Stuff I've Been Reading

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Ok, I was supposed to post this at the end of November, but I totally forgot! The "Stuff I've Been Reading" list is my planned running tally of books I've read and books I've bought or borrowed (sometimes not the same books!) in a month's time. I got the idea from one my favorite authors, Nick Hornby, and which I wrote about last month.

The really sad thing is that I cannot remember exactly what I read last month! I don't ever write down what I'm reading. So starting today, I'll keep a running list of books read/borrowed/bought and try to post monthly. Call it my first New Year's Resolution for 2009!

Stuff I'm Reading

Ever since my not-so-recent blog about my Romance D.I.K. list, I've been thinking about a D.I.K.-Part 2, a list of contemporary fiction that I'd like to have with me on my desert island. Can't do it! Too many great books to list! And "fiction" is too broad to have to narrow down to a dozen or so titles. So I'm borrowing an idea from a British writer who I like and respect very much but I fear is not well-known enough here in the States--Nick Hornby. I love all of his books, and I love the way he fleshes out his characters in his fiction, whether it's a young boy or middle-aged mom. They're so real. But it's one of his non-fiction books that gave me the idea for "Stuff I'm Reading."

In The Polysyllabic Spree: A Hilarious and True Account of One Man’s Struggle With the Monthly Tide of the Books He’s Bought and the Books He’s Been Meaning to Read, Hornby took about a year's worth of columns he wrote for Believer magazine and turned into a cool book. The idea is simple--he writes about stuff he's been reading and books that he's bought in the past month. Brilliant.

So at the end of November, and hopefully each month to come, I'll be sharing my Books Bought (or Borrowed) and Books Read!