rouse yourself baby/I'm lying here awake and alone

I have other things to do, like studying for the GRE or packing for London, but let's face it: reading fiction is the best and funnest. In this entry: I (belatedly) make good on my 2013 resolution to read more novels by POC. More novelists to explore: Xiaolu Guo, Sanjeev Sahota, Taiye Selasie (yes, I am using the Best of Young British Novelists 2013 as a resource, a gambit that has so far paid off), Teju Cole, & Mo Yan. Also: new Claire Tham novel about CRIME AND IMMIGRATION! Exciting! ... anyway, to the books:

Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh

( My review amounts to 'Good, but too long'> )

On Beauty, by Zadie Smith.

( Zadie Smith's least good novel, but still compelling in parts. )

The Icarus Girl, by Helen Oyeyemi.

( Precocious, but extremely respectable debut. )

Lady Oracle, by Margaret Atwood.

( By far the most comic novel Atwood has ever written. )