Jenny's Library Books Mid-December

This month I have two piles of library books.  Since I work in a library, sometimes the books I check out are actually work related.  I'm planning an improv retreat for my group of Outreach librarians and staff in the library, so this pile should not be a surprise!

 

Bossypants by Tina Fey 

Theatre Games and Beyond by Amiel Schotz

Structure and Improvisation in Creative Teaching by Robert Keith Sawyer

The Second City Guide to Improv in the Classroom by Katherine S. McKnight

The Improv Handbook by Tom Salinsky

The Second City Almanac of Improvisation by Anne Libera

Of these books, the most useful were The Improv Handbook and Threatre Games and Beyond. I was looking for practical, hands-on exercises I could use and adapt.  The Almanac was interesting but is really for super-fans of that venue, while The Second City Guide to Improv in the Classroom and the Sawyer text were too specific to K-6 students.  I'm going to be using a bit of the Bossypants audiobook to help kick off the retreat.

The Blue Fox by Sjon
My Struggle: Book One by Karl Ove Knausgard
what the world will look like when all the water leaves us by Laura van den Berg
The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison
Insurgent by Veronica Roth (with bonus photo of me in the spine)
Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming
Hopper by Mark Strand
The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese by Michael Paterniti
Collected Poems by Mark Strand
When Mark Strand passed away, I collected all the books I hadn't yet read from my local libraries.  That only numbered two, but reading the Collected Poems was a nice personal tribute to one of my favorite poets!  If you are not familiar with his work, check out Eating Poetry, probably the only poem with a stamping, weeping librarian.

The Sjon and Paterniti were for book clubs - World's Literature and the in-person one.  I read the van den Berg to discuss on the Reading Envy podcast, based on a previous Reading Envy podcast, so it felt like a meta-experience.  The Jamison and Cumming are to continue reading more non-fiction, although I haven't read either. They are likely candidates for holiday reads, as well as the Knausgard.  I am half way through the Roth but not super into it - my intention was to read it before the movie came out but I might decide to just enjoy the story that way. 

Jenny's Library Books Mid-November

I checked out so many books from the library this past month, I had to make two piles. And since there are so many, I will discuss them in chunks!  One book pictured can be ignored, the Blue Plate Special.  I've had it checked out from the library for two months and I felt like I hadn't done anything with it!

Ravel According to Ravel edited by Vlado Perlemuter
The Cambridge Companion to Ravel edited by Deborah Mawer
Irony and Sound: the Music of Maurice Ravel by Stephen Zank
Unmasking Ravel edited by Peter Kaminsky
Ravel by Roger Nichols

In my Creative Non-Fiction class, I am working on an essay about preparing for a recital. I was also experimenting with incorporating research into that style of essay for the first time, and went out in search of what Ravel thought about Jeux D'eau, one of his earliest pieces for piano. That should explain the subset of books on Ravel!

This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
Why I Read: the Serious Pleasure of Books by Wendy Sesser

Almost all the books pictured have been returned to the library.  These are the only two I have not yet read!  I will read the Levin for an SFF Audio readalong discussion. I've been promised dystopia! Why I Read was a whim from the library leisure reading collection and I'm not sure if I will read it or not.  I am always interested in seeing how people write about reading, but don't always connect with them.

The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Icelanders in the Viking Age: The People of the Sagas by William R. Short
Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
Of the remaining books, four were for book clubs.  The Solnit and Short were for the World Literature group in GoodReads, both having something to do with Iceland (however the Solnit also fits nicely into all the Creative Non-Fiction reading I've been doing, so that was a nice bonus.)  The Gene Wolfe is for an upcoming discussion for the League of Extraordinary Dorks Book Club, and the Marra was my pick for the in-person International Book Club.  (I can't say enough about that book. It was even better on the second read, and we had a great discussion!)

Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything by Barbara Ehrenreich
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
Blue Horses: Poems by Mary Oliver
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction edited by Mary Paumier Jones and Judith Kitchen

The rest is a bit of a grab bag! Reading tends to be. I had come across a review of the Ehrenreich somewhere, probably Publishers Weekly, and was interested in the child raised by atheists having her own private spiritual experiences. Ehrenreich goes back to her journals and reflects on them, but I couldn't get through it.  My review reflects that this might be a fault of the book itself, but it could also be the fact that I found the book in large print.  (Does this happen to anyone else? Format interfering with reading?)

