Barbados Trip

We went to Barbados on vacation this summer. These are some of the books that I read on the trip.

I read Wench on my Kindle, which sadly I lost somewhere between Miami and Barbados. It follows the lives of four women at a resort popular among slaveholders who bring their enslaved mistresses with them each year. I thought it was an interesting story, but not that well-written.

Shadow Tag was very good. From Barnes & Noble: "Here is the most telling fact: you wish to possess me.
Here is another fact: I loved you and let you think you could."
When Irene America discovers that her husband, Gil, has been reading her diary, she begins a secret Blue Notebook, stashed securely in a safe-deposit box. There she records the truth about her life and her marriage, while turning her Red Diary hidden where Gil will find it into a manipulative farce. Alternating between these two records, complemented by unflinching third-person narration, Shadow Tag, is an eerily gripping read. This was the first book in a while that actually made me cry.

Museum of Innocence is by Orhan Pamuk who also wrote Snow. He is obviously a talented writer. I think I probably enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed Snow. Even though the main character is creepy at times and his love interest, Fusun, is somewhat hard to visualize, this still managed to hold my attention and kept me wondering what would happen next, despite the 700-plus page length. It's a well-written examination of obsession and desire with a very strong sense of place and atmosphere.