A Top Ten of what I'm looking forward to
First, a little update: I started back to work last week. It's a new semester, filled with hope and possibility! It's nice to be back, and I am also working a lot more hours now, as a co-worker is on maternity leave. It's a good chance for me to do more (and earn more!), but the transition is proving a little rough. Suddenly I seem to have almost no time at home, so keeping the household running takes up the hours I'm not at work. Don't worry, I'm making the kids step up; everybody is willing enough, but we're working on that elusive skill of noticing that things need to happen without Mom pointing it out. Reading time is only somewhat curtailed (since a lot of my reading time happens while doing other things anyway) but wow, I'm going to have to be very intentional about scheduling blogging time or it will never happen.
Meanwhile, everybody else did a weekly Top Ten post about the books they wished they'd read in 2018, but didn't. I don't generally do the Top Ten, largely because I struggle to keep up as it is, but this one tickled my fancy. Then I went and checked the master list, and this week's topic is books you're now looking forward to, which is practically the same thing....so here is a combo Top Ten, of books I'm looking forward to reading this year, some of which I didn't get to last year!
Five history titles, with heavy focus on Russia. If I ever get through my growing pile of Russian history books, I will be highly impressed with myself.
When They Come For Us, We'll Be Gone: the Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry, by Gal Beckerman. This has been on my wish list for a while, but now I HAVE a copy!
Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History, by David Aaronovitch. Picked it up at Moe's in Berkeley. Looks good!
Ganga: A Journey Down the Ganges River, by Julian Crandall Hollick. A tour of the Ganges, with focus on environmental questions.
Secondhand Time: the Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich. The famous documentary history.
The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, by Masha Gessen. Life in post-Soviet Russia.
Two medieval literature titles, which, like Russian history, only represents part of what's actually on my shelves:
The Wanderer: Elegies, Epics and Riddles. A collection of Anglo-Saxon bits and bobs.
Arthurian Romances, Tales, and Lyric Poetry: The Complete Works of Hartmann von Aue. I've read one of his stories and want to read the rest! I'm so fond of hisangry parrot eagle insignia.
Three novels I'm looking forward to (and possibly also nervous about):
Black Renaissance: St. Orpheus Breviary, Vol. II, by Miklos Szentkuthy. Intimidating as all get-out, irresistible premise, not to mention the cover.
The Palm-Wine Drinkard, by Amos Tutuola. The first Nigerian novel, so quite important.
Purge, by Sofi Oksanen. An Estonian novel about the darkest days of oppression.
And, a two-volume memoir I'm counting as one:
Drawn From Memory and Drawn From Life, by E. M. Shepard. Memoirs by the illustrator of Winnie the Pooh and Wind in the Willows. I got these for my mom's very late Christmas present, since I only found out about them on December 23rd and they had to be shipped from the UK. She liked them a lot and I expect to find them delightful. They're Slightly Foxed editions and thus completely charming.
Dang, even counting Shepard as one, that's still eleven. Too late now!
My problem is, I have a zillion wonderful books to read, and not nearly enough time to read them in. I have this fantastic book buffet at work, but I just can't read fast enough...
Meanwhile, everybody else did a weekly Top Ten post about the books they wished they'd read in 2018, but didn't. I don't generally do the Top Ten, largely because I struggle to keep up as it is, but this one tickled my fancy. Then I went and checked the master list, and this week's topic is books you're now looking forward to, which is practically the same thing....so here is a combo Top Ten, of books I'm looking forward to reading this year, some of which I didn't get to last year!
Five history titles, with heavy focus on Russia. If I ever get through my growing pile of Russian history books, I will be highly impressed with myself.
When They Come For Us, We'll Be Gone: the Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry, by Gal Beckerman. This has been on my wish list for a while, but now I HAVE a copy!
Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History, by David Aaronovitch. Picked it up at Moe's in Berkeley. Looks good!
Ganga: A Journey Down the Ganges River, by Julian Crandall Hollick. A tour of the Ganges, with focus on environmental questions.
Secondhand Time: the Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich. The famous documentary history.
The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, by Masha Gessen. Life in post-Soviet Russia.
Two medieval literature titles, which, like Russian history, only represents part of what's actually on my shelves:
The Wanderer: Elegies, Epics and Riddles. A collection of Anglo-Saxon bits and bobs.
Arthurian Romances, Tales, and Lyric Poetry: The Complete Works of Hartmann von Aue. I've read one of his stories and want to read the rest! I'm so fond of his
Three novels I'm looking forward to (and possibly also nervous about):
Black Renaissance: St. Orpheus Breviary, Vol. II, by Miklos Szentkuthy. Intimidating as all get-out, irresistible premise, not to mention the cover.
The Palm-Wine Drinkard, by Amos Tutuola. The first Nigerian novel, so quite important.
Purge, by Sofi Oksanen. An Estonian novel about the darkest days of oppression.
And, a two-volume memoir I'm counting as one:
Drawn From Memory and Drawn From Life, by E. M. Shepard. Memoirs by the illustrator of Winnie the Pooh and Wind in the Willows. I got these for my mom's very late Christmas present, since I only found out about them on December 23rd and they had to be shipped from the UK. She liked them a lot and I expect to find them delightful. They're Slightly Foxed editions and thus completely charming.
Dang, even counting Shepard as one, that's still eleven. Too late now!
My problem is, I have a zillion wonderful books to read, and not nearly enough time to read them in. I have this fantastic book buffet at work, but I just can't read fast enough...
I do sympathize with the problem of too many books, not enough time. You have some fascinating ones here. I'm afraid to look too deeply into them as I know my TBR will increase. Did you know the topic is ten books you've recently added to your TBR? In any case, I followed your lead. What non-conformists we are! ..... :-)
ReplyDeleteWow! A fascinating reading list...your interests are so well-rounded, Jean. Kudos to you!
ReplyDeleteExcellent! LOVED When They Come for Us We'll be Gone! I enjoyed Voodoo Histories, too. Both Secondhand Time and The Future is History are on my list to read. Right now I'm reading Masha Gessen's Where the Jews Aren't: The Sad and Absurd Story of Birobidzhan, Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region and it's quite good.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading!