Down to Devon over the weekend for a wedding. Liked the type on the hymnbooks
But what I really wanted to write about was the book I read on the train, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which I loved & would recommend to anyone.
It came out last year and was another one of the trusty Believer's reader recommendations (every year they ask all their readers what their top books are, and publish the list – in typical fashion I make vows to read all the books, but rarely get through more than two or three. They're always good, though – I discovered Roberto Bolano through them). It's short & sweet, probably teenager / adult crossover, simply written but very vivid & takes you there. Fell in love with all the characters & even the drawings that I found a bit cute at the beginning, but by the end liked a lot. Very cinematic – it's got movie written all over it, although casting would everything.
Here's a bit I liked:
'We ran into the Reardan High School Library.
"Look at all these books," he said.
"There aren't that many," I said. It was a small library in a small high school in a small town.
"There are three thousand four hundred and twelve books here," Gordy said. "I know that because I counted them'
'Okay, now you're officially a freak," I said.
"Yes, it's a small library. It's a tiny one. But if you read one of these books a day, it would still take you almost ten years to finish."
"What's your point?"
"The world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don't know."
So there you go. Hope you like it too.