you probably have a pile like this....by your bed, by the chair where you usually read, on the coffee table, or all of the above and maybe more. my pile was looking at me the other night when i went to bed, so i thought i'd make an anecdotal note of what's in it. this is not a TBR pile, this is an accumulation of stuff to dip into in short pre-sleep bursts, or when i wake up in the middle of the night, or take into the bathroom with me. my TBR pile is elsewhere, much of it only on paper until requested from the library. so, the pile, in no particular order:
Red Suitcase, Poems - Naomi Shihab Nye
Fuel, Poems - Naomi Shihab Nye
The Mother Tongue, English and How It Got That Way - Bill Bryson
The Wild Within, Adventures in Nature and Animal Teachings - Paul Rezendes
White Pine, Poems and Prose Poems - Mary Oliver
Poets Against the War - Ed. by Sam Hamill
Cultivating Delight, A Natural History of My Garden -
Diane Ackerman
Island Wise - Lessons in Living from the Islands of the World - Janis Frawley-Holler
Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories - Jane Yolen
The Writer in the Garden - Ed. by Jane Garmey
Ruined by Reading, A Life in Books - Lynne Sharon Schwartz
Comforting books, these, in the middle of the night. I'd love to know what's in your pile, it's an interesting keyhole glimpse into a person.
28 comments:
Wow, I went through my nightstand,side table pile last night. I thought I was nuts trying to read in tandem but guess it's a trait of all true book lovers! :-) Here is the contents of my pile: "The Human Stain, "Nothing to Fall Back On","The Awakening", "The Wisdom of Insecurity","Cold Mountain", "Lucky", "Mrs. Kimble","Women Who Think Too Much", " Diary of Anais Nin", "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress". There's the glimpse into my keyhole.~RC
Actually, not much. I've got the Michael Crichton book, Prey, a collection of Civil War short stories edited by Shelby Foote, and I was thinking of rereading a Sharyn McCrumb book or two -- then it's back to the library or the used bookstore to see what I can dig up.
RC - interesting selections, and i can see, as your journal-name indicates, that you are going thru some changes. lots of introspection in this pile, mine usually has more of that, too.
Duane! McCrumb is one of my utter faves. especially her mountain ballad books. Nora Bonesteel is a real person to me, i wish i could talk to her. i could read them over again happily.
I feel so guilty. I've been reading NOTHING except email and news stories. The last novel I read was Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins over Christmas. The closest thing I have to a pile is an overdue copy of Bushwacked by Molly Ivins (but that's more like a TBR) and a copy of Douglas Southall Freeman's Lee that I only pick up when I NEED to get to sleep fast. I've been working on that one for years!
PS...Oh yeah, and I have a pile of National Geos and the local free weekly (http://indyweek.com/durham/current/index.html) that I keep in the bathrooms for browsing.
Okay, as long as you don't ask me for the authors' names; I'm writing this blocks away from my bedroom. Right now beside my bed: The Botany of Desire (almost finished), The Piano Tuner (almost finished), four works by Christopher Isherwood (midway through the fourth) and the current issue of Vanity Fair.
Here's the bedside table stack: 4 Bibles, (RKJ, NIV, NRSV and American Standard), two different journals, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them," a copy of "Norton's Anthology of English Literature" that dates back to my college days, Anne Morrow's "A Gift from the Sea," Ernest Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast," and "Where the Wild Things Are."
By my bed: "The Story Of B" and "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn, "Survivor" by Chuck Palahniuk, "Metamorphosis and other stories" by Franz Kafka, "Lies... fair and balanced look at the Right" by Al Franken. Next to my couch: books by Don DeLillo, George Orwell, C S Lewis, Howard Zinn, more by Palahniuk, Daniel Quinn, Al Franken. Desk: school books.
Century's Son by Robert Boswell, Atonement by Ian McEwan, Unless by Carol Sheilds, Wooden by Coach John Wooden with Steve Jamison, At Home In The World by Joyce Maynard, The Human Stain by Phillip Roth, Here On Earth by Alice Hoffman, Disobedience by Jane Hamilton...and on and on and on...
Great idea!! My Pile..various John Dickson Carr novels;Becker`s "The Denial of Death";Saul Bellow,"Ravelstein";le Carre,"Smiley`s People";Michael Gruber`s excellent "Tropic of Night";Bertrand Russell,"A History of Western Philosophy";various Tony Hillerman novels...
Vince
KAREN - Shields, Hoffman, hamilton; all are faves of mine. i've read the 3 novels of theirs you mention, loved them all.
MAILFEDE - Hi! i'm glad to have this peek into your very interesting mind. i read your excellent political journal often.
CYNTHIA - but, FOUR Bibles? and wow, i have no IDEA where my Norton's Antho even is anymore. it's a great book to keep at hand though.
