Friday, December 11, 2009

Last stack of books of 2009


I expect--I hope--these will be last books for quite some time. I really need to make some headway in what I already own.

From the top:

Novel on Yellow Paper. Stevie Smith. For the Slaves of Golconda group read at the end of January.

The Hopkins Manuscript. R.C. Sheffiff. Science fiction a la Persephone!

A Suitable Boy. Vikram Seth. I debated getting this from the library, but I assume my daughter will want to read it as well.

The Semantics of Murder. Aifric Campbell. Review copy.

The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club. A bound galley. The book goes on sale in March next year. I've never read Binchy before, but I've given her books to my mother-in-law.

The Glass Room. Simon Mawer. Review copy. I haven't read Mawer since Mendel's Dwarf, so I'm looking forward to this.

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. Harriet Reisen. Review copy. Danielle wrote about the Reisen last week; sounds good.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories. The new Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. I haven't read Ivan Ilyich since college; I'm thrilled to have this review copy.

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:10 PM

    I have that Louisa May Alcott bio for review, too. I won't be able to get to it until next month. Your stack looks good!

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  2. A Suitable Boy looks like beyond a chunkster! Good luck with that one!

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  3. How many pages is A Suitable Boy anyway?

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  4. Famous last words--I know as I say them often myself. You will probably do better than I do, though. I have the same edition of the Stevie Smith book. I loved the RC Sherriff book I read, though I think it's very different than this one--am curious about it. And the Louisa May Alcott bio will be a quick read--I found it really interesting, though I knew very little about her. Lovely stack of books!

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  5. A Suitable Boy is 1474 pages. Sounds like a year-long project to me, although I think Eva read it fairly quickly.

    I was hoping I would be sent a nicer edition of the Stevie Smith, but since I paid only a penny, I guess I got what I deserved.

    And the Alcott bio may very well prompt me to read all the books I have on Brook Farm, Emerson, the Peabody sisters, etc. At the very least I could get them all arranged nicely on a shelf!

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  6. I've never been able to find Novel On Yellow Paper...congrats. Great book score.

    I loves me some Alcott, so that bio is probably in my future.

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  7. forgot to add that Binchy is kind of nice and cozy...she's like tea and cookies, a crackling fire and warm slippers on a cold night. I also like her when I'm sick. Comfort reading.

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  8. Good call on purchasing A Suitable Boy. It's worth it and you'll surely want a copy to keep. If it wasn't so long, I would've had reread it a few times already.

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  9. Ooh, good stack! I LOVED Suitable Boy; took it on a vacation with me and read it in one chunk. WELL WORTH IT.

    http://www.girldetective.net/?p=960

    I enjoyed Mawer's The Fall with reservations, but other lit friends of mine loved it unreservedly.

    http://www.girldetective.net/?p=217

    I read things recently about the Alcott

    http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2009-11/LittleWoman.html

    and the Tolstoy

    http://www.themillions.com/2009/12/the-millions-interview-richard-pevear-and-larissa-volokhonsky.html

    that made them sound fab. I think you've got some good reading ahead!

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  10. A Suitable Boy remains in my alltime top favourite books! It is SOOOO worth it, and epic. I can't wait to read your thoughts on that one. And your stack of books is so fantastic looking, like I get palpitations, kind of fantastic!

    :0)

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  11. I've been wanting to read A Suitable Boy for several years now but that page count has me a bit frightened! ;)

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  12. Nice! I got a Suitable Boy at a used bookstore a few years ago but haven't been able to bring myself to read because of its size. I know it's good, but...so if you read it an rave about it myabe that will spur me to finally pick it up :)

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