Today I had hoped to talk about some of my favorite novels, but between Valentine’s Day and home improvement projects, I couldn’t pull it together in time. For me, compiling lists of favorite anything is difficult. When people ask me about favorite books or movies or bands, I typically draw a blank. Every title of every book I’ve read or movie I've seen, every name of every band I’ve heard, recedes like the taillights on a speeding car, and I end up saying something like “Nancy Drew” or “The Turtles.” Um, yeah. Still, because I’m new to Sunday Salon, I thought it would be a fun “getting to know you” post. I’ll try again next week. If you see Nancy Drew in the list, you’ll know I panicked. (Not that I don’t love Nancy! I do!)A small progress report: I have 130 pages left to read of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, my first book for the 9 for ‘09 challenge, and I’ll be posting my thoughts later in the week. Wednesday I have to return Delicate Edible Birds to the library so I’ll finish and post thoughts on that as well.
Most likely I’ll choose something for the World Citizen challenge next--I’m thinking Falling Leaves, by Adeline Yen Mah--so I get a good balance. I am amazed, looking at other people’s blogs, how far along some people are on these challenges. Of course, I’m only doing two (three, if you count trying to keep up with Andrew’s Book Club), so I suppose I have the leisure of spacing things out over the year, which is a fine because I have three other books to get through before I start the next challenge book. Taking books out of the library forces me to read the books I bring home instead of just putting them all over the house, so I’ll be reading:
Goldengrove, by Francine Prose. I enjoyed Blue Angel, so when this was released last year, I added it to my list. Goldengrove is a coming-of-age story about a girl dealing with the recent death of her sister. You can read the first chapter here, and you can read a review here.
Isabella Moon, by Laura Benedict. Long story short: I found Laura Benedict’s blog Notes from The Handbasket through another blog I read called The Swivet. I liked her personality, so when it turned out she was a writer, I put her books on my TBR list. Also turned out that Laura happens to be a friend of one of my very best friends, Michelle. Small world! Isabella Moon is a thriller about a woman with a secret past and how her arrival in a small Kentucky town unravels the mystery of a nine-year-old girl's death--and unlocks some of the town's darkest secrets. You can read an excerpt here.
The Pact, by Jodi Picoult. This is my book club read for March. Generally I stay away from these books because I hear they’re formulaic, taking popular controversial topics and spinning fictional stories around them with a twist. Law and Order has been doing this for well over a decade, so what the heck. The Pact deals with the always-fun topic of teen suicide. I’ve only read one other Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper (also for book club, and it was entertaining), so we’ll see how it goes. You can read an excerpt here.Have a wonderful week, and happy reading!
*images from amazon.com
