Yes, it's my favorite thing--a short Mailbox Monday post! I've hardly acquired any books this week, and one is a leftover I forgot to list last week. But that's okay; I don't think I'm going to run out of literature any time soon.
So, as you can see, I did get to the Peter Orner event last week, but didn't make it to Gregory Maguire over the weekend. I had plans all set up, but I was visiting with a sick friend, and she needed me more than Mr. Maguire did. I don't think there will be any other lit events of note before December at this point, or at least there aren't any currently on my radar.
Things are going to be a little hit or miss on my end for the next few weeks as well. I'm leaving on a brief business trip this afternoon, and I'll be back on Wednesday night. I'm in town for a week, and then I'm flying to the east coast to spend Thanksgiving (and the week following it) with my family and friends back home. I've always got the best of intentions of keeping up my blogging while I travel, but my track record is abysmal. So, if posting is kind of erratic for the next few weeks, you know what that's about.
Right now, I'm in search of a feel-good, happy book, or my head is going to explode. I tossed aside the hateful Umberto Eco novel to read the awesome Stephen King novel in two days, but then I found myself doing anything to avoid finishing the cursed book. I read David Benioff's excellent and horrifically disturbing and depressing City of Thieves--which was also chock-full of anti-Semitism, I might add. Then, to lighten things up, I read a non-fiction book about the Jonestown massacre, A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres. Finally, I just bit the bullet and plowed my way through the The Prague Cemetery. Seriously, it was torturous--and not because it was a bad book, either. You'll see a review soon. The point is, I need to read something light and cheery. I am open to suggestions!
by Hillary Jordan
Release date: March 4, 2008
Source: Purchased at Books, Inc.
I probably won't get around to this in the immediate future, but maybe in 2012?
by Stephen King
Release date: November 8, 2011
Source: Purchased with Audible.com credit
Yeah, yeah, this is old news already. Does anyone else wonder why they didn't release this book two weeks later on 11/22/11?
by Alex Gilvarry
Release date: January 5, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher
The tagline for this satire is: High fashion and homeland security clash in a masterful debut. That sounds worth checking out to me. My friend Nicole is going to have a quandary, however. Gilvarry is being compared to Gary Shteyngart and Junot Diaz--one of her most favorite and one of her least favorite authors. What to do?
by David Benioff
Release date: May 15, 2008
Source: Library
I remember all the buzz this novel had when it was published a few years ago, but it was my book group member Rachel who convinced me to read it. It is as good as she said it was, but rather more disturbing than I expected.
Books finished this week:
11/22/63 by Stephen King
City of Thieves by David Benioff
A Thousand Lives: The Untold story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown by Julia Scheeres
The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco
Currently reading:
I don't read anymore.
Okay, what awesome books did you acquire this week? What have you been reading? Please let us know in the comments!
I finished Hammered, loving every minute of it. Very funny. Now I have to wait till April for the next installment, Tricked.
ReplyDeleteI'm still reading Elysiana, but since it's at night, it's slow going because I get sleepy after a few pages. This says nothing about the book.
I just started A Day, A Night, and A Day by Glen Duncan, so I'm not sure what I think about it yet. He's the author of The Last Werewolf, which I read earlier this year and loved. I can tell it's the same writer by the style, but it's a very different book. Much more serious.
This has been a week of abandoned reads. Reading while traveling is tough for me and I must have picked some stinkers because I've set aside three books. If you find a light read, let me know! It's quite possible that nothing is hitting the spot because I just want to be reading the new King that badly.
ReplyDeleteOh, no...you desperately need something charming, delightful...pity you already read The Night Circus. Perhaps a re-read of Ella Enchanted? Surely there is some trashy chick-lit somewhere on those chock-a-block shelves, or a good thriller...
ReplyDeleteMy week has been a bit on the heavy side, as well: Prague Cemetery, The Glass Castle, Never Let Me Go, The Book Thief, and Moon Shot (about the U.S. space race).
Yeah, not a good week for reading. I swear to God, The Prague Cemetery gave me PTSD. I couldn't pick up a book! I resorted to (gasp!) watching DVDs for entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI AM looking to lighten things up. I picked up the novel Too Much Stuff by Don Bruns because it's billed as a comic novel, but it's painfully stupid and boring. It's sort of insane that I couldn't find anything "good" to read in my house. What I really want is The Night Circus meets The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society meets Ready Player One--in other words, a completely magical book that makes me feel really good by the end and makes me laugh and is just fun to read. Is that too much to ask for?
Fortunately, if you're me, something new and shiny is always likely to turn up in the mailbox. The galley of a high-profile chick lit novel showed up in yesterday's mail. It's not great, but I read a hundred pages last night, and I didn't feel like crying or killing myself once. Also, Amazon will soon be sending me the galley of a new novel by one of my favorite humorists. I hadn't even heard it was being published, so that was a pleasant surprise. You'll see these books show up in the Mailbox Monday posts to come.
I would LOVE a recommendation of a sure-fire AMAZING read that meets one or more of the desires stated above. Have you read any books that were as much fun as Ready Player One? As magical and wondrous as The Night Circus? As feel-good as Guernsey Literary? Please help!