The Zelazny was because of a reading goal and because it was October, the Oliver was a whim because I didn't know she had another book of poems out and I can't ever pass her up, the Alameddine is one of the finalists for the National Book Award announced this week, and the Jones/Kitchen had been mentioned in one of the texts we are reading for the Creative Non-Fiction class, so I read it too!

It is a good thing I have such good libraries at my fingertips.  I just passed 200 books read this year, and how could I ever do that without libraries?

Jenny's Library Books October Edition

For the Time Being by Annie Dillard

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard

Always Apprentices: the Believer Book of Even More Writers Talking to Writers

To Show and to Tell by Phillip Lopae

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

An American Childhood by Annie Dillard 

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Firebird by Mark Doty

Heaven's Coast by Mark Doty

How to be Both by Ali Smith

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee

I previously mentioned that I am auditing a class on creative non-fiction, and my stack of books is a clear reflection of that!  I needed to re-read how David Foster Wallace writes about tornadoes, and I was trying out Mark Doty for a muse but went with Annie Dillard (for a class assignment. I liked Doty but he was too death-based for my current family situation!).  Always Apprentices came up in passing in one of the readings for the class, and the Lopate is assigned reading as well.

The bottom three books are from the Booker shortlist! I did finish the Flanagan before he won the prize this year.  I did not end up finishing the Mukherjee and returned it to the library.

Jenny's Books Added September 2014

September was a great month for books I actually spent real money on, buying first editions of books just as they were released.  Actually TOO many authors I like came out with new books in September, so I didn't even get to them all.

I have been waiting for new books from David Mitchell and Darin Bradley for what seems like years. And then I read the hardcover of Chimpanzee and the author sent me the audio play that he handed out at his release party.  (It is now available on the publisher site, and should be on Audible soon too.) I am saving it for my trip to Tennessee on Friday. SOON.

Blameless, Book Lust, and Siddhartha all come from Paperbackswap, although Book 2 of the Parasol Protectorate was lost in the mail and I need to find another copy of it before I can read Blameless.  Book Lust I've read before but this is part of my attempt to create a "books on books" collection. Librarian? Guilty. Siddhartha is just one of the many titles from Penguin Classics that I only want because they are pretty. Surely it is also a reputable book that I would like to read.

The Vietnamese Market Cookbook is a review copy, and I'm looking forward to trying some of the recipes in there (although I need to go to my local Asian market first!).  The two Burroughs and the Bloom were $1 each at a local thrift store.  I'm thinking I'll read them and trade them as they are in good shape!

I have a few other digital review copies up my sleeve so I'll list them below as well.

Blameless by Gail Carriger
Book Lust by Nancy Pearl
Love Invents Us by Amy Bloom
Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs
Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Chimpanzee by Darin Bradley
Chimpanzee by Darin Bradley (audio version)
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
The Vietnamese Market Cookbook by Tran and Vu

Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood (audio)
The Dog by Joseph O'Neill (audio)
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Jenny's Library Books Mid-September Edition

I can't believe it is the middle of September already!  I lost almost an entire week with the plague that is still going around my university, and I could hardly read, just sat around watching trashy tv and sleeping. 

This past month, a lot of my library books are required reading for a course I am auditing - Creative Non Fiction. It is taught by the talented Joni Tevis, author of The Wet Collection: A Field Guide to Iridescence and Memory.  I attended a reading from last year's Creative Non Fiction class, and was so impressed by the work the students did that I begged my way in this time around.  My goal is to get better at writing non-fiction, particularly figuring out how to decide on details and writing better endings.  I am enjoying it so far, and it has been helpful to see a class from the student perspective, at my university where we expect so much.

The books for Creative Non Fiction include (I left one in my office that I'll cover next time):
The Elements of Style (illustrated!) by Strunk, White, and Kelman
Swallow the Ocean by Laura M. Flynn
The Next American Essay
Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction

The other two books on the pile are both for communal reading purposes - The Lady in Gold is for my in-person book club next Monday (I need to get reading!) and Blue Plate Special is from an author who I will see at a reading in the spring.  I don't really need to read books by her yet but after almost buying this same book at a bookstore, I couldn't resist when it ended up on the New Books shelf.

