Not every list is as easy for me to compile, but I have literally hundreds (quite possibly thousands, actually) of unread books sitting around my house. That's what happens when you're a bookseller who gets a generous employee discount and/or have worked as a publisher's sales rep and/or are married to another bibliophile and/or you have wonderful sales reps who send you almost any book you express interest, gratis. I chose a semi-random sample of them; semi-random in the sense they are books I'd actually like to read eventually, and I tried to get at least one new book and a couple of non-fiction choices on there. Otherwise I could be listing books ALL night. Or all week.
1. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I never read this as a kid and my husband read it for the first time last week. Since this year is the 50th anniversary of the publication and since Norton will be at my bookstore next week for a signing, this book might move very quickly from my TBR pile to the stack of books actually completed.
2. Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks. I like Brooks's fiction and I was a religious studies minor in college, so this seems like a no-brainer.
3. The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta. Love his quirky characters and dark humor. Plus, this is a signed first edition.
5. Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende. I love Caribbean literature and I'm a little surprised that this book has languished on my shelf as long as it has.
6. Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx. Yeah, this was before she dropped the "E." Another signed first edition that I had to have but never read.
7. A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. I have an ARC of this book that I never got around to. Maybe one day.
8. Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje. Another signed first edition that I still haven't cracked.
9. One Hundred Names for Love by Diane Ackerman. She gets blurbs from writers I love but I still haven't read her.
Phantom Tollbooth is one of my favorite childhood books. Hopefully you'll get to it before Norton shows up at your bookstore!
ReplyDeletePhantom Tollbooth I started but it was too British at the moment. Sometimes I can do too British. Other times I can't. Still, I will get to it again.
ReplyDeleteHi EJ, I love blogs about books and I've bookmarked this one especially. I do the same as you: I can't stop buying them and they are piling up on me. And I have a Kindle too! My favorite book to savor lately is "The Elegance of the Hedgehog". Do you know it?
ReplyDeleteEmily, I read the Abstinence Teacher years ago (borrowed it from my local library) and *loved* it. I've actually been thinking I should read the book he published recently (this year?). I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of it! :)
ReplyDeleteMelanie, you can borrow my copy of The Leftovers if you'd like. I like Tom Perrotta in general quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteMaggi, I *loved* Elegance of the Hedgehog, but it took me three tries to get into it. Glad I persisted in that case.
Red & Musing, I hope I can pick it up today or tomorrow and polish it off quickly. I just spent a week with a novel that was well worth the time, but I'm used to being a faster reader than that, considering it was not of the War & Peace length.
You have some intriguing stuff here.
ReplyDeleteI'll be back in December.
I've been researching Gothic literature.
See ya!
fun list, The Phantom Tolbooth was a favorite in our house. Thanks for stopping by.
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