A Month of No New Books—Day 10

Well, here we are. Ten days in, and I haven’t bought any new books. Not even for my daughter for Christmas (I did start buying Christmas presents early…I always do). I think I might be turning a corner as far as my addiction is concerned. I think seeing the sheer volume of books waiting for me to read them has had a significant impact on me…and so I am reformed. Maybe. I really want Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven. But I am getting closer

Here is another to-be-read shelf:

To-Be-Read Shelf Number Two

1. Evil Knievel Days by Pauls Toutonghi
2. The Book of Broken Hymns by Rafe Posey
3. A Mountain City of Toad Splendor by Megan McShea
4. MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
5. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
6. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
7. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
8. Legend, Prodigy, Champion by Marie Lu
9. Fool by Christopher Moore
10. Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman
11. The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison
12. How To Write a Sentence And How To Read One by Stanley Fish
13. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
14. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
15. Your Fathers, Where are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers
16. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The Book of Broken Hymns, Evil Knievel Days, and A Mountain City of Toad Splendor: These books arrived on my doorstep courtesy of a fantastic Twitter friend Rafe Posey, who is awesome—I sometimes refer to him as my “big Twitter brother.” He sent me the first book, his, because he is amazing. He even signed it! The latter two books I received because I am a part of the team at Cobalt Review, where I haven’t yet published, but plan to publish, book reviews. Working on some right now!

MaddAddam: I love Atwood. I fell in love with her prose in high school, and I am still in love with it. I am currently reading The Year of the Flood and loving it, just as I loved Oryx and Crake because Atwood never ceases to amaze me with her words, imagination, and uncanny prescience.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: One day on Twitter, Elizabeth McCracken was talking about cleaning some of her bookshelves. She said she had some Spanish-language books, so I requested one of those for my classroom, and she sent this book along with it. Given the buzz generated by the release of her new book, Thunderstruck, I am excited to delve into her world of writing.

Life After Life, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Silent Wife, Twelve Years a Slave, and The Goldfinch: Once again, a pile of books my mother passed on to me. I am interested in reading the Henrietta Lacks and Solomon Northup books because of the nonfiction aspect (teaching, you know). I’ve heard good things about Life After Life, nothing about The Silent Wife, and extremely mixed things about The Goldfinch. So, I’m not sure when I will get around to any of these. Sooner, though, than later, because again I realize that I have far too many books to justify buying any new books at all for quite some time.

The Legend Series: I originally intended that I would read these books before my daughter did, but then she ran out of books to read, and so I handed this series over to her. She liked it, but I think I might be a bit burnt out on YA dystopian fiction for a while. Instead of letting these sit on my shelf, then, I plan to bring them in to my classroom library. I can still read them (it’s my library, right? I can take them home if I want), but at least in the meantime my students will get the opportunity.

Fool: I am a Shakespeare geek. One of the first “published” posts I ever wrote was about Shakespeare and the Internet. Richmond Magazine also re-published a blog post of mine about Shakespeare earlier this year. So, when I heard that this book by Moore was a re-telling (dare I say fanfiction?) of King Lear, I was intrigued, and of course, “had to have it.” So on my shelf the book sits, waiting for me to read it.

Bad Mother: As a working mother, and also a woman who became a mother at a young age, I struggle fairly regularly with the idea that I should be perfect. I struggle with the idea that there are certain expectations—usually not my own—that I should live up to. I read good things about this collection of essays by Waldman, and figured that I could learn from someone who seemed more realistic about motherhood. I’ve read one essay so far, and continue to read in increments.
      p.s. this site also helps take me down a notch when I’m freaking out about being a       “perfect” mother, because it’s damn hilarious.

How To Write a Sentence And How To Read One: I have no idea why this book is on my to-be-read shelf, because I keep a separate shelf for work-related reading. The to-be-read piles I’ve been showing on here are all of my before-bed, escapist, relaxation reading. I don’t know about you, but I can’t read heavy, content-related books right before bed. I won’t sleep if I do, because my brain will constantly churn possibilities, ideas, etc. Apparently I need to move this one.

City of Heavenly Fire: My daughter and I have read this entire series, with the exception of this book. I’m not sure why I haven’t read it yet, because this time of year is the perfect time for light, escapist reading. I suspect I might read this after I finish The Year of the Flood. That way, I can pass it on to my daughter, and then to my friend, who actually has the rest of the books in the series at her house and is waiting for this one.

Your Fathers, Where are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? One day, on Twitter Knopf posted a trivia question:

YFWATATPDTLF. The first person to decipher this acronym by replying to us wins a very exciting prize!

— Alfred A. Knopf (@AAKnopf) June 5, 2014

I googled the acronym, figuring it had to be a book title, based on the fact that Knopf tweeted it. I guessed right, and I won the book! I figured my husband would be interested in reading it, and he was/is, but he’s as backlogged with reading as I am. So there the book sits!

Well, that is this installment of what I might start calling the “Heather Has Too Many Books” series. If you have suggestions, recommendations, or ideas for which of these to read, let me know!

Cheers.