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Books, Library, Literature, Me
Continuing my book theme for today’s posts, I wanted to share the titles that are currently stacked up next to my bed and on the nightstand. Some I can’t wait to read. Some I have started and stopped. One I always keep there for inspiration.
The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau
Hand Me Down by Melanie Thorne
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (I’ve started this one 3 times but just can’t into it)
Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James (I read about 35 pages and am now bored. Thinking it’s time to return this one)
Any Day Now by Terry Bisson
Gathering of Waters by Bernice L. McFadden
Hope: A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander
Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the ’60s and Beyond by Jane Maas
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
Gossip by Beth Gutcheon (which I completed last night)
What Would Jackie Do? by Shelly Branch and Sue Callaway
The Pocket Muse: Ideas & Inspiration for Writing by Monica Wood (my nightstand staple)
Something Borrowed and Something Blue by Emily Giffin (both borrowed from my SIL and waiting to be read)
Diane Warner’s Big Book of Parties by Diane Warner
Nigella Kitchen by Nigella Lawson
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace
Everything I check out for the library is lovingly stacked right in front of my nightstand. It’s not only an organizational method but also a security blanket. I can reach down and have something to read at anytime.
In my youth, I forced myself to finish every book I started. For some misguided reason I felt it a personal shortcoming to not be able to finish a book. Now I give a book 30-50 pages before I chuck it if it can’t hold my attention. There are far too many amazing works out in the world that will grab my attention.
What books to you have on your nightstand?
Your nightstand sounds like mine! Some I am reading, others I am about to read, and a few I am re-reading. Here’s my (very abbreviated) list: Young Romantics by Daisy Hay; Just Kids by Patti Smith; The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy; A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft; Truman Capote by George Plimpton; The Selected Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder; Emily Bronte by Robert Barnard; The Decline of Sentiment by Lea Jacobs. Book sharing is so much fun!
Great list! Plimpton’s Capote was excellent and I am a huge fan of Ginsberg and Snyder. Will definitely add to my to read list. Thanks!
I’m a huge Plimpton fan. The Capote bio is the only thing by him I have never read! The Ginsberg/Snyder selection was edited by Bill Morgan, Ginsberg’s archivist for the last 20 years of his life. He wrote an excellent bio of his boss and friend, 2006′s I Celebrate Myself. These 2 books are ideal companion volumes.
I will definitely add to my list. Thanks!
I do the same thing – if I’m not into a book by 30 pages in. I’m done. I have four books piled on my nightstand and shelves upon shelves of books that I’ve read and loved and some I have yet to read. I’m currently reading Bared to you {similar to Fifty Shades – but better written}. Everytime I walk into B&N I feel the need to purchase like 50 books. *sigh*
When I go to B&N I take photos of all the books I want and then find them at the library. Saves me huge $$ but allows a better way to browse than come library displays.
I so need to make this pile shrink before I check out more from the library!
Be very careful about the 30-50 pages rule. I started Dune at least 3 times. I couldn’t get through the 1st 50 pages. When I finally did…I devoured the entire series! Fabulous books that I would love to read again.
It took me YEARS to get to the 50 page rule. I can usually tell within the first 5 pages but try to give a book the chance of 45 more. I pushed through the first in the Lord of the Rings series because I loved the movies so much (and they were a gift from my Tolkien obsessed BIL) but just couldn’t handle the prospect of the other 2 books. There have been times I’ve tried to go back and restart books but always with the same result.
So many books! So little time!
I’m surprised you haven’t been able to get into The Hunger Games. I really enjoyed that series. The last book I did have to push myself through but the first I read in a couple days. Right now I am reading:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (so good!) and I got my new book group to read The Giver – this is the third or fourth time I read it but I love it so much and it’s a quick read.
Also awaiting me – (for another book group I”m checking out) – When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, A Wrinkle in Time (M and I are going to listen to on CD – never read before!).
Hope you are doing well xx
I think once I can get myself past the beginning of The Hunger Games I will enjoy it but for some reason it just isn’t holding my attention. I’ll keep trying every so often. Right now I am in love with 11/22/1963. It’s my very first Stephen King read and I just can’t put it down. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has been on my list for awhile. Definitely will have to make it a priority!