There are now 70+ books in my “next to read” pile. I update this page too infrequently, so I’ll put a date here just to keep myself honest. November, 2015.
What I’m reading right now:
Reservation Blues, by Sherman Alexie.
What I’m listening to right now:
The Great American Short Story Collection. I’ve finished the first few stories (by H.P. Lovecraft, Cleveland Moffett, Ellis Parker Butler, Arthur Somers Roche). Next up are Wharton, Poe, O. Henry. It’s making me want to revisit my shelf of American Victorian-era literature, and to ditch this audio version for a paper version. The Butler story was particularly engaging, and would have been even more delightful in print.
The Brothers Karamazov. I can’t get through Russian novels when I’m reading. I’ve tried to read this book at least half a dozen times, and can’t get further than 15 pages in before I give up. don’t know what my mental block is, but I think that since I remember characteristics rather than names, I’m at a severe disadvantage in Dostoyevsky. We’ll see if audio helps.
Recently finished:
Gilead which I false started (loved the prose but life got in the way) three times before getting rolling. It worked for me, then it didn’t. Then it almost did. But overall I can’t recommend it.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tart. I wasn’t crazy about some of the characters, but I found the premise compelling and the story fascinating. A much better version, for me, of the ‘child on her own who makes dozens of wrong turns’ bildungsroman than White Oleander.
Just heard:
David and Goliath. Interesting premise, decent structure, belabored points.
Go Set a Watchman. Absolutely awful. A whole novel-length lecture about forgiving racism.
The Martian. The more maths you cram into a scifi novel, the more I adore your writing. Genuinely enjoyable read.
Recently abandoned:
A Visit from the Goon Squad.
Middlesex.
The Paying Guests.
Bel Canto.
The Buried Giant.
For more bookish posts, click into the category I called “The Writing of Others”.
NaptimeWriting 
I love your blog!! I found you on Bad Mommy Moments blogroll a few weeks ago and am hooked. I have given you a humble award on my blog: From a Sesame Seed
I have been reading the comments you left on my blog and I am howling. Like the person above, I also found you on Bad Mommy Moments (love her, too). I’m adding you to my blog roll. You kill me. Thank God, because my kids were killing me (in a bad way).
eeeks… I found your blog after searching the internet about femoral stress fractures. I keep reading that everyone is or was using crutches. I was diagnosed 4 days ago with a confirmed MRI but no crutches. With all the reading I’ve done, it’s not looking like a promising spring ahead. Ugh…
currently reading:
I Don’t Care About Your Band by Julie Klausner
recommended to me because I write a really similar column
recently (attempted to) read:
Notes From The Underwire by Quinn Cummings
really, really self-indulgent and lacking the sass/smarts that I need to stay interested
next up:
Loose Girl by Kerry Cohen
because, well, okay, yeah.
Hi there. So I first found you via Infinite Summer which I found not long after I had finished reading Infinite Jest in a vacuum. Perth, where I live, is a vacuum. I emerged from that experience with crazed eyes and mad hair and dirt under my fingernails and I wanted everyone I knew to read it. I have bought it for my friends. None of them have finished (started?) it yet.
I sent an email to the Howling Fantods site begging for a recommendation on what to read next. I wanted to feel that way again. He suggested Cloud Atlas, amongst other things. I just finished that.(Gorgeous, but not IJ)
And I am so with you on 2666. But I stuck with it like some loyal little wife in a bad marriage.
It’s dawning on me, slowly. Infinite Jest was it. I suppose I’m just having a quiet moment of commune with you, wherein in we bow heads, hold virtual hands and give thanks that there was IJ at all.
And off I go, muttering in pixels.
I’ll work my way through some of your list. Thanks. Amber
Alpha Betti, I am totally bowing heads with you.
I really really like Cloud Atlas. Not all the way through, but like each section differently and am now in a section that’s gobsmacking.
Nothing I’ve read since IJ ranks within twenty spots of “as good as IJ.” I’m scared to read Pale King. I think I’m the only Wallace fan I know who says that, but there it is.
Thanks for being here. “Keep Coming.”
I think you know how I feel about 2666. (Intense, unmitigated, utter loathing, in case you forgot.)
Right now I’m slowly, slooooooooowly making my way through In Search of Lost Time. Wish you were reading it with me.
Dan, I’ll gladly read In Search of Lost Time with you. After I read The Pale King with you.
Do you belong to Goodreads, by any chance? Cool way to organize/track reading material. Recommending it.
I am so sorry it has taken me so long to visit your site. If you read some of my blogs, you might discover that I have an illness that I battle with every day. It requires much effort to focus, but I’m trying to make amends. God bless you.