Summer reading

Today is the first day of summer vacation, so after ten months of having virtually no time to read more than a book or two a month, the prospect of reading at least a book a week is positively delightful! Here is my tentative reading list, books which hopefully I will be reviewing in these pages in the weeks ahead:

• Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks, a Culture novel
• The Dragon’s Nine Sons, part of Chris Roberson’s delightful Celestial Empire series
• Ken Follett’s historical epic Pillars of the Earth
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See’s novel of 19th century China
• Roma, Steven Saylor’s fictional history of Rome prior to the founding of the empire
• The Last Witchfinder, James Morrow’s secret history of the Scientific Revolution

That is just for starters, after which I am flexible.

I really recommend the most recent post by James Harris at http://jameswharris.wordpress.com/ where he discusses exactly what aspects of a story most interest him in it. I’ve always been drawn to fiction seeped in history, whether real or future, but Harris wonders if perhaps the storytelling style is equally or more important than the story itself. As usual, his Auxiliary Memory is one of the most thought-provoking blogs around, particularly for lovers of books and sf, and is always highly-recommended.