Opening the year with The Historian

I've had the privilege to already read 2 amazing books this year. Going back several blog posts, one of my NYRs was to read 1 book for fun each month.

January was the month of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Now, I don't claim to be a literary genius in the least, but this book was a joy to read. It's a hefty text, weighing in at 900 and some odd pages, but every last one of them is worth it. In fact, I wanted more from this book! I was (slightly) disappointed that partway through the daughter's story trailed off. On the other hand, the story of the professor and his student and their search through history (yes - the book IS after all called The Historian) is riveting and addictive. It has the page turning characteristic of Angels and Demons with a scholarly kick. I felt a little like a lemming reading Angels and Demons because it had such a 'pop culture' feel about it. Reading The Historian made me feel a little more distinguished in my leisure reading, and I learned a lot about the history of Romania, Turkey and many other eastern European countries. Also, with the huge vampire kick that is going on right now ala the Twilight series (which I haven't read yet, but I think will give me the same feeling as when I read Angels and Demons) this is a refreshing look at the legend of Dracula and how it has morphed over the ages. In the end, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. There is a little bit of heavy reading at parts - and since I wasn't familiar with the history of eastern Europe at all, it took a little extra wiki-ing for me to get through some parts, but it is definitely worth it!