CHERIE - no need for embarassment, you are going to school and PAYING ATTENTION, keeping us all informed. and i can see how the Lee bio would be a great soporific.
VINCE - i'm so relieved to see the Tony Hillerman in that highbrow pile of yours! well, and john dickson carr.
TIM - Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan. one of the best books of the past couple of years. this guy can write about ANYTHING. you'll never feel the same about apples again.
Great Idea, Here's My Pile:
The Russian Debutant's Handbook- Gary S.; Angle of Repose -Wallace Stegner; The Secret Life of Bees-Sue Monk Kid; The Cliff Notes on James Joyce Ulysses; Lady Oracle - Margaret Atwood; Friday Night Lights - H.G. Bissinger; If you want to write - Brenda Ueland; The Spectator Bird - Wallace Stegner; Everything That Rises Must Converge - Flannery O-Connor; 50 Great Short Stories; The White Album - Joan Didion.
wow, Louise - we may not always see eye-to-eye politically, but some of my lifetime favorite authors are in your pile! Stegner, Atwood, O'Connor, Didion, i've read everything of theirs. and Sue Monk Kidd's book is one i gave all my sisters for their birthdays last year. thanks for this entry!
My pile:
The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton
The Wordly Philosophers, Robert Heilbroner
Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do, Peter McWilliams
What Should I Do with My Life, Po Bronson
Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller
Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
Bangkok 8, John Burdett
The Great Unraveling, Paul Krugman
Here's mine: : )
Writing Alone and With Others by Pat Schneider
Writing From the Inner Self by Elaine Farris Hughes
Writing Your Rhythm by Diane Thiel
Women's Lives Women's Legacies by Rachael Freed
The Writing Group Book edited by Lisa Rosenthal
~M
My nightstand:
Napalm and Silly Putty by George Carlin: Clever with some good quotes
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon (From the point of view onf an autistic teen-ager. Imagine)
Platform by Michel Houellebecq. Never finsihed it Erotic and somewhat okay
Helter Skelter by Vincent bugliosi: That horrid old chestnut found in junk box, just parked there on way to "give away" box.
Congrats on the top 5 list :) My BR..on one table accompanied by votive candes and my statue of Boy in Prayer, are the King James version Bible. New World Translation Bible, Daily Affirmations and Each Day a New Beginning. On the other table my beloved (Oliver Wendell Holmes) Homes Poems copyright 1902.LR stack includes Power vs Force, Davis Hawkins, Crystal Enlightenment,Crystal Healing,The Crystalline Transmission, all by Katrina Raphaell. ~Barb
re the congrats in previous comment: i think the writer has me confused with "The Bookstall Bibliophile." easy to see why, since the names are so similar. us bibliophiles gotta stick together, anyway.
Yep I am confused :) But you shouldda been on the list :) I got exited about two journals about books..didn't realize how much I would be til I read them both. I love the printed word and the nuances of our language. ~Barb
You should do this,the reading list thing, periodically...maybe once a month or so. Find out what people have gotten around to and what they've moved on to...
I dunno, DUANE. you see some of those piles? it's gonna take more than a month to get through them.. unless people have a lot more life to dedicate to reading than we do!
BHPCR - thank you for your kind words, and your visits. I'm going to look for your journal, and hope you'll be back often.
CHASFERRIR - welcom to the Philes! from your list you're an interesting sort. i'm coming to visit you next.
MICHELE - i guess our focus is, wait, wait, don't tell me........writing!! do you? guess i need to find that out.
MARA - you won't make it through THAT pile any time soon. some truly ambitious readers in AOL-Jland, i am impressed!
mine's too huge to mention (my cheapy grad skool bookshelf fell apart and now ALL of the books that were on it are near my bed!). However, one of my frequent reads really is 365 Tao. My current reads are Fatland and the Memory Bible, and my upcoming reads (in various stacks) are Crytonomicon and a journal of short stories edited by David Eggers....
ok, COFFY, yours is a pile full of things unknown to me, with the exception of Dave Eggers. i'm going to have to check these out, you are such an interesting and quirky person....your books intrigue me.
Piles, piles, everywhere! Bedside oddments: "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry; "Christian Prayer: Liturgy of The Hours;" For Packrats Only" by Don Aslett; "Lifelines: A Book of Hope" by Bill Zimmerman; "Thereby Hangs A Tale: Stories of Curious Word Origins" by Charles Earle Funk; a book in PORTUGESE; "London Review of Books," "The Nation."
LULU, you OLDSNEAKER you, can you read a book in Portuguese? and what book is it? glad you signed up, so you can leave comments. hope it happens often.
OH, I love to read these pile lists! I especially love them when they are completely different from mine -- although of course I am NOT buying new books, right? OK, I'll make a bedroom list, too.
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