What's that? There, on the bedside table? Not the lamp (although it's very nice). Not the stuffed dragon (also very nice, his name is Magne, and my friend Natalie gave him to me in high school). Why, it's three chunky piles of books! Why are they there? Well, I'm going to try to read them all by September 1st!
I've talked before about SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) . . . well, it's reached new heights, really, at our house. I suddenly added about thirty books to my "To Read" pile, and I thought, "Jessica, you have a sickness. Let's try and get this under control!" My friend Kyle, professor and zombie enthusiast, is doing a summer reading list of his own devising, and I decided to go for it myself. I took all my most pressing new books, the ones simply crying out to be read, and read NOW, plus the books my book club was reading this summer, and I put them on the bedside table where they would nag at me. Where they couldn't be forgotten, or where I wouldn't be tempted to wander amongst my other bookshelves and then find something else to read. By Jove, I said, I will make a summer reading list, and I will KILL THAT SUCKER by September or die trying!
Now, that's not to say that I have simply lain about, eating bonbons and reading! Oh, my, no! I'm working on a book of my own (and no, I won't say anything more about it. Oh, FINE! It's set in Romania. But that's all I'm sayin'), and taking the kids swimming, and trying to beat my yard into submission, and launching Princess of Glass in the manner to which my books are accustomed. I also took a little jaunt out to Washington, D.C., where I basked in the glow of all the book love at the ALA Annual Conference. (I met John Green! And Rick Yancey! And Libba Bray! And Melissa Marr!) (And accidentally picked up MORE BOOKS, because obviously I needed MORE BOOKS!)
So not all the books are pictured in this picture. Some of them I had already read by the time I found the camera. Some of them got added (see ALA reference above). But here, in it's entirety, is the list:
First off, the books I've read so far:
1. I Am Not A Serial Killer- Dan Wells
2. Under Heaven - Guy Gavriel Kay
3. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon- Grace Lin
4. Charles and Emma- Deborah Heiligman
5. Stories- Neil Gaiman and Ed Sarrantonio
6. The Monstrumologist - Rick Yancey
7. The Sapphire Flute - Karen E. Hoover
8. When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead
9. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson
10. Some Girls- Jillian Lauren
11. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
12. Low Red Moon - Ivy Devlin
13. Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris
14. Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone - Dene Low
15. Club Dead - Charlaine Harris
16. Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris
17. Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
I am currently reading Dead As A Doornail, by Charlaine Harris, and after that I have:
1. Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris
2. All Together Dead - Charlaine Harris
3. Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris
4. From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris
5. Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
(You may have noticed a theme here. My sister has raved about these books for years, but I read the first one back in the day when all I was reading was vampire stuff, and I overdosed and went, "Meh!" I decided to reread it this summer, and got hooked. Now I can't stop, but I feel I should warn my younger readers: These books are not for the faint of heart or the, um, under 17 set.)
6. Incarceron - Catherine Fisher
7. Brightly Woven - Alexandra Bracken
8. Boneshaker - Cherie Priest
9. Sovay - Celia Rees
10. Girl in the Arena - Lise Haines
11. Magic Under Glass - Jaclyn Dolamore
12. Hearts at Stake - Alyxandra Harvey
13. Saving Juliet - Suzanne Selfors
14. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
15. Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith
16. Morality for Beautiful Girls - Alexander McCall Smith
17. The Kalahari Typing School for Men - Alexander McCall Smith
18. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
19. In the Company of Angels - David Farland
Extra Credit (aka Picked up at ALA):
1. The Thin Executioner - Darren Shan
2. Cate of the Lost Colony - Lisa M. Klein
3. Immortal Beloved - Cate Tiernan
4. Monster High - Lisi Harrison
5. Jane - April Lindner
6. The Girl Who Could Fly - Victoria Forester
Think I can do it? Want to join in? Let me also warn our younger or more sensitive readers that Stieg Larsson's books are VERY MUCH FOR ADULTS, as are Charlaine Harris' and Jillian Lauren's memoir. On the other hand: I just finished Before I Fall, and found it to be absolutely a masterpiece, recommended for teens and adults alike. And When You Reach Me? A delight from start to finish, suitable for all ages, fully deserving of that Newbery Medal! Also, Rebecca Stead's speech at the ALA banquet was joyous and charming.
All right, I've got books to read! Catch you later!
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