I have gotten myself into a bit of trouble. You know the kind…you start one book, put it down for a second and somehow start another, and another and another, and before you know it you have too many books by your nightstand and not enough room.
This has happened to me yet again, and I don’t know how I got myself into it…well yes I do. But I need to get myself out of this lovely mess. And abandoning the books is out of the question, so I need to devise a plan…similar to when you are trying to get out of credit card debt. I start paying off (reading) the credit cards (the books) with the highest interest rate (the most pages read…I guess). But there are other factors at play…when they are due at the library, how many times I have renewed them so far, etc. So here, I present, my strange and diverse collection of semi-read books:
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The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende: Given to me by Cris & Nick many years ago and on my nightstand ever since. % read: 30%. (Note: These short stories are the kind that makes you go Hmmmmmm after you read them).
Tenure and Promotion for Academic Librarians by Carol W. Cubberley: This is an interlibrary loan from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN. It is considered one of the “must-reads” for academic librarians. % read: 0% (Note: Not sure if I can renew this one, but due 9/6).
Black Rose by Nora Roberts: This is the second in a paperback trilogy. % read: 2%
Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon by Michael P. Ghiglieri and Thomas M. Myers: This 400+ page book describes “gripping accounts of all known fatal mishaps in the most famous of the World’s Seven Natural Wonders”. According to Tony Hillerman (who can’t help but think of cataloging class when you see that name), “If you believe that everything interesting about the Grand Canyon has already been written, you’re dead wrong.” % read: 17% (Note: This is also checked out through interlibrary loan, due 8/25 and no renewal allowed. I may stop reading this book, as it gives me a slightly sick feeling as I am laying in bed reading about all the tragedies).
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner: This was a spur of the moment Costco purchase while we were at Maui. It was in a box of three (Oprah’s box set, I believe) other Faulkner books which, luckily, I haven’t started. % read: 63% Another sad story about death. I only chose it because it was the shortest Faulkner book and my mom had snagged Black Rose to read before I could.
Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher: An LA Times Book Festival purchase, signed by P. Leia herself. % read: 0%.
New York Dead by Stuart Woods: Another LA Times Book Festival purchase, signed by the author.
‘A’ is for Alibi by Sue Grafton: This is the third time I have tried to get into this series. % read: 42%
Forlorn River by Zane Grey: This first edition hardback book (1926) is written by one of the best known western authors. % read: 76%
Hard Eight and To The Nines by Janet Evanovich: Enough said. % read: 0%
Sea Glass by Anita Shreve: I loved The Pilot’s Wife. % read: 0%.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. R: I can’t wait to start this one. My friend Jennifer lent it to me and saved me about two months on the waiting list at DPL. Bless her!
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If you’ve read this far, you are a brave soul. This exercise in thought has made me realize 1) I need to get crackin’ and 2) Death in Grand Canyon will be the first book I attempt to finish. I'm off to throw around a softball with Clay.
By the way, what books are on your nightstand?
P.S. The picture was taken from our backyard. Many thanks to Clay’s telescope for providing the magnification.
5 comments:
I don't think I've ever had more than three books going at once. But I buy books all the time and I have a ton on my bookshelves that I'm slowly working my through. So if they were on my nightstand, I'd have dozens of books of which I've read 0% of the pages.
I recently read Harry Potter VI; Sarah Vowell's 'Assassination Vacation'; Nick Hornby's 'A Long Way Down'; David Sedaris' 'Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim'; and re-read 'Catcher in the Rye.'
Tony Hillerman will be forever associated with our cataloging class.
Ooh-- good question!
On my nightstand:
Harry Potter VI (100% finished as of two nights ago, but is still on the nightstand)
Anna Karenina (50%)
The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin (33%)
Lolita (90%-- put it down sometime during winter quarter last year and still haven't gotten around to finishing it... not sure what's up with my apparent habit of ditching the Russian classics)
And, to add to Brian's list, here are my recently finished (within the last month)
Bee Season- Myla Goldberg
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory- Roald Dahl
Long Way Down- Nick Hornby
actually, just last night i went to the library and refreshed my pile. on the floor where a nightstand might stand if i were to have said piece of furniture:
Pigs in Heaven - Barbara Kingsolver 0% read; just finished The Bean Trees - excellent!)
Rekindled - Barbara Delinsky (50%)
The Vineyard - Barbara Delinsky (0%)
The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown (0%)
Thanks for all the good posts. I know I put a lot of 0% read books on there, but don't usually keep books after I have read them, so to have all these unread books is pretty unusual.
Charlie and the Chocolate factory, m-m-m good...I loved R. Dahl as a child, reading all about James and his peach, along with Witches. I remember one of my teachers in elementary school reading that book to us (James and the Giant Peach). It was very nice to come back in from recess, put your head on the table and listen. Wouldn't that be a funny thing if we could do that at work.
I like Barbara Kingsolver too. I really really liked The Poisonwood Bible and also enjoyed Animal Dreams.
hmmm... I just finished "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris a few minutes before i logged on here. The other night when I was reading it, I nearly got a cramp I was laughing so hard. I have "Dress Your Family in Courduroy and Denim" waiting on my table.
Also on the "next up" list... "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safan Foer... David McCullough's "1776"... "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith.
I am also planning to re-read "Earth: A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. One of the best and most informative books I have read in a long time. Should be required reading for high school science classes.
... of course, I have to fit these in between all of my highbrow reading of "US Weekly," "People," and "Entertainment Weekly."
I read "Eva Luna" for one of my fiction writing classes in college... I still have it in my book case.
p.s. glad you got "Potter"... it's my favorite installment next to "Goblet of Fire."
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