on my nightstand...

I've just started reading Barbara Kingsolver's 'Prodigal Summer'.  I'm only a few chapters into it but so far I'm engrossed.  Having a good book to read is a treat.  I really look forward to my train journey to and from work, and the few moments before I fall asleep when I can escape into the literary world. 

Barbara Kingsolver's beautiful writing is often politically charged with themes varying from economic injustice to the place of community in modern society (not to everyone's taste).  I first discovered her when I read the non-fiction 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' in late 2007, which is now one of my favourite books.  Then last year I read 'The Poisonwood Bible', an epic work of fiction, beautifully written to provide a real sense of place and time and character.  I find both her fiction and non-fiction highly opinionated and thought provoking and with a whole bibliography that I've hardly touched, I'm looking forward to reading more.