I read a lot, mostly fiction…what with my tendency towards escapism and all. If I go more than a day or two between books I get a bit, well, anxious. The other night it came to a head. Everyone in our little household was coming down with a cruddy cold. The little man was only made happy after donning his monkey suit and cuddling in the comfy chair, while watching his new favorite movie. After he’d gone to bed I didn’t have the energy to do anything productive. Nor was I in the mood to watch anything else. I just wanted to lay about, reading something interesting. So I scoured the house. I hit the jackpot in the bedroom. I was dismayed to discover a full dozen titles that I’d started reading over the last year. Some I’d nearly finished, but not quite…and close doesn’t count. For whatever reason each of these books had let me down in some way, or vice versa. Each had come highly recommended, and some I’d really been looking forward to. I wanted to like them. I do like most of the authors well enough, having enjoyed their other works a great deal. Maybe I encountered these titles at the wrong time. The stars weren’t aligned…or something. Something about them didn’t grab me. Or I accidentally became separted from them, and went on to something else that did grab me in the mean time. And now I have guilt. But I’m finding it very difficult to dive back into any title in this sad stack.
the unread, in no particular order:
01: Little Big by John Crowley [Dave and Cathy, I know you love this book...I swear I'll give it another go]
02: The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky [interesting stuff, but my mind wandered, as it is wont to do]
03: Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto [should really try again]
04: Blindness by Jose Saramago [left it at my in-laws's cabin and our reunion, many months later, didn't go very well]
05: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez [please don't look at me like that James...I was really enjoying this one, and had nearly finished it when I was sidetracked by something or other, and I just couldn't get back into it.]
06: The Bondswoman’s Narrative by Hannah Crofts
07: You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers [still haven't made it past the first dozen pages]
08: White Apples by Jonathan Carroll [I'd read too many of his works in too short a timeframe, so they all started seeming like the same story]
09: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
10: A Friend of the Earth by T.C. Boyle [seen him speak a few times, highly entertaining...especially as he looks like Kevin McDonald from KiTH]
11: From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury [I really should get this back to you, Kris]
12: Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson [was sidetracked by Dan Simmons' engrossing Ilium]