Blue Plate Special: An Autobiography of My Appetites by Kate Christensen
The Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor

Jenny's Books Added August 2014

The Future for Curious People by Gregory Sherl
Soulless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate #1)
Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon
Babel-17 / Empire Star by Samuel Delany
American Pastoral by Phillip Roth
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

***



The Future for Curious People by Gregory Sherl
I came across this book mentioned in Publishers Weekly, and the description was enough to send me begging for a review copy in audio.  It comes out officially September 2.  I will just now get to it, since I've been swamped listening to Hillary Clinton's most recent book.  All I remember is something vague about a librarian character. And time travel. And cheese.

Soulless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate #1)
I listened to this book a while back, but decided to choose it for my League of Extraordinary Dorks book club.  I had brought the audiobook with me on my trip to Oregon but didn't end up with a lot of listening time.  Found the book in a used bookstore for $3 and decided it made sense to have on hand.  The book club was fun, full of people dressed as werewolves and in full Victorian garb with parasols.   Some went on to read future books in the series, and I have book #2 on the way!

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon
This was the selection for the same book club, for July, so I missed that conversation.  I still wanted to read it, as it is outside my usual genres - from what I understand it is ahistorical detective novel set in Venice.  It is the first in a series as well.  The person who picked it is a great music lover, so I shouldn't be surprised that the central story is " a world-renowned conductor who died painfully from cyanide poisoning during an intermission at La Fenice"

Babel-17 / Empire Star by Samuel Delany
In my reading goals for 2014, I said I wanted to read more Delany.  I've been looking for him in every used bookstore, and while I haven't yet found a good used copy of the mighty tome I want to read most (Dhalgren), I did find a copy of Babel-17.   I feel like this novella (novel?) has come up in conversations on SFF Audio on multiple occasions, one of those books I felt like I needed to read to fill in all the holes.  Well now I can.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth
Another author on my reading goals for 2014 is Philip Roth.  I was going to just read the books I had on hand, but when I posted a review for Deception, one of my reading friends got upset that I was reading novels that weren't as representative of his greatness.  He said this was one of the best, so yesterday when I found a used copy of it at a obscure used book store, I decided to go ahead and purchase it for my shelf.  It looks to be book #1 of a trilogy, but I'm not sure this one can't be understood and appreciated on its own.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
This was one of the books I read as a child, before I knew who Kesey was or had read Kerouac or Tom Wolfe.  Now that I know a lot more, I'd like to go back and re-read it. But that's not why I got this book.  This is one of the Penguin Classics Editions with the pretty covers, and I'm a sucker.  

Jenny's Library Books Mid-August Edition

The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt
I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum
The Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor
Orfeo by Richard Powers
History of the Rain by Niall Williams

This month is dominated by the Man Booker Prize longlist.  Half the books won't be available in the USA until after the shortlist is announced, but I wanted to read some of the longlist.  That explains the Hustvedt, the Powers, and the Williams.

The Lady in Gold is coming up for my International Club of the Upstate Bookclub in September, and the Maum was just for me.  I zipped through the Maum last weekend, and hope to at least start some of the Booker longlisted books this weekend.

Speed Dating Round Four

I haven't done a round of speed-dating my books since November 2013.  I decided it was time.  Instead of picking books from my online to-read list (which I would have to gather), I limited myself to books on my shelves.

Speed-dating books is where you read the first 50 pages to decide if you still think you want to read them.  Some books might need more patience than that, but most of the time gut reactions hold true.

 

The books of round four:

Hammered (Jenny Casey #1) by Elizabeth Bear

One of those authors I hear about and haven't read, so I'll give it a try.  I'm not sure I'll be able to read it because it's a mass market paperback. My brain hates those.

 

The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston

I really enjoyed Huston's book "Sleepless" but this book is along a different style, more true to his other series.  Not sure it will be my thing!

 

Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart

Loved Super Sad True Love Story but this is an earlier book. Will it be as charming?

 

Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh

One of the books I had collected for my Around the World reading, the only book I have set in Palestine.  I felt like reading it might be timely.

Speedboat by Renata Adler

I have no idea what this book is about, but one of the friends whose reading opinions I rely on ordered me to buy it.  So I did.  This is a reprint through NYRB.

 

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux

This was in my original speed-dating list, but I traded it out for The Great Railway Bazaar. This book is the same trip 30 years later, so it made sense to start with the other. But since this includes Turkey and I'm still reading and studying Turkish, why not!?

 

The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Laxness

I missed when my World Literature group in GoodReads read this, and want to at least try it.  I've already read a few books by Laxness, but he seems to be the Icelandic author of the last fifty years.

 

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

This book actually is on the first page of my to-read list.  It's been a while, so I should try it.  I've read Never Let Me Go by the same author.

