My Fall 2012 TBR suggested reading pile (updated). Blue arrows point to books read. 🙂

Way back in September-ish, I developed a list of potential TBR titles that I thought I might put into the reading spotlight and see how that went. (See this post here.)

I had a mixed result, but all good because even though I might not have actually read these exact titles, I did read something equivalent off the TBR pile so I can argue that it still counts. 🙂

• The Ring of Bright Water trilogy – Gavin Maxwell. Non-fiction about a guy who lives alongside a family of otters in Scotland (I think). Supposed to be funny and sad. NOPE.
• The Emperor of all Maladies – Siddhartha Mukherjee  (A continuation of the summer TBR pile.) NOPE.
• Death at the Priory – James Ruddick. YUP.
• Short Stories by O. Henry (or another book of essays or similar) NOPE. But did read other essays.
• Cadillac Desert – Marc Reisner. NF about the ongoing water shortage in the American West. NOPE.
• The Go-Between – L. P. Hartley. YUP.
• Couple of books about Queen Victoria and hubby… YUP. Read one of these.
• Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood – IN PROCESS Update: DNF.
• Mrs. Hargreaves – Frank Baker.  HAD A GO. DNF.
• How to be a Woman – Caitlin Moran (NF about modern-day feminism which has had good reviews) – YUP (although I would like to take back this time if possible)
• The Worst Hard Time – Dust Bowl history – Timothy Egan – SORT OF DID THIS. Didn’t read the book, but did go to a lecture by him and see his PBS series about the Dust Bowl. That counts, doesn’t it?
• Some odd bits and pieces of fiction that have been on the shelves for a while…  YUP. Read two of these.  (May Sarton and Annie Proulx.)

So – to continue with this format of book title rotation on the nightstand, I have chosen the following for the next quarter or so. Will update on progress as warranted.

My Fall 2012 TBR suggested reading pile (updated). Blue arrows point to books read. 🙂

It’s a large selection, but not intended for me as a list of Have-to-Reads. More of a “Here are some titles you haven’t looked at lately if you’re interested” type of list…. Titles are as follows:

• Logavina Street – Barbara Demick (NF) – pick this up where I stopped prior to Christmas. READ. (updated 02/13)
• Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism  – Natasha Walter (NF)
• The Campaign for Domestic Happiness – Isabel Beeton (NF)
• The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton – Kathryn Hughes (NF bio)
• Neverland: J. M. Barrie, the du Mauriers, and the Dark Side of Peter Pan – Piers Dudgeon (NF)
• Time was Soft There (book about the Shakespeare Co. book shop in Paris) – Jeremy Mercer (NF)
• Helen Keller: The Story of my Life – Helen Keller (NF autobio)
• Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC – Joseph McCormick and Susan Fisher-Hoch (NF)
• The Devil’s Highway – Luis Alberto Urea (NF)
• As For Me and My House – Sinclair Ross (Canadian F)
• Be the Pack Leader – Cesar Milan (NF)
• Methland – The Death and Life of an American Small Town – Nick Reding (NF)
• Becoming Queen Victoria – Kate Williams (you know Victoria would slip in there somewhere…) (NF)
• Charles Dickens (bio) – Clare Tomalin (NF)
• Chasing the Monsoon – Alexander Frater (NF)
• Going to Extremes – Joe McGinnis (NF)
• The Secret Life of Bletchley Park – Sinclair Mckay (NF)
• The Grandmothers – Doris Lessing (F)
• Strength in What Remains – Tracy Kidder (NF)
• The Marie Curie Complex – Julie des Jardins
• The Best American Sci and Nature Writing 2006 – Brian Greene (ed.) (NF)
• Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood (F) READ (updated 02/13)

Not too many fiction titles there, so we’ll see. I try to have one F and one NF going at the same time, so we’ll see what pops up fiction-wise.  <Rubs hands with glee at new selection of books>