Do you ever think that people care about what you read; so much so that you want to post a picture of your bedside table and the stack of books you are pretending to read to make yourself look good?I often get really excited about the books I'm reading or planning to read. Occassionally I will gather them together to gain some perspective of where I am going with all of this. Sometimes I find that it is time to buy some new ones. Other times I need to either quit buying and read what I've already got, or head in a new direction.
This time, what I have on the go is exciting for me. There is one that I want to reread, but the others have all been recommended to me by friends. I'm mostly through Miriam Toews' A Complicated Kindness. So far it is fantastic. I'm waiting to get to the part where she gives a mention of my late brother-in-law. They used to be sweethearts. Aparently, she would drive out to the farm and she and Ken would spend the day driving around on the field in the tractor doing...uhmmm...farm stuff. It makes me feel like I kind of know her.
The others are not light reads, so I don't imagine to get through them quickly. I'm the kind of reader that needs to take heaviness slowly...in palatable chunks...with some robust Cabernet Sauvignon, perhaps.
What's in your stack? I'd actually really like to know. Perhaps I'll add some of yours to mine.
15 comments:
Very deep reading, B. As for me, dare I admit it? It's "The End", Book the 13th in Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events. (How old am I anyway?) But on the more serious read side, I recently finished a FANTASTIC book, and another snippet of rural Canadiana (like Toews's A Complicated Kindness), Mary Lawson's Crow Lake. It's literature PLUS a compulsive page turner. Ain't nuthin' bettah. I can hardly wait until she publishes a second book.
"Remembering" by Wendell Berry
I loved "Kindness". Right now I am halfway through Grisham's "The Broker". Not heavy, but it's good distraction candy. Also reading "Forgotten Among the Lillies" by Ron Rolheiser. He is an amazing writer. I think you'd like him. Also an anthology of great writers, with lots of pictures.
I read a lot, usually fiction, but for the past year have been reading a lot of non fiction.
Fiction-The Sunday List of Dreams by Kris Radish
and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eudenides
Non Fiction-The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, The Four Agreements by Don Midguel Ruiz and Field Notes on the Compassionate Life by Marc Ian Barasch
I have that same book, Gandhi, an autobiography but haven't read it yet. He was greatly influenced by Tolstoy who also wrote a great book, The Kingdom of God is Within.
I usually have a pile in my bathroom, I read in the bathroom, I have a chair in there. It's quiet and nobody bothers me too much.
I think our stacks and our bookshelves are windows into who we were, who we are, or who we may become. Maybe that is why we are so interested in what others are reading.
My Stack
The Man Who Was Thursday - C K Chesterton
The Book of Bebb - Frederick Buechner
Wise Blood - Flannary O' Conner
Chronicles - Bob Dylan
Lake Wobegon Days - Garrison Keillor (re-read)
Brian, what are the most influential books you have read?
Just Curious
Well, since you asked - and since I actually do have a stack beside my bed - mine looks like this:
Arctic Dreams - Barry Lopez
A Winter Book - Tove Jansson
A Slender Thread - Stephen Venables
Ollie - Stephen Venables
The Parable of the Tribes - Andrew Bard Schmookler
Of yours, I've only read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek - a truly wonderful and unique book. But I'd also recommend one from rosster's list - The Man Who Was Thursday. Very, very cleverly written...
Complicated Kindness was one of my favorites ever. My background is mennonite as well. I just finished reading "Blue Like Jazz" by Don Miller and agreed with everything he said - rare!
stacked? Is that appropriate?
I just ordered a book and can't remember what I ordered. Hopefully its "How to Reclaim Your Memory"
(and when you say that you need to "take heaviness slowly", you weren't referring to my thighs, were you?)
((Geek Alert))
The Story Of English The Day The Universe Changed The Culture Of Narcissism Origins:Asimov The Selfish Gene Naked Ape Life On Earth The Penquin Atlas of World History Extrordinary Origins of Everyday Things and Philosophy For Beginners ((wheeze))
Now, if you don't mind, I am going to hike my pants up and over my waistline, adjust my pocket protector and stick my nose back into my magazines, which I find far easier to consume and feel far less guilty about my ability to retain anything that I have read.
