April Reading

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Stories

• "Ysreal" by Junot Diaz
• "Betrayal" by Patricia Duncker
• "God's Goodness" by Marjorie Kemper
• "Greasy Lake" by T. Coraghessan Boyle
• "Material" by Alice Munro
• Alligator Dance by Janet Peery
  

Novels

• Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

Notable Nonfiction

• Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• Vintage Baldwin by James Baldwin

Hibernating

• Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien
• Little Black Book of Stories by A.S. Byatt
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I did lots of reading this month, but not all of it got finished. A word about hibernating books: I have a 50 page rule. If I'm not enjoying a book or getting something out if it in 50 pages, I give up. I used to never give up on books. I used to force myself to get through anything, but that lead to a lot of slow and unpleasant reading. Thus, the 50 page rule was born.

Book raves for the month include Alligator Dance, which I still cannot coherently talk about, and Slouching Towards Bethlehem.