The Weight of Ink

During this past month, I've read quite a few newer books that have made the various book lists of recommended read, best of, and so forth.  NPR has had an annual list of hundreds of titles for years now, but for some reason I've only recently noticed it.  Usually, I don't feel I need recommendations because I always have stacks and stacks that are in this room, that room, the other room, this book shelf, the head board shelves for my bed, on the three cedar chests, and so forth.  These are titles yet to be read, or reread because I loved them so the first time. Or second time.  Or every other time.

Jerry and I make use of our local library's consortium, requesting certain authors' works, or certain titles, or the next in the series, or what have you.  Given the nature of requests, transits, etc, it is not very predictable when which books might be arriving, or if they will be in order, or if they will come at all.  This means that sometimes, I read things out of order, whether that is by publishing date, written date, or series order, which are not necessarily the same things as each other..Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is a fine example of that.

I also listen to a vast amount of audios books, either thru Hoopla, streaming on my home computer, or listening in the car on CD.  Audio books are hard for Jerry to listen to, as he cannot always discern what is being said, versus just hearing a serious of lilting or droning sounds, but not the clear words.  It's too frustrating for him, so while I like Hoopla, Jerry doesn't use it often.  Check into it and see what you think, you might like it or not.  Chances are your local public library offers free access to Hoopla Digital as well.

We also browse thru the local library's free~table and fifty cent room, plus the once monthly Friends of the Library sale.  So our holdings are constantly expanding.  We've things loosely organized, in that way that we have general ideas where things are and yet, not exactly.  You probably can relate.

Then too, I use bookmooch  to list inventory of titles I own and don't mind if I part with.  Sometimes, Jerry and I find titles that we've been wanting to read or own there too.  It's a good service, check it out and see what you think.

Sometimes, I cannot remember why specifically I have requested a certain book, was it on a recommended list?  was the author mentioned in another book, article, list?  what rabbit hole did I pop down and end up with this or that?

Such is the case with The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish.  I cannot recall exactly why I had it marked on my wait list on hoopla, but now that I've begun to listen to it, I can tell that I will enjoy it very much.  It's highly detailed, about a subject I am not familiar with, but because it is so well explained and explored, I feel that the author has invited me along on a journey of discovery.  Kadish has proven that she can craft a tale with layers of intricacies.  Corrie James is the reader for this.  She's brilliant here and I can clearly see Maggie Smith as Helen Watt, the stern, precise, elderly, ailing, English historian introduced in the very beginning.

If you are interested in lengthy, dense historical fiction, do give this a try.