 

Light by M. John Harrison

This author is on my 2014 Reading Goals, but so far I've only read a short story by him, "Cave & Julia."  

 

Virtual Light by William Gibson

I own two of the three books in this trilogy, and I need to find out if I want to read them or not.  I've read a lot of Gibson, and love the Sprawl trilogy more than almost anything in science fiction, but I haven't loved his newer stuff as much.  Where will this fall?

 

Deception by Philip Roth

Another one from my 2014 Reading Goals.  Philip Roth has a large body of work, and I have three of the books at home.  I should at least figure out if I want to keep reading him!

Any thoughts on these books to share with me?  I'll report back when I've tried them all out! 

Jenny's Books Added in July 2014

Because of my three weeks in Oregon, I did not check out any books from the library in the month of July.  Well, to be honest, I visited my old hometown library with my Mom and she checked out The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry for me, but *I* didn't check it out. So there was not a mid-month library books post this time around.

Before I left for Oregon, I had a birthday.  I often get books for my birthday, but most often they are cooking and baking related.  In case you didn't know of my alternate baking persona, she can be found over on Jennybakes.com.   That interest will explain most of the books on this pile.  The songwriting one is by the man I took a MOOC from through Berklee College of Music, and the picture book about public libraries is gorgeous.  I'll probably bring it to my office at an academic library.

While I was in Oregon, I did make it to a few bookstores.  Okay, I went to Powell's four times - twice downtown, once at the mall formerly known as the Beaverton Mall, and once in the airport.  I also went with my Mom to two used bookstores that she has credits at.  Love love love Powell's, but had no room in my luggage for a huge buying spree. I bought only one book there - a book of poetry in Turkish.  They had three shelves of books in Turkish!

The Margaret Atwood and Wiley Cash books come from the bookstores my Mom had credit at - the Atwood I'd never heard of and the Cash was in great condition so I couldn't help it.  The Hillary Rodham  Clinton audiobook came in the mail while I was away, a review copy from the publisher.  I'm two discs in. Hillary is going to spend quite a few work commutes with me (since they are only three miles, ha!)

Before I left for my trip, I downloaded two more audiobooks.  I also got a few review copies digitally before it turned to August, so I'll list those here.

Authority (Southern Reach Trilogy #2) by Jeff Vandermeer, read by Bronson Pinchot
I've already listened to this one! I listened to it while I was reading the paperback, because Bronson Pinchot is a great reader and then I could more easily take the book with me. 

Prototype by M.D. Waters
I had read Archetype, the first in this series, and enjoyed it. About clones.

A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre, read by John Lee
I'm always on the hunt for spy books and John Lee is usually a great narrator.

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Not too thrilled about this one, but it's for one of my bookclubs, the one that meets in person, and I like it when people read books I pick that they aren't thrilled with.  I tried listening to it on the plane and had a hard time focusing, and picked it up again one night when coyotes woke me up. 

Jenny's Books Added June 2014 - two stacks!

This has been a busy book month for some reason.  I would blame used book stores but this first stack is completely made up of books I got through trades at paperbackswap.com.  The used book store stack is substantial enough to be listed separately.  Gulp.

Physical Audiobooks:
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers, read by David LeDoux, Joe Barrett, Thérése Plummer, Kevin Pariseau, Suzanne Toren, Edoardo Ballerini, and Barbara Rosenblat (my review)
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, read by Michael C. Hall (my review)

Both of these are review copies that I asked for from Brilliance Audio, one because of the reader (Michael C. Hall, the actor from Six Feet Under and Dexter), the other because I'm trying to read more southern lit.

Physical books:
The Fall of the Towers by Samuel R. Delany
Granta: The First Twenty-One Years
Granta 81: Best of Young British Novelists 2003
Granta 78: Bad Company

Granta 76: Music 
Granta 61: The Sea 

The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
The Bone People by Keri Hume
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O'Melveny
A Gesture Life by Chang-Rae Lee


I stumbled across Granta Magazine which is a literary publication full of short stories, the style of a paperback rather than a slim glossy publication like Harpers, Oxford American, etc.  I stumbled across one in Paperbackswap.com, "The Sea," when I was looking for Orhan Pamuk.  I've been on a short story kick and I hope it lasts through trying some of these volumes.  The others were chosen because of authors or themes, sometimes both.  They are strong candidates for airplane reading on Saturday.

