There are so many new books coming out right now that I want desperately to read, yet my bookshelves are already overflowing. It's a good dilemma to have, but still a little frustrating. While tracking down reviews of Sloane Crosley's upcoming book, How Did You Get This Number, I came upon this blog entry from Bookconscious, describing the perils of feeling compelled to read too much.
I could relate completely to her compulsion to read the entire New York Times (you have to get your money's worth!), and my house is littered with half-read magazines that I am definitely going to finish very soon. Still, she managed to read 14 (!) books in the past month while I'm puttering along at a mere eight to 10 books a month. So ultimately the post just made me want to read more books, more quickly.
One of the many books Bookconscious devoured was Crosley's latest book of essays, the aforementioned How Did You Get This Number, and she recounted laughing out loud in public while reading it--the ultimate recommendation for a book that's supposed to be funny. I enjoyed Crosley's debut essay collection, I Was Told There'd Be Cake, so this is going on my ever-longer must read list.
Also on the list: Jane Smiley's just-released novel Private Life, about an early 20th-century marriage between a woman who's experienced more than her share of tragedy and an eccentric scientist.
Smiley is best known for her Pultizer Prize-winning 1992 novel A Thousand Acres, but she has demonstrated a remarkable versatility over the years--she has written about the ancient colonists of Greenland (The Greenlanders), life at a Midwestern university (Moo), the world of horses and horse racing (Horse Heaven), a Decameron-inspired Hollywood house party (Ten Days in the Valley), greed and materialism in the 1980s (Good Faith) and much more. These books have little in common other than the ability to absorb the reader into a fully realized world with believable, engaging characters.
Next up on my TBR pile however, is definitely The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. I was vaguely aware of the plot--an English-language paper in Italy founded for a mysterious reason--but it was Christopher Buckley's review in the New York Times that turned this into an absolute must read for me. Buckley, author of Thank You For Smoking and Boomsday, states in the very beginning of the review that The Imperfectionists is so good he had to read it twice.
Now I have to get off the computer and get back to my current book, The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose, or I'll never manage to get to all these other books...
2 comments:
I know how you feel Erin! I have at least 75 books to read on my kindle, not to mention stacks on my bookshelves! There's always another fascinating book coming out! I am getting a bit more selective--I used to HAVE to finish every book I started, but sometimes now if I'm just not finding a book enjoyable I just read the end and am done with it.
I'm currently reading "The Longest Trip Home" by John Grogan of Marley and Me fame. I'm taking an essay-writing class (well, technically a writing non-fiction class, but the teacher is focused on essay writing) so I may have to try your book of essays...the name of which escapes me now, but I can look back at your post and get it.
The essay-writing class sounds like fun! Sloane Crosley's essays are extra quirky and very self-deprecating--one review described her as compulsively honest. Not sure if she's a good model for others, but entertaining to read, anyway.
Someday I'll manage to stop reading books I don't like before the last page, but I'm not there yet. You'd think that would make me more selective about what I start reading in the first place.
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