Thanks to Spring Break, Good Friday, and a car ride to Alexandria today I was able to finish The Historian. I think it should count as two books based on the page length (642) and the fact that it spans about a dozen countries.
I really liked it. The novel breaks all sorts of rules in terms of "new" conventions writers are taught to follow. The story is largely told in letters, and the main character isn't, I would argue, really the main character. The writing is beautiful, though, and while the descriptions sometimes get a bit longwinded, I fell in love with nearly every character.
One interesting aspect of The Historian is its attention to the Ottoman Empire and European history. I feel smarter after reading this book, and I also feel like I read a great story. It's an intense read, part of the reason it took me so long.
So, yeah. Read The Historian.
Book number 6 will be short. I do believe I'll delve into To Kill a Mockingbird because, well, I've never read it. It's about time.
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