This afternoon, after I finished my last paper, I went to the library to check out some books for our upcoming Maine vacation. They didn't have any of the books on my list, so I just went through the fiction section and picked out books that caught my eye. What a lovely experience! I haven't done that since high school or before, and every time I saw a book I really liked, I did that little "mmm" sound, without even realizing it (good thing no one else was in the fiction section with me). I felt like I was meeting old friends; fortunately I didn't start talking to any of the books. That would have been embarassing.
Anyway, here is the list of books I checked out. We'll see how many I get to read over the next 3 weeks.
- Rabbit, Run by John Updike (I wanted to read Terrorist by him, but they didn't have it)
- Curtain & the Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
- The First Man by Albert Camus
- Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler (I wanted Digging for America)
- House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
- Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
- The Gift of Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
- The Best American Short Stories edited by Barbara Kingsolver
Have you read any of these? Do you have any other book recommendations?
4 comments:
ahhh. books. reading that bit made me smile because i know the exact feeling. walking down the fiction aisle and just wishing you could read them all, or at least try them all out. like you though, i don't think i've done it since before high school - how sad. summers were made for reading!
anyway - last year i read the gift of asher lev and proceeded to read every book by chaim potok that i could get my hands on. i extremely enjoyed pretty much all of them. i also recently read the other side of the sun by madeleine l'engle and really enjoyed it. anyway, asking for book recommendations from me is like asking for them from you :) enjoy your summer reading! and your well-earned vacation.
some good choices. have you read hello my name is asher lev, because that comes before the gift? but you could read it either way. Art and lit. together, life couldn't get better. i too after reading these books read about seven other chaim potok novels.
You've got me curious as to what stories Barbara Kingsolver thinks are the best. and rabbit, run is somewhat depressing, but worth it...suprising almost.
julie. i too am reading rabbit, run.
we should have an over-the-blog book club.
i just finished 'slaughter-house five.' but i forget the author... it was really interesting though. but it made me crave something ordinary, like alice munro. sylvia plath makes me crave alice munro too.
I just read Toni Morrison's Beloved for the first time. Holy cow that chick can write. I've been making an effort to read non-children's books lately so my mind won't turn to complete mush. I'm doing Their Eyes Were Watching God next then The Abortionist's Daughter (you may have heard NPR's review). Asher Lev'll be next. Let us know about the others, eh?
I'm sad we won't be with y'all in Maine.
Post a Comment