The Boyle, Hume, and Austen are all specific editions that I wanted because of the cover... she says sheepishly.  The links go to the correct edition.  Penguin Ink and Penguin Classics.

I'm reading the O'Melveny for my in-person book club in 2014-15, the Chang-Rae Lee for the Open Book Series, and the Delany for my 2014 reading goals.

Okay, onward to physical book pile #2, known as "I only meant to browse at the used bookstore but then I had credits burning a hole in my pocket and I was in the mood for mighty tomes!"

 

It's funny because every book in this stack was chosen because of previously positive experience with the author. I just finished the Witches of Eastwick today, so the widows are certainly in my future.  I loved Mating by Norman Rush, several by Pynchon, The End of the Affair by Greene, and I wanted to own the parable books by Butler.  The Sword & Laser group is reading the first book of Lilith's Brood for July, and I found the trilogy bound as one $3 volume.  What can you do when the universe clearly wants you to go home with a book? I only paid $1 for this pile because I had trade-in credits for the rest.  Book swapping is the way to go, whether in person or in the mail!


My last book purchase for June was an eBook of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.  I already talked about it a bit earlier this month, and hope to write more about it soon.  It will take several months to get through, in between other books.

Tell me about the books you've brought home recently!

Library Books Mid-June Edition

This past month has been light on bringing books home from the library, because I was extra busy teaching a Storytelling class during our May Experience term.  It was my first time teaching it, which always requires more attention, so I wasn't going to bring home many books that I'd chance not reading by the time they were due! 

Interesting that this stack is 3/4 female authors, and 1/2 science fiction.

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
I was talking to our circulation supervisor at the library, and as I always do, wandered the books heading to be reshelved after being checked in.  I kept seeing this on my various friends lists in GoodReads and it sounded like what I needed to take a break from heavier things.  I checked it out and read it the same night, tonight! My review is already up in GoodReads if you are curious.  Relationships, family, career, told through blurbs and thoughts and conversations.  I loved it!

Flowering Judas and Other Stories by Katherine Anne Porter
I can blame my On the Southern Literary Trail group for this book, but I am so glad having this as a June pick brought my attention to it.  Porter was unknown to me but is a masterful short story writer.  Many of these stories are about Mexico, which Porter loved, relationships, and writing.  They were originally published in 1935 although this mottled volume was an expanded edition from 1940, despite what the call number says.  I enjoyed the stories very much, but I am even more interested in the author's life!  Four husbands, drama the whole time.  I'm planning to read her biography someday.  I had some favorite stories, including The Rope and The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.  I managed to bring up the Granny story during a discussion of an eminent-apocalypse police-procedural novel just a few days ago.  They stick with you!

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Winner of the Nebula award, on the nominations list for the Hugo award, and an earlier pick for the Sword and Laser this year.  I need to read it by June 22, when the book I got from interlibrary loan is due. 

Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross
Another book from the Hugo nomination list. Despite the fact that I quit the first book in this series/trilogy(?) after 100 pages, I decided to give this one a try anyway.  So far I'm glad I did, because it has a lot more complexity to both story and character, and it has even made me chuckle a bit.  I'm past the 100 page mark and I'm hoping to get past the describe-the-economics slump that sent me looking for a palate cleanser.

Jenny's Books Added May 2014

It's time for another edition of the books that followed me home!  I have to say this month is a vibrant pile of books I hope I read someday. 

These books fit pretty nicely into distinct categories.  And all of them have ties to reading communities in the state of South Carolina! 

Category #1 - The SC Book Festival
I went to the SC Book Festival this month, and prior to that had finally read Serena by Ron Rash.  I bought another book of his so I could stand in line for him to sign it (The Cove) and tracked another book down through Paperbackswap (Saints at the River).

Category #2 - International Book Club of the Upstate
I have this wonderful book club; I'm sure I've mentioned it.  In May we had our annual potluck dinner at one of the member's houses, where we swap books we no longer want and discuss potential books for the next year.  Our list had over 60, so it was a long night!  I picked up Lie Down in Darkness and We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families through the swap, and ended up finding copies of Death Comes to Pemberley, La Cucina, City of Thieves, and The Geography of Bliss because they sounded so good during our discussion.  It doesn't matter if they don't end up on the official list for next year, but I will wait to read them in case they do.  I'll find that out at our last meeting of the year, on Monday.  (We break for summer but have a book we're supposed to read during those three months.)

Oh yeah and I've owned The Geography of Bliss three times now.  I enjoyed it the first time but kept giving my copy away.  It is his chapter on Iceland that started my obsession with going there!

