November has flown by and I haven’t had much time for reading (or blogging). But I have a stack of books that I’m really excited about starting and want to read right away. I have a major case of So Many Books, So Little Time. I thought I’d give this list a little time in the spotlight and show the books that are coming home with me for my Thanksgiving vacation and why I’m excited about reading them.
You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs: I love Augusten’s humorous essays, and am excited about this new collection. My book club is reading it for December (a nice light read since we’re all so busy this time of year), so I’ll start it a bit closer to the discussion/holiday dinner.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: This is the book that I am currently reading, and I’m savoring it and making my way through it slowly. My classics book club is reading it for December, so I have a few more weeks to finish it. I’m going to start a few other books and read this one on the side. (Our main book club has a secondary spin-off for people who want to read classics. It makes for an intense, but fun, amount of book clubs.)
Eat, Memory: Great Writers at the Table edited by Amanda Hesser: I found this book at Strand a few weeks ago; it’s a collection of food essays from the NY Times. Many of my favorite writers are included in the anthology: Billy Collins, George Saunders, Julia Child, and Ann Patchett.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: I’m not sure how I’ve never read this before, but it’s time to remedy the situation. I’d like to read it after Thanksgiving to help set the Christmas mood, and then I’ll most likely indulge in watching a little reenactment of the story via Muppets.
Fire by Kristin Cashore: This it the companion to Graceling, which I devoured a few months ago. I’ve heard great things about this one. Based on how much of a page turner Graceling was, I think Fire will be the perfect plane book to read while traveling home to Michigan this week for Thanksgiving.
Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co. by Jeremy Mercer: I think most literature lovers are intrigued by Shakespeare & Co. bookstore in Paris – the store behind the publishing of Joyce’s Ulysses and a gathering place for so many 20th century literary giants. I’m very excited to read Mercer’s account of his discovery of the store and the close relationship that followed. This is another one that will be coming home to Michigan with me.
Does anyone else have a holiday case of So Many Books, So Little Time? What books are making you wish for unlimited reading time?
Well, I’m really looking forward to The Phantom Tollbooth. :) (Thanks again!)
But I’m currently really excited to finish reading Liar. Then I can move on to the books that I bought on an ill-timed Amazon binge (really, Kelly? Right before Christmas? REALLY?): King of the Screwups, Real Sex (another book by Lauren Winner, who I want to be my BFF), Marcelo in the Real World, Beautiful Creatures, the new Sue Grafton and the two Mary Pearson books I haven’t read (Scribbler of Dreams and A Room on Lorelai Street).
I’m really excited to hear what you have to say about Fire; I really liked it.
Interesting list! Nice to see two Dickens books there! I liked the title ‘Eat, Memory’ :) Looks so enticing! ‘Time was soft here’ is an interesting title too. I saw a video about the Shakespeare and Co. in Paris sometime back and liked it very much. Am looking forward to reading your review of this book.
I recommend Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones if you like Great Expectations. It’s a YA book sent in the 90s on an island of New Guinea and a teacher use Dickens to explain life. I loved it.
I love Mister Pip too! It’s funny, I’ve actually read several books that feature Great Expectations (The Eyre Affair books by Jasper Fforde are the others) – but hadn’t actually read the book itself yet! I figured it was definitely time to remedy that. :)
Oh I’m right there with you. Except I’ve got SHELVES of them. I think a lot of the ones I NEED to review I’m doing right now. Then there’s the ones that I’ve been wanting to read forever might be next year. I’m kind of on a “don’t buy or borrow” ban for the rest of the year. I’m dying to read some Dickens though and I’ve never read A Christmas Carol either. So I’m going to break my ban on that one. Maybe read it online while I’m at work and it’s slow.
I ignored the shelves and stacks of unread books for this list, and just focused on the stack of books I’ve been dying to start this month. :) I’m trying to buy/accumulate less too. My Christmas list has fewer books on it then ever before – it’s sad! But my shelves are bursting at the seems. Oh the hardships of being a bookworm. :D