If you’re anything like me you have a “want to read” list that is longer than an encyclopedia (ha – remember those?).
Right now I’m reading the fabulous BLUE BOY by Rakesh Satyal, and I’m dying to read LOVE WILL TEAR US APART by Sarah Rainone and THE RUINS OF GORLAN (RANGER’S APPRENTICE #1) by John Flanagan and COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen and THE LOST CITY OF Z by David Grann and SINGER by Ira Sher and SUNNYSIDE by Glen David Gold and and and and (you can see where I’m going with this)……..
What about you? What’s on your shelf?
Emily Cross says
Like others have mentioned, i’m a member of the ,’fill-in-the-gaps’ project and am currently wrestling with ‘Middlemarch’
My TBR list is getting very long at this point.
Lilith des Cavernes says
Since I’m trying to break into the Romance field… after being weened on classical literature and snappy wits like Carrie Fisher… I am reading Elizabeth Hoyt at the moment to be followed by Eloise James. I usually go through a library of an author before I move on. LOL It’s new territory for me but it’s a learning experience.
Blessings,
Lil
Yat-Yee says
Hi Laurel, *wave*
The only question is if I’ll be mature enough to share and let my daughter read it first. Or I can put down my proverbial, parental foot.
Ian says
Emily, Middlemarch doesn’t need to be wrestled with; it needs to be loved. It’s one of the greatest novels ever written. The characterization is exquisite.
abc says
Marilyn:
House of Leaves certainly does seem like it would be “crazy awesome” and right up my alley. It’s a sign! I’m starting it today. Or tomorrow, after I finish my Stephen White mystery. Love Stephen White. Psychology+thriller=delicious book soup. what?
Emily Cross says
Ian – i agree about the characterisation and also the dialogue is excellent, but when i say ‘wrestle’ – i mean that i find i have to reread/read slowly to get the full grasp of GE’s narration.
you should drop by the ‘fill in the gaps’ blog – we’re having ‘middle’may’ at the moment
https://fillinthegaps100.blogspot.com/
Lisa says
Top five on my running list:
Leap of Faith, Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee
Walk the Blue Fields: Stories by Claire Keegan
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Laurel says
Yat-Yee,
Be strong. You’re in charge! I had to wait for my mom to get through “Superfudge” by Judy Blume before she would let me have it. I got over it.
It’s a quick read. Tell her she’ll get her hands on it faster if she leaves you alone. Reward positive behavior!
Mira says
Bane – I saw we get the fairies and goblins toasted, and give them alittle privacy.
Lara – exactly. Thanks for understanding. It’s a nightmare. But really, that book has been known to open it’s big wide pages and swallow people whole.
Seriously. Chomp, chomp, chomp. So, just think about that. Is it worth it?
Heidi the Hick says
RAINCLOUD by Richard S Todd
THE FLYING TROUTMANS by Miriam Toews
THE GOD OF ANIMALS by Aryn Kyle
SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS Marisha Pessl
NOT CONTRY FOR OLD MEN Cormac McCarthy
you know what, if I go on listing books I plan to read, we’ll be here all day….
Jane says
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (not in English until end of July, but I’ve preordered it)
Storming the Gates of Paradise, Rebecca Solnit
The Tourist, Olen Steinhauer
The Brief Wondrous of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
Mira says
P.C.
I vote for Dan Brown. I think that would be awesome.
I detect an under-current of excitement in Nathan’s voice. I think it’s someone cool.
allegory19 says
To be honest – nothing!
Okay, to be fair there are tons of books I want to read, but I’m not reading any of them right now because I’m obsessed with writing and I don’t want anyone else’s work influencing mine – it happens.
Genny says
My pile is growing. Always. The three books at the top of the pile right now…The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, and The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer.
KathyF says
I just finished:
Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris
The Next 100 Years, A Forecast of the 21st Century, by George Friedman
The Art and Craft of Storytelling, by Nancy Lamb
I’m currently reading:
Common Wealth, Economics for a Crowded Planet, by Jeffrey D. Sachs
Novel Shortcuts, by Laura Whitcomb
The Right to Write, by Julia Cameron
I’ve never tried having an actual plan of what to read. I may try that.
PurpleClover says
Mira, I thought I was the only one detecting an undertone/undercurrent of excitement. His silence is making me think I may be warm. OR he’s just really really annoyed by me. 🙂
I can do that to people.
But seriously. I will let it go. I will wait like everyone else until tomorrow and then look like a really bad student nurse in her scrubs checking her phone for updates while the new orientees are trying to ask important questions.
Ben Dutton says
This evening I started Oliver Twist. I decided to read Dickens’s novels in chronological order, one a fortnight. In addition to this I’m in the middle of Tom Raworth’s Collected Poems, a collection of essays from Bruce Chatwin and Sun Shuyun’s history of The Long March. I try and have a novel, poetry collection, essay collection and non-fiction work on the go at all time. The pile of ‘to read’ works on my desk stands at 70 books at the moment and includes Alaa Al Aswany, Deirdre Madden, JMG Le Clezio, Roth, Barry Unsworth and HG Wells, as well as most of the Library of Wales’s reprints of major Welsh novels of the 20th Century – guaranteed you’ve never heard of them or read anything by them before. It’s wonderful to come to works without preconceptions, which is rare in our modern world.
