Book log.

[kitchen_kink]

I realized recently that for all of the books I read, I never keep track of them. This is unfortunate, as I often borrow books and so my bookshelf is no good record of what I've read. Also, there seems to be some sort of 50 Book Challenge going on - read 50 books in a year. This isn't at all difficult for me. But I don't think I'm off to a good start, at all. Particularly since I only really read in the bathroom, or on the train, which I no longer ride regularly.

Thus far, though, if I remember correctly, in 2004 I've read:

Paris Trance, by Geoff Dyer
Does She or Doesn't She, Alisa Kwitney, lent by amber_phoenix
American Scream, a Bill Hicks biography by Cynthia True
Circling the Drain, by Amanda Davis
Eat Me, by Linda Jaivin
The Naked Truth by Chris Gudgeon
Naked Pictures of Famous People, by Jon Stewart
Limbo River, by Rick Hillis, lent by longueur
Run Catch Kiss, by Amy Sohn

Selected fiction from The New Yorker, Grain, Herotica, and Bondage: An Anthology of Passionate Restraint.

Selected nonfiction and criticism from The New Yorker, The Economist, and other random periodicals, The Deluxe Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth Gordon, Remembered Rapture by bell hooks, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Ayurveda: A Life of Balance by Maya Tiwari.

Nine full books in four months, two with the word "naked" in the title, three of them light sex romps, one of them about sex in Canada, two of them by or about comedians, three of them serious fiction.

Unacceptable. What the hell has happened to my reading habits? I used to at least alternate between erotica and Faulkner.

Somebody recommend me - no, lend me - I know exactly what books I need to read - immediately!

Some that keep creeping into my brain, mainly because of the gap between my personal canon and that of most of my MFA graduate friends:
Anna Karenina
Madame Bovary
Brothers Karamazov
As I Lay Dying
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Love in the Time of Cholera

Some that I just want to read:
Survivor and Invisible Monsters (Palahniuk)
Jazz (Toni Morrison)
Reasons to Live (Amy Hempel)
House of the Spirits (Allende)
The Passion and Art (Objects) (Winterson)

Some authors I want to know better:
Ray Carver
Chuck Palahniuk
Denis Johnson
Jeanette Winterson
Toni Morrison
Dickens (yes, Dickens)
Junot Diaz

Oh, there's a bunch more, I'm sure...Actually, recommendations would be welcome.

Comments

[amber-phoenix.livejournal.com]

I've got Borthers K on my shelves at home. You're welcome to borrow it.

[longueur.livejournal.com]

I have Brothers K too, but I actually have "Brothers K" which is a book by the writer of "The River Why" based on the Brothers K.

[fanw.livejournal.com]

Mmm. I can't fill those particular needs since I borrow, too, but I may be able to dig up a Dickens or two. BTW, have you ever read the Poisonwood Bible? Very good stuff.

Nevertheless, I have the same trouble you do. I read so many books that in the end I forget what I have read. I mean, I'll recognize it if I come across it, but I may remember just "I liked" or "I didn't like" and some major plot components, but completely forget the names of characters or any level of detail of what went on. I tried keeping a journal one time, not of book summaries, but of my impressions after reading the book, what I liked and didn't and what it made me consider after the fact. Of course, I didn't keep it for very long, but it was a good thought... Maybe if I did it electronically this time.... Another use for LJ? Then you could "memory" it and point your friends to it and title each entry with the title of the book so your friends could read your reviews/recommendations?