Friday Fancies

I recently finished the current must-read novel The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. On the whole, I was a little underwhelmed. An unique concept with an intriguing construction, it did have me racing through to the end, but that was less because I felt invested in the story and characters and more because I knew it was marketed as a "things aren't what they seem" thriller and I just wanted to get to the end to find out the big twist. In spite of that, it did feel nice to be reading a current novel of the moment while it was still just that, instead of waiting a couple of years like I typically do.

Are you reading any current books right now?

In other news:

NYRB is having a sale. If you're looking to treat yourself, I'd recommend Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban.

A roundup of foreign TV shows to binge watch.

I love punctuation--here's a look at it's evolution through texting. So, what kind of texter are you? I'm definitely a Classicist.

A project to fill your Sunday nights until Downton Abbey returns next January.

And between the references to Charlotte Bronte, Nancy Mitford, and Jane Austen, this interview with Kazuo Ishiguro makes him a new frontrunner for the writer I would most like to be best friends with.