What I am reading these days

Thanks for asking, Lomester. I am currently reading a few books, which I will mention below.

While working in Cadiz this summer, I got the urge to read a detective novel. Maybe it was all the stress of waiting for the kids to act up or end up in the hospital (or, god forbid, both); or maybe it was the warm sunny weather and gorgeous beaches. Whatever the reason, I was in the mood for a genre I used to love, but have not read in a loooong time (we're talking Nancy Drew here). So, I went to my favorite Cadiz bookstore and asked for a good detective story. He handed me a brick of a book and told me it was the best there was. I looked a bit dubiously at him, weighing it in my hands and imagining carrying it throughout Spain for another month and then back on the plane home. But I couldn't beat the value: 9,95 for something that would probably last me the rest of the summer. What I got for under 10 euros was nothing like I had imagined it, and way more than I could have hoped. Private detective Pepe Carvalho and his sidekick Biscuter are two of the most complex characters in literature today. In this book, Milenio Carvalho, (the last in a 20-title series I later discovered) they are on a round-the-world trip that turns into a constant battle to stay alive and out of trouble. But the writing style of Vazquez Montalban is so unusual- all the intrigue and mystery becomes a subplot to the trip- completely unexpected in a "detective novel." Rather, the focus is more on the psychology of the characters. Since the pace is a bit slow because of this shift in focus, I'm only a little more than half-way done. But every time I pick this book up, I don't want to put it down again. I will definitely go back and read some of the earlier Carvalho novels once I'm done.

I am also concurrently reading two books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I am teaching Cien Años de Soledad this semester, so I am re-reading that, as well as the first part of his autobiography-trilogy: Vivir para contarla. Cien Años is one of the best novels I have ever read. The book has everything you want in a juicy family saga: love, sex, death, betrayal, incest, war, but all in a beautiful language and imagery. Don't worry if you want to read the English version- Garcia Marquez once said it was almost better than his original. And for those of you who care about these things, apparently it was one of Oprah's Book Club books.