Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Book Pile and One Last Challenge...

I took a much-needed break from reading, blogging, etc. over the past few days. I don't think I've picked up a book since Friday. The slump was my most extreme yet: I couldn't work up an interest in anything. However, if there's anything that can get you out of a slump, it's a ton of new book mooches!


From the lovely booklogged, Bethlehem Road by Anne Perry (I enjoy her historical mysteries), Deep South by Nevada Barr (since Maggie's challenge, I've been looking for more Southern reading), Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye by Lois Lowry (I love The Giver), and The Modular Brain by Restak (for my ongoing non-fic effort). In addition, Fast Food Nation, Stiff, and Reason for Hope by Jane Goodall are part of my non-fic reading. The Chesterton, Sarton, and Bowen are for the Outmoded Challenge. The War of the Saints by Jorge Amado is for my Reading Across Borders seqeul challenge, as is Train to Pakistan (inspired by a highly praising post on Lotus Reads). Finally, Tipping the Velvet, based on Danielle's reviews of Fingersmith by the same author over at A Work in Progress. Whew-that's a lot of books!

Along with books, I also need to catch up on all the blogs, so I'll be doing that over the next few days. :)

Speaking of which, Carl has the R.I.P II challenge up! I'm so excited; I wasn't around for the challenge last year, but it seems like I've been reading about it forever. And I adore the button. I'm doing Peril the First, and I'll be reading:
The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons, which superfastreader recommended earlier this year,
Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen, because I loved Out of Africa,
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, which some of the other participants are reading, and which sounds really interesting,
and The Ghost Writer by John Harwood, which I saw recommended on a blog (I'm blanking on which one). I'm mooching all of them. Very excited.

Anyway, I'm glad that I'm out of my reading slump, and I'm counting down the days until September, when most of these challenges begin!

10 comments:

Sam said...

Welcome back. A little break is the best thing to end one of those nagging reading slumps. :-)

Danielle said...

Oooh start Fingersmith now--you won't want to put it down!! I really want to read more of her work--just need to squeeze it in! Lucky you to find so many good moochable books. They either don't seem to have the ones I want lately, or they do, but I don't want to mooch from India!! That's okay...I have plenty to concentrate on anyway. I might just have to crack open a challenge book a tad early...shh.

Rebecca H. said...

I will have to read Fingersmith, or some other Waters book. Danielle got me interested in her too. Nice stack there!

Andi said...

You've got some GREAT reading ahead of you. I particularly enjoyed Stiff. I bought it for my mom for Mother's Day a few years ago (weird? yes).

chrisa511 said...

I've got Something Wicked This Way Comes down on my list too, but aside from that I haven't even heard of your other books! They sound badass though :)

Robin said...

Oh, I didn't think of Isak Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales!! What a good book to choose for this challenge. I like all your selections and look forward to your reviews.

Eva said...

Sam, thanks for the welcome. :) I agree-little breaks are a good thing!

Danielle, that's funny about bookmooch-I have about 100 books on my save-for-later list as well. Have fun with your early challenge read-I'm sorely tempted to do the same.

Dorothy, Fingersmith wasn't available, but I'm excited about Tipping the Velvet!

Andi, I didn't realise Stiff had been published for a few years. It seems to have gained a lot of attention more recently.

Chris, glad you'll be reading Something Wicked as well! The second part of your comment almost made me spew tea on my laptop. Badass books! I like it!

Robin, I was on bookmooch, actually searching for another book with "gothic tales" in the title, and this one came up. So, I just had to have it!

Ana S. said...

I love "Something Wicked Thus Way Comes"! It's a good story, and above all it's wonderfully written - some of the descriptions are honestly chill-inducing, and I'm not a person who gets chills easily.

The other day I went to my local library and looked for Jorge Amado's "The War of the Saint", because I really liked the plot synopsis you posted the other day. Unfortunately that seems to be the only one of his books they do not have! I really look forward to your review of it, and if it sound so appealing as I think it might, I'll just have to buy it.

Framed said...

I found "The Ghost Writer" while perusing some bookmoocher's inventory and thought it would work so well for this challenge. It will be fun to compare notes. I'm afraid I may find all kinds of books to add to my TBR list after this challenge is over. Visit my blog again and let me know your bookmooch name. I'd like to visit that also.

Eva said...

Nymeth, that's super-exciting about the Bradbury! Can't wait to read it. :) re: War of the Saints, I'm planning on reading it as soon as I'm done w/ The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon (I thought I'd keep the Lusophone thing going). I'll let you know how it goes!

Framed, I'm worried about my ever-growing TBR list as well! But I can't wait for this challenge to begin; I love a good creepy book, and I don't read them often enough.