We’ve had our first snow of the year, a good 4-5 inches on the ground and the trees and the rooftops. My children were outside shoveling the driveway with their dad and playing in the snow. They came in laughing and rosy-cheeked. I sat with a cat on my lap and read and ate popcorn and Spanish chocolate and drank La Croix and occasionally looked up to enjoy the snowy outdoors through double-paned glass.
I’m not usually so Scrooge-like about the first snow of the season, but the disinterest does give me an excuse to sit down and go through a few more titles on my TBR. So, silver lining!
Wondering what this is all about? Check out the introductory post.
251
Title: One Man’s Meat
Author: White, E.B.
Date Added: 9/16/2012
Verdict: Keep. I love Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan. I have always wanted to know more about White, and this looks to be a very enjoyable way to do it.
Project List: none
252
Title: Essays of E.B. White
Author: White, E.B.
Date Added: 9/16/2012
Verdict: Go. I suspect there will be some overlap between this and One Man’s Meat. I’ll read the latter first, and then fill in with this one, if it seems appropriate.
Project List: n/a
253
Title: The Four Feathers
Author: Mason, A.E.W.
Date Added: 9/16/2012
Verdict: Go. Based on the reviews, this is a romantic adventure novel about a man trying to prove that he’s not a coward at the height of British Imperialism. And it’s set, at least in part, in Sudan. It seems like an interesting combination and like a book that I should read, except that I don’t really want to.
Project List: n/a
254
Title: The Go-Between
Author: Hartley, L.P.
Date Added: 9/27/2012
Verdict: Keep. I think I added this one while reading Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer. I’m really curious to see how being the go-between for his sister’s illicit affair has long-lasting effects in the main character’s life, and I’d like to read it alongside the section about it in Prose’s book.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics?
255
Title: Speak Peace in a World of Conflict: What You Say Next Will Change Your World
Author: Rosenberg, Marshall B.
Date Added: 10/13/2012
Verdict: Go. Reviews suggest that if I’ve read Nonviolent Communication (which I have) and are familiar with the philosophy and techniques (which I am), this book is redundant.
Project List: n/a
256
Title: We’re Flying
Author: Stamm, Peter
Date Added: 10/13/2012
Verdict: Keep. I love short stories, but I’ve been a bit disillusioned recently with short stories written by American authors. There seems to be a kind of self-conscious cleverness going on that just irritates me. Seems like a good reason to try a critically acclaimed collection from a Swiss author.
Project List: Short Stories
257
Title: Miss Buncle’s Book (Miss Buncle, #1)
Author: Stevenson, D.E.
Date Added: 10/13/2012
Verdict: Keep. Seems like light comfort read that might have a little more to it than a potato-chip book.
Project List: none
258
Title: This Is How You Lose Her
Author: Díaz, Junot
Date Added: 10/16/2012
Verdict: Go. Based on the excerpts I’ve read, this doesn’t seem to be my cuppa.
Project List: n/a
259
Title: The Round House
Author: Erdrich, Louise
Date Added: 10/16/2012
Verdict: Keep. The cover says both “New York Times Bestseller” (neutral to bad) and “National Book Award Winner” (possibly good). I’ve read and enjoyed two other books by Erdrich, so I’ll let the “National Book Award” tip the scales to the “Keep” side.
Project List: none.
260
Title: The Man Who Loved Children
Author: Stead, Christina
Date Added: 10/18/2012
Verdict: Keep. Every time I read the title, I think of Roy Moore. This novel appears to be about a creepy guy, but it is not about Roy Moore. This is another novel I added while reading Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer. I think I’ll give it a look.
Project List: none
Four more titles off the list for a total of 85 of 260 (11.3% of the original 750).
Any thoughts about which I kept and which I tossed? Especially if anyone’s read The Four Feathers, I’d like to hear what you thought. That one’s got me the most conflicted from this bunch, and I could see myself changing my decision with just a small nudge.
Imperfect Happiness 