Tag Archives: book pile

These are the Swedish pancakes with lingonberry preserves that I got when I was in Nashville way back in May.

Oops. I forgot to post last weekend. I thought once a week was an easy goal but now I’m slipping at that. Who knows what the future holds? I’m going to make it up with three posts this week. [And then I wrote this post yesterday and didn’t hit the publish button. sigh.]

This week the NYT had an article about India’s Pickle Queen. You should go read the story but if not, this woman in India spent decades testing pickle recipes and self-published a cookbook after narrowing it down to 1000 recipes.

The last thing I need is another cookbook. I really, really tried to resist the urge but this one sounds like a fun book to read even if you never make a pickle:

There are tips in bold for, say, removing the stamens from plantain flowers (tug at them with the blunt edge of knife) and choosing the most pickle-worthy okra (look for tails that break with a snap).

A straightforward “anti-waste” chapter includes recipes for plantain skins, jackfruit seeds, ridge-gourd peels and lime leaves, which often end up in the compost heap.

And I wanted an actual book, something I could take with me next time I visit Mom so we could have fun going through it together.

I caved and bought it. Should be here tomorrow.

This is most of the to-read shelf. There are other pockets of to-read books on various other bookshelves in the house. Probably another 30-40 ebooks. I use three different ereader apps to disguise the extent of the problem. Not that it’s a problem.

While I’ve been directing so much energy to writing, my reading has taken a hit. (Along with TV and movie watching.) For a couple of years I tried to minimize how many books I acquired but I gave that up because getting more books is fun.

But at the moment they are stacking up faster than I can make a dent and a lot of the books I want to read are fatties. Last year I finished 16, the year before 12 and the year before 17. That’s not a perfect count because sometimes I don’t write them down.

Going through this stack made me want to weep a couple of times as books that I forgot about were buried in the back where I never see them. I think I’ve been “currently reading” that Ted Chiang collection in Goodreads for two or three years.

This is a great problem to have. I finished two books yesterday so I get to pick something new.

Here is the current status of Book #4.

45270 / 75000 words. 60% done!

I am doing a big free promotion for Book #1 at the end of the month. Details to come.

If you’re someone that knows me this would be an obvious xmas present but I couldn’t wait and already bought my copy.

I’ve read the first few pages but I put it aside until I could finish another book and also I’m wishing for an afternoon where I can sit on the couch for hours and really get into it.

Then I had a couple of terrible commutes and I started a book that was on my nook that I read about 75 pages of and was going to finish but urgh. Do not like so I quit it at the end of the commute.

I also accidentally started a soccer book about a fan in Italy following his team around. I’ve read about 5 pages and I’m already in love. It’s 447 pages, soccer dorks unite!

(Bigger version of photo here.)

This isn’t a completely accurate version of all the books in the house that I plan to read someday but the top shelf is the main holding area for things I intend to read sooner rather than later. The second shelf books aren’t a priority but I wanted to get the Han Shot First bookends in there.

The bookends on the top shelf are the Argonath from the Lord of the Rings.

This whole thing is making me look a lot nerdier than I’d intended. I’ve always liked to read a lot of different kinds of stuff but this year I’ve been on a sci-fi/fantasy binge much more than in past years. The Kite Runner and The Known World have been here forever and I’ve “almost” read them a number of times and then seem to be distracted by something else.

I thought about why this might be and my best theory is that when my job changed I started working much longer days and when I get home my brain fried and then I eat dinner and have a couple glasses of wine and it’s hard to concentrate on what I’m reading for more than a page or two. In this condition: dragons, space ships=easy, literature=less easy.

I don’t know why I feel the need to explain myself. I like to read the books I like. The sci-fi books are also idea for public transportation.

I keep lists of the books I read and short reviews here.

At the moment I’m reading Fargo Rock City and Chuck Klosterman IV by Chuck Klosterman that Meredith and Jeff loaned me. Fargo Rock City is about hair bands. I can’t believe I haven’t read it already. When I started it I thought a little bit of Chuck goes a long way but I’m having fun reading both. I like particularly like the celebrity profiles in IV. I also started Potter 7 at last. I can’t remember much about the other 6 books and I thought I’d speed read through the synopses online but even those are endlessly long. I don’t need to reminded of every time Harry drank a tankard of pumpkin juice and scratched his butt.