Category #3 -  The Open Book Series at the University of South Carolina
I so enjoyed meeting David Mitchell and hearing him speak this past spring that I am clearing my schedule for the five authors coming in the fall for this series.  I have to drive two hours to get there, but I was impressed by the attendance and avid readers showing up for this series!  I've seen a list of the authors coming in the fall although I notice it isn't updated on their website.  David Bajo and Kate Christensen will be two of them, so I decided I should find copies of their books. 

Perhaps Jeff VanderMeer's book Authority doesn't have an immediate connection to South Carolina.  But he spends several weeks every summer at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, to run the Shared Worlds writing program for teens.  That's why I've met him, and that's where I first heard him read from the first book in this Southern Reach Trilogy, pre-publication.  However I bought this book in North Carolina.  I was at Malaprop's and couldn't leave empty-handed!  He'll be doing a reading there July 9, but I think I will miss him this year since I may be in Oregon at that time. 

Library Books Mid-May Edition

I'm moving up my monthly library book post to a bit before the 15th, since the podcast's posting date will now take over that spot.

April was Poetry Month, so a big chunk of this stack has poetry to blame - four by Giovanni and two by Marjory Heath Wentworth.  These two poets are also from the south, Wentworth being the current SC Poet Laureate. 

The middle of May is the SC Book Festival, which I am planning to attend.  Both poets will be there, as well as Therese Anne Fowler (author of Z, which I really need to start this weekend!)

A bunch of these were read for obligations or challenges, as usual! A friend knows the author of In the Course of Human Events, so I read it despite it not being my usual thing.  Children in Reindeer Woods was a pick for my "The World's Literature" group in GoodReads, The Long Way Back is for the Middle East/North African Lit group in GoodReads, and The Last Policeman is for an upcoming podcast for SFF Audio.  I have loved Ben H. Winters in the past, so I'm really looking forward to that one!

Upcoming in the fall, Teju Cole will be at The Open Book in Columbia, SC.  I wasn't planning to read Every Day is for the Thief so soon, but it was on the new books cart pre-first-shelving at work and I couldn't resist.  It was so thin!  I could read it in a night! So I did.

The most interesting story is Crazy Love: Stories by Leslie What.  I had never head of the author but the title jumped out at me when pulling some poetry off a shelf nearby.  When I pulled it down, the cover proclaimed her as a Nebula Award winner.  A Nebula Award winner I'd never heard of?  I discuss this in our upcoming episode of the Reading Envy podcast.  

Jenny's Books Added April 2014

This has been a lighter month on book acquisitions.

Physical books:



The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
I keep hearing about this book and a copy came available on Paperbackswap.com.  It will be added to my Books on Books shelf in GoodReads.

Pantry: poems by Lilah Hegnauer
An offering from the local Hub City Bookshop, half price for poetry month, poems inspired by kitchen utensils (but not about them.)  My review is in GoodReads.

eBooks:



Women's Work by Kari Aguila
I challenged myself to read a self-published book after a discussion about self-publishing on Episode 3 of the Reading Envy podcast, and came across a review of this title in Publishers Weekly.  I started it but haven't gone back to it.

Zoli by Colum McCann
One of the Kindle daily deals.

Serena by Ron Rash
Ron Rash is a well-known southern author, but I've never read anything by him. He will be at the SC Book Festival in May, so that moves him up the list.  Then this book was $1.99 and I can't resist a book I want to read at that price.

The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eight, edited by Jonathan Strahan
This is a review copy I received from the editor.  I have really enjoyed previous volumes so I am looking forward to it.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch
An eARC from NetGalley, but it sounded post-apocalyptic and trippy, with a comparison to J.G. Ballard.  I need to move this one up the list.

From Souk to Souk: Travels in the Middle East by Robin Ratchford
An eARC from NetGalley, this interested me because of my Iran-Iraq-Turkey reading goal this year.

Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen
An eARC from NetGalley, but a topic I felt would benefit me.  I HATE criticism.

Audiobooks:

The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych #1) edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey
 I jumped at the chance to get a review copy of this audiobook.  I'm about 1/3 through, and all the stories are about what happens right before a big event.  John Joseph Adams describes it as "the match."  The future books in the triptych will continue some of the stories that start here.  Great concept, and I do love a good disaster!

Please come find me in GoodReads and friend me there.  That is where I keep track of all the books I want to read and review the books I've read.