books to read

Top Ten Tuesday: 5 Unique Book Titles

allison burris, , , 1 Comment

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish.

Today’s topic is unique book titles. And what sets a book apart more than a crazy title?

Here are 5 books from my TBR list that have intrigued me on the basis of name alone:

  • Stalking the Wild Asparagus–Euell Gibbons
  • The Mouse-Proof Kitchen–Saira Shah
  • The Fishing Fleet: Husband Hunting in the Raj–Anne de Courcy
  • The Blind Assassin–Margaret Atwood
  • The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing–Mira Jacob

 

Have you read any of these? What’s your favorite book with a weird title?

 

Top Ten Tuesday : The Last Ten Books I’ve Added on Goodreads

allison burris, , , , , 5 Comments

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature brought to all of us by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s topic is about books you have recently added to your to-read list (not that anyone needs more books on that list, especially not me–now at 526 and that does not include the list I have going in the notebook in my desk…).

Very simply, I went to Goodreads and I’m listing off the last 10 books I added and what prompted me to do so when it seems to be the height of folly to add anything else to my list…

The links go back to the Goodreads pages, in case you want to add them to your own crazy lists.

  1. The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride: Famous for her book/play A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing (which I have not read), I came across this book in the NY Times Book Review section–most of these titles come from there. But I like the idea of a young woman coming to the big city to make a name for herself, which is lucky because that is the storyline of almost every book in the western world.
  2. Nine Island by Jane Alison: Because the description said it was darkly humorous and the narrator is working on translating Ovid–we read Metamorphoses in one of my college courses and it is amazing–so many of the stories we know and love trace back to these myths like Romeo & Juliet and My Fair Lady.
  3. Mister Monkey by Francine Prose: It follows the performers of an off-off-off broadway musical for children. There are monkeys involved. Need I say more?
  4. The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien: This is an older book (first published in the 1960s) and it was mentioned in an essay about books on female friendship. It’s set in Ireland and it follows two women–honestly I’m not sure how much I’ll like it–but I tend to give books a chance and if it turns out I’m not into it by the first twenty or so pages, I just turn it back into the library.
  5. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: What happens when an aristocrat is subject to house arrest in 1920s era Russia? I can’t wait to find out.
  6. Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple: I loved her book Where’d You Go, Bernadette? and I’m eager to read this one, which I’m sure will be very different but will hopefully have a similar spirit.
  7. The Wonder by Emma Donoghue: This is another book I’m not sure how much I’m going to like–it’s about a midwife who is witnessing a supposed miracle but ends up having to fight to save the child. I like intense books, but this one seems to be asking for a box of kleenex to go with it or alternately a flashlight to go to bed with–not sure which one.
  8. Little Nothing by Marisa Silver: Follows the story of a young woman who is a dwarf finding her way in a world that has shunned her because of the way her body looks.
  9. Time Travel: A History by James Gleick: About science fiction’s obsession with time travel–seems like it could be totally fascinating. I love this kind of thing.
  10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: I’ve heard such good things about this book, but I’ve never gotten around to reading it (or watching the film).

So those are the last ten books I’ve added to my list. I get a little Goodreads-happy around the end of the year when the come out with all the best-of-the-year list and I find so many more books to read. I will never finish all the books on my list, but I love knowing that there’s always something else to read and because of that there’s no reason to suffer through a book you don’t like.

Are any of these books on your list? What are you excited to read as the year winds down? Let me know in the comments.

Seven Books on My Spring TBR List

allison burris, , , , , , , , 5 Comments

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This week’s topic is a look at some of the books that are finding their way to the top of my list for the season. Some of them fulfill my reading challenges and some are just books I want to read this spring. Since my current TBR clocks in at over 500 books (and that definitely isn’t all of them), this is just a small snippet. But since most of what I’m reading is stuff for my A-Z challenge and my series challenge, I didn’t want to overwhelm or give too much away. These are all books I’m reasonably sure I’ll be finishing in the next month or so.

 

Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz—this is my choice for the letter ‘D’ of my A-Z reading challenge. My mom bought it for me last year when I was in the midst of reading women authors only. I almost decided to read it anyway, but I held back.

 

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng—Since I don’t have any books that start with ‘E,’ I went through my TBR and found this book, which is one I’ve been looking forward to reading.

 

The Magicians by Lev Grossman—I’ve heard great things about this series, and my hold on this book finally came up, so I finally have a chance to read it.

 

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante—Another contender for my series challenge. I’m still on the waiting list for this one at the library, but I’m hoping I get to read it this spring.

 

The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra—I’ve had this book on my TBR since last year, and I picked it up at the library last week.

 

Yes Please by Amy Poehler—She is just the best. I can’t wait to read her book.

 

My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead—I enjoyed reading this venerable classic (Middlemarch by George Eliot) last year, so I’m hoping this work will allow me to see it in a new way.