Lara says
Ian, agree about Middlemarch, I got lost in it and lived in it (which is one reason why everyone keeps recommending The Forsyte Saga to me, methinks.)
Marilyn Peake, your list is fabulous. Loved Sutree, Bean Trees, several of those Gaiman titles (and meaning to check out the others) and Foucault’s Pendulum.
And anything with Stars / Veracruz in the title sounds right for me…herewith I shall commence to Googling…
Mira says
P.C.
No, I think he’s not going to give any more hints because it’s a secret. He doesn’t want to give it away.
But isn’t anticipation half the fun?
Maybe it’s Paris Hilton. Didn’t she just write a book?
I just hope to god it’s not Stephen King.
That would truly be mortifying.
T. Anne says
OK I’m actually in alignment with a lot of your commenters so I won’t repeat. I would also like to read a positive enthusiastic response from a literary agent who is in the market for an author just like me. 🙂
Meg says
Currently reading Treasure Island, and Dracula is next on my list.
Then I’m thinking of dusting off some Shakespeare.
I’m on some kind of classics kick.
And I have yet to read the Twilight books, those are on my list too. Mainly because I have friends who will maim me if I don’t get around to reading them..lol
Lara says
I MUST stop commenting on this post, because I am starting to feel like a loony, but I HAD to chime in ONE MORE TIME and tell Meg that I LOVE Treasure Island.
I guess I just likes to talk about books 😉
Laurel says
allegory19:
You do that, too? I read a lot of something and find I mimic the tone. Noticeably. I try not to read too much of the same author back to back for that very reason. I do the same thing talking. I’m kind of a chameleon that way 😉
Yamile says
I doubt you’ll get to my comment because it will be #174, but I’m about to read “Rumors” and “Envy” from the Luxe series by Anna Godbersen, Riordan’s grown up books (I’m obsessed with his Percy Jackson books), Sarah’s Quilt (sequel of These is my words) by Nancy turner, and reread Here Be Dragons by Sharon K Penman.
Yat-Yee says
Jason: I love MG too. And a friend just recommended Suzanne Collins’s Gregor the Overlander.
Ian says
Emily Cross, OK I will do that.
Becky Rippy says
I have “I Am Not Myself These Days” by Josh Kilmer-purcell, and Sellavision by Augusten Burroughs, in my cart at Amazon. Has anyone read either?
Anonymous says
Right now, I am reading Come In Character, the Tueday group write:
https://www.comeincharacter.
blogspot.com
Martin says
Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen
Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben
The Rabbit Factory by Marshall Karp
Rain Fall by Barry Eisler
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
Prey by Alison Brennan
Tishomingo Blues by Elmore Leonard
The Eight by Katherine Neville
(Geez…more than I thought.)
I’m currently reading Lincoln Child’s Deep Storm and I took a peek at Neal Stephenson’s Zodiac the other night just to read the opening, but I’m having trouble stopping. 🙂
Silicon Valley Diva says
Buried in my huge book stack is “Exiles” and “Atticus” by Ron Hansen. I went to a book signing of his last year and bought a handful of books from him LOL.
FlossieT says
Ooh, I love these posts.
Currently reading:
The Twisted Heart – Rebecca Gowers
Probably about to start if something else doesn’t jump into my hands first:
All the Living – C.E. Morgan
(may be pipped to post by Christopher Brookmyre which I am forced to read by my bookswap circle – am definitely giving up on circle after this year, have had to read too much bad – as in not enoyable – trash this year)
What I should be reading:
Villette – Charlotte Bronte
The Brontes: A Life in Letters – Juliet Barker (filling Bronteana gaps is a minor reading project for the year)
Laurel says
Yat-Yee:
GET Gregor! They’re great! And Jason, I love Artemis Fowl, too. I just wonder how he’s going to grow up to be so villainous when he’s clearly trending toward an improvement in character.
Patrice says
Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo-Stieg Larsson
Duma Key – Stephen King
Lisa says
Becky Rippy-
Sellavision is the perfect audio solution to rush hour traffic. It’s an easy read (listen), but it will make you laugh. It’s true Augusten Burroughs; although, I would give Running with Scissors a few more stars than Sellavision.
Scott says
I’ve not been able to find and good, solid masculine voices in new fiction, so I always find I have to reach back. Where are our great American male writers? Anyone?
Just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
At the moment I’m reading Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith.
On deck, Henry Miller On Writing, and I’m going to crack into a Philip K. Dick trilogy I’ve had sitting on my shelf for a few years.
D. G. Hudson says
The books I have waiting to be read are: Ernest Hemingways’s TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, Sandra Scofield’s THE SCENE BOOK, Celia Leaman’s PAST PRESENT I – WEB OF LIES, and an old copy of Mary Higgins Clark’s WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN, A STRANGER IS WATCHING, and THE CRADLE WILL FALL.
