Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson

This isn't a book you read all the way through - it's a reference book - but I thought I'd note that I read the intro and it's really changed my whole attitude about housework. I've cleaned out all the kitchen cabinets (wiping the shelves as well as reorganising pots and pans etc), hired someone to clean the windows and have plans to move the furniture and clean the floors beneath! This book has generally helped me come to terms with what it means to 'keep house' - it's not as bad as I thought.

Reading for Writers, The Kenyon Review

I was really disappointed with the quality of much of the writing in this collection. I guess it is a periodical so a) can't be as picky as with books/have to fill pages and b) don't always have time to edit and rewrite. Best story was from V. S. Naipaul (of course).

Also enjoyed Brian Doyle's 'No'.

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Don't usually read much science fiction but enjoyed Atwood's approach, which has some fine writing and real enough characters for me to relate. Thought some of her character motivation/plot elements were hard to buy - perhaps she was dealing more with 'ideas'. Guess it can be hard to balance both. My book clubbers liked the prequel to this - Oryx and Crake - better. Might try that too, soon.

Half books

To make myself feel better I'm going to record two books I've only read half of - one (Probable Future) because I got tired of it, the other (A Mercy) because I was reading it at a friend's house in California, and I had to come home.

A Mercy by Toni Morrison

The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman