My 'goal' this month is to decrease these stacks by (at least) a third. I think I need to get back to the equation that goes like this: finish two and then start a new one, not this equation: finish one then start two or three more! It's not that I'm not enjoying my books. The problem is they all sound so good I can't help myself and pick up a new one when I should really wait. Normally I do have a rotation and concentrate on three or four books, but towards the end of the year (and this seems to happen every year) things get out of hand. Ultimately I want to get these books all read by the end of the year and begin 2010 with a more respectable pile of no more than say five or six books (even that may sound like a lot, but for me that really is pretty respectable). Last year I didn't quite do it, we'll see if I can this year.
That said I will still be picking up a couple of new books to read this month. There is the Slaves next read, Susan Hill's very atmospheric The Woman in Black--perfect for Halloween. Our discussion will be October 29, so please consider joining us! And my next postal reading group book is this book (sorry for being mysterious but that's just in case someone from the group happens by and hasn't yet got the book--no surprises will be given away here!).
And I suspect I will just maybe be seduced into reading some other new titles well.
As a matter of fact these are my newest library finds.
A Meaningful Life, L. J. Davis - One blurb on the cover calls this a "grotesque comedy". Set in NYC of the 70s it recounts one man's attempt to create a "meaningful life" by restoring a crumbling manor in a crime infested section of Brooklyn. It sounds really interesting.
Therapy, Sebastian Fitzek - This is an international bestseller by a German author. I see "page turner" written all over this one--I love a good psychological thriller. There's even a blurb on the back from Euro Crime who I rely on heavily for good suggestions for the newest and best international crime novels.
The Coral Thief, Rebecca Stott - I really want to read this one. It's set in Paris in 1815 and is a "mix of history, philosophy and suspense."
What will you be reading this month?