SLAY Don't Wait

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Winter reading update

bookshelf-march2

Despite the fact that it’s only 40-some degrees here in beautiful Columbus, Ohio, I’m pretty sure that the winter is over. So, let’s check back in on that reading list, shall we?

I finished these books from the list:
H is for Hawk – Helen MacDonald
Creativity, Inc. – Ed Catmull

I’m on the verge of finishing these:
What We See When We Read – Peter Mendelsund
Satin Island – Tom McCarthy
Rebel Bookseller – Andrew Laties

I made real progress in these:
Leviathan Wakes – James S.A. Corey
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS – Joby Warrick

I also read these, which were not on the list:
Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm – Thich Nhat Hahn
Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better: Wise Advice for Leaning into the Unknown – Pema Chodron
Alien Hearts – Guy de Maupassant (trans. Richard Howard)

Conclusions? I’m not good at sticking to the list, cause I’m impulsive. Also, the winter reading list should be good through April.

Stuff I Haven’t Been Reading

I haven’t been reading much fiction lately. Aside from a lot of comics, that is.
That’s weird for me. I know it wouldn’t be a concern for most people, but I was in the habit of finishing at least one fiction book every 3 weeks or so (in addition to everything I read). So what’s happened?

It could just be a string of bad luck. 2 of the last 3 fiction books I’ve started (one of them is a re-read) haven’t strung me along even to page 100. That’s usualy my rule, read to page 100, even if I’m not liking it. So, the first problem book was The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon. I’ve really loved his last couple of books, especially Kavalier & Clay, which is on my top 20 books list. So, the fact that I can’t bring myself to read another 12 pages of this book is pretty disappointing. It can’t be his fault, can it?

The other big problem book for me is Home Land by Sam Lipsyte. The Believer chose it for their first annual Believer Book Award, and I enjoy every single word ever written in the Believer magazine. So, it’s pretty upsetting to think that my tastes depart so far from theirs on what was the best book of 2005. It’s definitely a good book, no doubt there. The conceit is very clever, the characters are well drawn, it’s very, very original, an it’s brutally ufnny. So, what’s wrong with me? I can’t make it through more than 83 pages?

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