I’m looking locally for Stephen Mertz’ novel, NIGHT WIND, but no luck yet. Will probably have to order it online. (He’s an author and an instructor).
Hemingway and Leaman books are for pleasure reading, Scofield’s is for improving my writing, and Clark’s is for studying techniques in mysteries.
Books, like music, can soothe the soul.
Discussions like this are a good way to find out what books people are buying or selecting to read. Now, I have to peruse these comments, and check out some titles.
Lara says
Scott, I just got done reading a bunch of Philip K. Dick. What’re you reading? Just read Ubik, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and The Man in the High Castle. Good stuff. Probably wouldn’t be published today.
You might (or might not) like the Olen Steinhauer book I recommended earlier.
Michelle says
Wow, My list is always much, much longer than I can ever keep up with, but here are the ones at the top of my list:
“Stone of Tears” by Terry Goodkind, “Inkheard” by Cornelia Funke, Book 6 of Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan (when it comes out), “Defenseless” by Celeste Marsella, “The Shack” by William P. Young, “Sloppy Firsts” by Megan McCafferty, “Taming the Spirited Child” by Michael Popkin, “The Measure of a Man” by Sidney Poitier, “A Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson, “Finding God in the Garden” by Balfour Brickner, “Never Have Your Dog Stuffed” by Alan Alda
Lisa says
Scott-
By solid masculine (I don’t know why this makes me laugh) voice, I’m sure you meant something other than what springs to mind for me; but, my first thought immediately lands on Robert Bly (Iron John). As a point of reference, I had lunch with him after a reading years ago, and I can attest, with all due respect to Mr. Bly, he’s the epitome of a masculine voice/writer/subject matter.
Annie Reynolds says
The next in the house of night series, the next in the new Vampire academy book, oh can you see a theme going here… Yes i get to read all the book before i hand them on to my 12 yr old daughter, just to make sure they are suitable of course, good thing i love to read teen lit.
You do know Nathan you have inspired her to become a literary agent, she thinks all you do is read great books all day.
Becky Rippy says
Thanks Lisa, I’ve read all of his nonfiction books and loved them. He said he wrote Sellavision in seven days, so I wasn’t sure. I’ll give it a go:)
AstonWest says
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Hawg by Steven Shrewsbury
Blade Dancer by K. M. Tolan (currently reading)
For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls by Nancy Mehl
…as well as a few e-books loaded on my laptop that I don’t recall the names of.
Mira says
Thanks for the mention, Anon 3:30.
We are creating a masterpiece. Anyone is welcome to join in.
must-love-comma says
I’m reading Mansfield Park…still. I’ve been at it for a while now, which is not a reflection on the book or on Austen in general. It’s just that I got caught up in Moll Flanders and then in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Truly, after I finish Swine Not?: A Novel Pig Tale (who danced a happy jig when Amazon delivered it?!? MEEEEE!) I am going to finish Mansfield Park. For real.
Probably.
Andrea
Trisha Pearson says
My list is growing daily so I’ll just stick to the ones on my nightstand. They are: THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan, THEODOSIA AND THE SERPENTS OF CHAOS by RL LaFevers, and THE LAST OLYMPIAN by Rick Riordan.
Kathleen Noud says
I’m reading the LOST CITY OF Z as well. I’m so crazy about. Anyone else who is mad about explorers and history must read this book!
After this, I might have to follow on with THE LOST WORLD by Arthur Conan Doyle.
MaLanie says
Finishing up on SECRET LIFE OF BEES
Write Great Fiction Series:
Plot & Structure, Description & Setting, and Dialogue.
SOPHIE'S CHOICE
GRAPES OF WRATH
CATCHER IN THE RYE
PS I LOVE YOU
OF MICE AND MEN
TWIGHLIGHT
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
I have lots of catching up to do!
Anonymous says
Hey Nathan,
You have starred twice in the Tuesday “Group Story” story at Come in Character.
You’d better go over there and at least have a laugh!
Jill Lynn says
I love getting a peek at what’s on other people’s bookshelves. Way better than checking out medicine cabinets, and not embarrassing if caught either.
I was just thinking the other night that I’ve read a book or two a week for…well, as long as I can remember, and there are still SO many books I haven’t read. Shows the magnitude of how many books are published. (So why not mine too? But I digress.)
Waiting to be read on my shelf:
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Emperors Children by Claire Messud
A Spark of Heavenly Fire by Pat Bertram
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wrobliewski
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger; whom, I might add, wrote
one of my favorite books of all time that I recommend to everyone: “The Last Days of Summer.” You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll enjoy. And, no, I don’t know him (LOL).
I’m also into Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books right now. I like reading them in between other books. Cleanses the palate. Such wit she has.
Jill Lynn says
I meant to mention before I hit send on my last comment that those of you with “The Secret Life of Bees” on your list will not be disappointed. I read it a couple of years ago, and thought it one of the best novels I’d read in years. One of those books that inspired me to write more and, more importantly, to write better.