I think I read more nonfiction than novels. In the past week, I have read “The Pursuit of Love” and “Love in a Cold Climate,” by Nancy Mitford. I chose to read these because just before that, I read a nonfiction book about Nancy and her sister, a famous batch of eccentrics and/or total loons. (Fun novels, btw, contemporaneous with Evelyn Waugh’s early satires, but not quite as well done.)
The fantasy novel in Russia is called “The Bear and the Nightingale,” although I’m more than halfway through and I don’t yet know the relevance of the title. I requested it (because the cover had a snow picture, and I was hot) when I was searching the library catalog for “The Nightingale,” a popular recent historical novel about the WW2 French Resistance. (Quite good, a page-turner.) I also found “Nightingales,” about Florence Nightingale and her batty family (excellent).
Also this week, I listened to the memoirs of Herman Wouk, the novelist (”The Caine Mutiny” and many others) and centenarian. Very enjoyable, only three CDs. I’ve requested one of his novels, “Don’t Stop the Carnival,” about his time living in the Caribbean. According to his memoir, it was made into a musical by Jimmy Buffett. I checked the library shelves to see if any of his longer novels was there on CD, but they weren’t, so if I want to listen to “The Winds of War” or something, I’ll have to request it.
Another good book, “based on a true story,” is Frederick Forsyth’s “Jackdaws,” about British women who went into France during WWII, and helped the Resistance. One of the few “novels” I’ve kept. I do an awful lot of reading but it’s mostly non-fiction, these days.
I’ve run across two of your stories, Bob, in my cleaning, shredding and filing, that I printed out. I suspect I won’t shred them. ;o]