What I'm reading ...

I have started The Card: A Story of Adventure in the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett, which is my next book club selection. I think that this will be a change of pace! Here’s the blurb:

The Card is a short comedic novel written by Arnold Bennett in 1911. It was later made into a 1952 movie starring Alec Guinness and Petula Clark. It chronicles the rise of Edward Henry ("Denry") Machin from washerwoman’s son to Mayor of Bursley (a fictitious town based on Burslem).

Stranger in a Strange Land - by Robert Heinlein

It was interesting to read this book again after so many years. The book is somewhat dated in its assumptions about future technology [it is set about now, I think] and social mores [like a lot of smoking seems to be happening]. That aside, I was impressed by the core idea, which was to introduce a very alien culture, but without the need to introduce bug-eyed monsters. As Mike is Human, but raised by Martians, he slowly introduces all the novel ideas. Although it is a sci fi book, I think it is really a study of Human nature.