The first is "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf.
Virginia Woolf's stream-of-consciousness masterpiece follows Clarissa Dalloway through the course of a day as she prepares to host a party in the evening. The beautiful June day brings back memories from her happy schoolgirl years. She wonders about her choice of husband—was she wrong to have married reliable Richard Dalloway, refusing the exciting Peter Walsh, and what was the place of her schoolgirl love? The story travels back and forth in time, densely weaving the texture of an intelligent, upper class woman's life lived within the strictures of post-WW I England.
The second is "State of the Onion" by Julie Hyzy (such an interesting name).
Never let them see you sweat-that's White House Assistant Chef Olivia Paras's motto, which is pretty hard to honor in the most important kitchen in the world. She's hell-bent on earning her dream job, Executive Chef. There's just one thing her nemesis is vying for it, too. Well, that and the fact that an elusive assassin wants to see her fry.
They are both good for very different reasons. "Mrs. Dalloway" is classic Virginia Woolf and that should be all that one needs to say. She is just brilliant, in my opinion. "State of the Onion" is exciting from the very first page -- I'm only on page 22, but it's been very exciting so far.
At the end of this week, I will start my April book club selection, "World of Pies" by Karen Stolz. We decided to have each member of our club read a book set in the 1960's. We like to do "booktalks" where each of us reads a different book and reports on it. We intersperse booktalks with all of us reading the same book.
So, what are YOU reading this Monday?
Interesting choices. I can only manage one at a time.
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