MARY GABLE

The start of fall weather has me ready to throw on a sweater and cozy up with a good book. Lucky for me, a few of my favorite authors have new titles out this year. (Good for my bookshelf and the book shop around the corner, not so good for my wallet.) Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing about a few of the books I’m looking forward to reading this fall.

The Lowland

I don’t read many novels these days, but reading Jhumpa Lahiri reminds me why I should. Newsweek once said of Lahiri that she “writes such direct, translucent prose you almost forget you’re reading.”But I feel the opposite: I feel hyper-aware of reading, in the best way possible. I find myself rereading sentences, paragraphs, scrutinizing and savoring them as long as I can. I’m not exaggerating.

I had my calendar marked for this book’s September release. And I’m about halfway through The Lowland now (an autographed copy—thanks, A Cappella Books!). Lahiri’s first novel, The Namesake, will always be an all-time favorite, so Lowland  has some stiff competition—but as always, I’m loving being transported to the world of Lahiri’s characters, feeling their desire and heartache and grief. Then feeling it over and over again.

An excerpt from The Lowland novel, titled “Brotherly Love,” was published in The New Yorker in June (major spoiler alert). For another introduction to Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies, the author’s first short story collection, also has my seal of approval (oh, yeah, and a Pulitzer).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to reading.

Tagged: books, what i'm reading, writers i admire