The Spies of Warsaw...

I love spy novels.  A lot.  I don't care when or where they're set, there's something about a lone operative working through tremendous danger to fight for their cause that hooks me every time.  I've had a bunch of highly acclaimed spy novels on my "to-read" list for a while now and I recently checked one of them off thanks to David Tennant.

Not literally, of course.  I don't mean to say that he sat down and read me the book; I'm not sure I could've handled that.  I did, however, watch an interview with him in which he talked about his upcoming BBC mini-series based on The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst and think to myself, "Hey! I've been meaning to read that book for ages!  I need to go to the library right now."  I'm a avid believer in reading the book before the movie/tv adaptation (hence my week-long Hunger Games trilogy binge prior to the movie release earlier this year and failure to keep up with the Game of Thrones show) and as I wouldn't dream of missing a period spy drama staring my favorite Doctor, reading this book was suddenly an urgent matter.

The book was awesome.  I love exciting and suspenseful stories.  I love books that are well-written.  The Spies of Warsaw was both.  I've already checked out two other Furst books from the library since I finished Spies.  The best part of the book was the way Furst manages to immerse the reader in the setting.  There's nothing better than being in the middle of a book and feeling like you've been transported to its world.  I've never been to Warsaw or any of the other European cities the characters visit in the book, and I certainly didn't experience the 1930s, but I felt like I was there with them.  I wanted to be a part of their world and help them out.  There are parts of the book in which I want to reach through the pages and shake the characters by the shoulders and warn them about what Hitler has in store for them.  ("You idiots! He's going to invade through Belgium and make your stupid Maginot Line irrelevant!)  As far as I'm concerned, that's the mark of a great book.

The book focuses on a French military attache named Jean-Francois Mercier (Tennant is going to be great as Mercier [duh].  I could really picture him in the role as I read the book.) who is stationed in Warsaw and is set a bit prior to the German invasion of Poland that started WWII.  These were the murky years just before the war in which Hitler was already beginning to menace the rest of Europe.  Mercier struggles to turn up information that could give the French government clues as to Germany's intentions, but the leaders in charge don't necessarily want to listen when his intelligence contradicts what they believe the Germans will do.  It's a classic problem that we can all relate to even today.

I'd definitely recommend picking up a copy of Spies.  It really is a great read, and I've loved every bit of Furst's writing so far.  I'm currently working my way through The Polish Officer which is one of his earlier novels.  One of the smaller characters from Spies is also in this book.  It's a little less polished than Spies, but it's still a great read.  I also picked up Red Gold and I'm anxious to start that one.

Read a Book Day...

It's no secret that I'm a fan of books.  In fact, I think I'm only a couple of years of acquisitions away from being featured on an episode of Hoarders due to my book collection.  I can't help myself; books are just awesome.  It's like holding a little portal to another world right in your hand.  And it's portable!  What could be better?  I very rarely leave home without a book.

At any given time, I usually have at least two books going.  This is a semi-recently developed habit that I blame largely on my short attention span.  Today is no exception.  I'm currently about halfway through Doctor Who: Shada by Gareth Roberts and I just started The Polish Officer by Alan Furst.

I don't think my interest in the Doctor Who book requires explanation, but my interest in The Polish Officer is also tangentially Who-related.  I was first introduced to Furst's work because of David Tennant's upcoming role in the mini-series based on The Spies of Warsaw.  It just so happened that that book had been on my list of books to read for a while now, so I ran straight to the library (actually I think I walked) and picked up a copy.  I blew through it in a couple of days and loved every word of it.  Spy novels are one of my great pleasures in life, and the historical settings of Furst's work appeals to my obsession with the WWII time period.  Grabbing another one of his books was a no-brainer.  I'm also partway through the prologue to the third book in the Game of Thrones series, Storm of Swords, but I've got a couple of other books I want to read before I really get into that one.  I've got some time yet before season three of the show starts up, so I'm not in a rush.  Those books tend to take me quite some time to get through.

I celebrated Read a Book Day by--you guessed it!--reading a book.  In true nerd fashion, I went out for a solo lunch at McDonald's and packed Shada along with me.  I took my sweet time munching on chicken nuggets while I was swept up in the Doctor's adventure.  Reading is the best.  There are honestly very few people in the world I would choose instead of a book as a lunchtime companion.  Perhaps that's why I'll be forever alone.  At least I have my books, eh?  On my way home from lunch, I swung by the library.  I didn't check anything out since I've already got a bunch of stuff checked out, but I was riding by it and I can never pass up a chance to go wander through shelves of books.  Plus, there's this killer free books section where you can pick up used books and magazines for nothing.  It's one of my favorite things ever.

I'm going on a mini-roadtrip this weekend, so I expect to get plenty of reading time.  Between six hours in the car each way and a day of sitting at a soccer field not watching the game, I plan on turning a lot of pages.  Accordingly, I'm packing no less than three books.  One can never be too stocked with reading material.  I can't think of a fate worse than being hours away from home with nothing to read.

Now, if you'll please excuse me, I've got about 45 minutes left in the day to get some more reading in.