Although I wanted to avoid making too many resolutions this year, I am adding a small addendum to my resolution list. I occasionally get an offer for a review copy of a book from a publisher, and while it can be tempting to take advantage of all these wonderful freebies, I am going to try this year to be very selective as well as much more timely in my reading/reviewing of the books I do receive.
Library Thing has a great program where they offer a small number of review copies to members. In the past I've been very lucky to get a number of the books I've dropped my name in for. I think my luck, however, has dried up (or there are simply too many people vying for a very small number of books). I can't seem to get my hands on anything I'd like to read lately, which is probably just as well as my record is a bit spotty for getting them reviewed quickly.
So my idea is to come clean here, so to speak, on what I've got on my piles, so I will be more apt to read them sooner rather than later and not let them languish. I've got a couple of books on hand and have a couple more to look forward in the mail. Hopefully I'll be reading them very soon and writing about them here.
The Ladies Lending Library by Janice Kulyk Keefer - Keefer is a Canadian author and this is her fifth book and the first to be published here in the US in more than fifteen years. It is "a portrait of women caught between countries, cultures, and aspirations." It's set in the summer of 1963 about a group of first-generation Ukrainian-Canadian women. Isn't the title great? It's what sparked my interest, plus I am always curious about stories of immigration and assimilation.
Stuffed: An Insider's Look at Who's (Really) Making America Fat by Hank Cardello - These sorts of food exposé-types of books seem to be really popular at the moment, and its a subject I'm really interested in (though haven't read as much about it as I'd like). I have several other similar titles on hand as well. Cardello was an executive and adviser to various food and beverage corporations, so this should be a good insider's look as it was his job to sell these products despite how unhealthy they might be.
I'll be watching for:
The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell - I was intrigued by this title--"Massive in scope, horrific in subject matter, and shocking in its protagonist, Littell’s masterpiece is intense, hallucinatory, and utterly original. Critics abroad have compared this provocative and controversial work of literature to Tolstoy’s War and Peace, a classic epic of war that, like The Kindly Ones, is a morally challenging read". Although the author was born to American parents he grew up in the US and France and now lives in Spain. Apparently this won the Prix Goncourt as well as the Académie Française’s Prix de Littérature and has been a huge bestseller in Europe. It's a hefty book weighing in at over 900 pages, so I am looking forward to checking it out.
Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom- I'm really looking forward to this one. Although I have vague recollections of hearing mixed reviews on this one, the story really appeals to me. Plus I have heard good things in general about Sansom. This is a historical thriller set in post-Civil War Spain.
Oh, and have you already seen the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read? The list comes complete with book descriptions. I'll be printing them out...