This week flew by, and the weather has been delightful in Philadelphia. I walk to work in a light cardigan, instead of puposefully taking the long route with shaded sidewalks to keep from baking in the hot morning sun, and I am also able to open my windows throughout the apartment, instead of subjecting myself and two lovely cats to the frigid, Alaskan air conditioner. Anyhow.
Earlier this week, I decided to challenge myself to a book list for the next year. Typically, the challenge consists of 50 books in one year, a little less than a book a week. Because I thought it might be discouraging if I was not able to average a book a week, I made a more reasonable goal of 40 books in a year (a week and a half per book). Using selections from Oprah's 2011 Summer Reading List, ALA Notable Book Lists, and NPR and the New York Times top rated books from the past three years, I formed my list.
1. A Small Hotel, Robert Olen Butler
1. A Small Hotel, Robert Olen Butler
2. A Good Hard Look, Ann Napolitano
3. Sister, Rosamund Lupton
4. Someday This Will Be Funny, Lynne Tillman
5. Stiltsville, Susanna Daniel
6. I Knew You'd Be Lovely, Alethea Black
7. Us, Michael Kimball
8. Comedy In A Minor Key, Hans Keilson
9. Great House, Nicole Krauss
10. At Freddies, Penelope Fitzgerald
11. Tender Is The Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. Half The Sky, Nicholas Kristof
13. Half Broke Horses, Jeanette Walls
14. All Other Nights, Dara Horn
15. History Of Love, Nicole Krauss
16. The New Yorker Stories, Ann Beattie
17. The Privileges, Jonathan Dee
18. Spooner, Dexter, Pete
19. Brooklyn, T’ib’n, Colm
20. Await Your Reply: A Novel, Chaon, Dan
21. Lord Of Misrule, Jaimy Gordon
22. Cutting For Stone, Abraham Verghese
23. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, Carson Mccullers
24. Housekeeping, A Novel, Marilynne Robinson
25. Breakfast Of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut
26. Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It, Maile Meloy
27. Gate At The Stairs, Lorrie Moore
28. Lit: A Memoir, Mary Karr
29. Netherland, Joseph O’Neill
30. Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri
31. Nothing To Be Frightened Of, Julian Barnes
32. So Much For That, Lionel Shriver
33. Room, Emma Donoghue
34. 36 Arguments For The Existence Of God, Rebecca Goldstein
35. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, Daniyal Mueenuddin
36. Just Kids, Patti Smith
37. Faithful Place, Tana French
38. Sunset Park, Paul Auster
39. Teacher, Mark Edmundson
40. Tinkers, Paul Harding
I'm lucky that Penn library has most of these books, and even luckier that as a staff member I am allowed
up to six months with each book I check out. Score!