..Psychology Today, Time, Hustler, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Ebony, Modern Bride, and National Geographic.
Winnie the Pooh...just kiddin'....finished "Look back all the Green Valley" by Fred Chappell...great book...also loved all of Miriam Toews books...waiting to read "Anything Joyce writes"....Lindalew : )
Andrea,
No need to be bashful about Lemony Snicket books. They are fantastic. I could add a bunch of kids books to the list of current reads. They are all done for school. It gives me opportunities to read books I'd never know about. Just finished Because of Winn-Dixie, again. I love that story.
Judy,
I've never heard of it, but I just looked to see what else he's written, and he's quite prolific. I'll have to keep him in mind.
Darren,
It's good to have those distraction books handy. I find that if my nose is in complicated books all the time, I read a lot less and tend to feel more lethargic. There's nothing like an easy read to put a bounce in your step.
Deb,
What a great list. I'll be checking some of those out, for sure; especially The Happiness Hypothesis. That's a great title.
I have a chair in my bathroom too, but I don't think mine is as comfortable as yours is. Mine tends to leave marks if I stay too long.
Darryl,
I think you're right. One of the reasons I want to show my stack is to compare with others. I think it is a way for humans to find out if we are alright. Kids do it all the time, and I think adults do it too; just in a more grown up way.
There are two on your list that I really want to read: The Man Who Was Thursday (I like it that Andy also recommended it), and Lake Wobegon Days. I've want to read the latter one for a long time.
Most influential books I've read?...probably the bible and not in a churchy kind of way. In the way that the stories were read to me as a child and I've read it my whole life. The influence is inescapable, no matter how hard we try.
Also, more recently, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. It's not a writing that is extremely clever or particularily well-written, but it was honest and it struck something within me that began an internal search for what is outside of myself. So, yeah, it was extremely influential for me. I think I can trace my current thought processes back to reading that book. I'm sure there are others, but if I say them all now, we won't have anything to talk about when you come over.
Andy,
Do you find that all of your books have a common thread? And where do you go to buy books? I'm finding online sellers to be more and more appealing, probably because of convenience. I have a picture in my mind of you coming out of a book shop with about four or five new books that you've just placed in a backpack. You smile because you got a great parking spot with your motor cycle right out front between two Smart Cars, and then head off home to read.
Valerie Ruth,
Yes, I too was pleasantly surprised with Blue Like Jazz. It was fresh air to me. And A Complicated Kindness is hilarious. Every time I read a few chapters, I have to stop and read to my wife. It's something so entirely relatable for us. Miriam Toews has a great gift.
Joyce,
What's said on the blog, STAYS on the blog. Don't bring it home, baby.
H.E.,
Wow. What a list! Both of them.
No wonder you know all the stuff that you know, you know?
Geek? Maybe. But gosh darn it, people like you. Me included.
Lindalew,
Joyce really loved your comment.
And Winnie the Pooh is classic stuff. "Tut tut...looks like rain."
I f you liked Blue Like Jazz, you will also like Miller's, Searching for God knows What...
Lake Wobegon...describes a small town life that i could relate to in so many ways. Reading it was better therapy than any psychotherapy could ever provide. I have read it a few times, and decided it was one i needed in hardcover, so found one online recently, and have been re-reading selected parts.
Another book I'd recommend for you ...Life of Pi by Yann Martel. interesting perspectives on different religions.
Ciau
Darryl,
Because I liked Blue Like Jazz so much, I've actually read everything that Donald Millar has written. Very compelling writing, but none quite as much as BLJ.
I read Life of Pi about a year ago and loved it. It took a while to get into it, but once it started to move, it became irresistable.
Now to get my hands on Lake Wobegon...
What is your mailing address? I have a paper back copy you can have.
D
I think the books you read point to your moral and intellectual direction.
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