteI've read Gorky Park & seen the film (twice, i guess). It's one of those films made back in the day when my home city Helsinki played the role of a Soviet city (Moscow of Leningrad usually) in quite a few movies. In this particular film they managed to make Helsinki as Moscow look really depressing...:)I did not know Renko is a returning character in Martin Cruz Smith's books!
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
Tiina
Tiina, that's so interesting that Gorky Park was filmed in Helsinki. I saw the film but much preferred the book, if I remember right. But it would be fun to see it again knowing that it's in Helsinki!
ReplyDeleteBTW if you ever see the movie Stardust, a lot of it was filmed in northern Scotland.