Books on My Wishlist I’m Looking Forward to Reading

June 26, 2008 at 8:37 am | In Books, Reading Lists | 6 Comments
Tags: Chris Adrian, Jim Crace, Joe Hill, Jonathan Lethem, Joshua Ferris, Octavia Butler, Post-apocalypse, Stephen King

Ok, my “to read” pile is out of control. I have one shelf in my bedroom that’s designated as a “to read” shelf. Ever since I discovered BookMooch, though, the contents of that shelf have spilled off the end and created a pile next to it that’s almost as tall as the bookcase.

My husband, who gets two shelves and still has piles of books all over the floor, has suggested that we solve the problem by getting another bookcase for the bedroom.

In the meantime, I am trying not to buy any new books until I make a dent in the pile. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped adding books to my wishlist. Here are a few that I don’t know if I can wait for:

The Pesthouse by Jim Crace just came out in trade paperback. I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic books, and this looks like a good one.
The Children’s Hospital by Chris Adrian is another clever post-apocalyptic book I heard about on NPR.
Speaking of post-apocalyptic, Amazon recommended a new release: Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. It has stories by Stephen King, Octavia Butler and Jonathan Lethem, among others. I don’t think they’re new stories, but I can’t resist.
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris - I have been wanting to read this for a long time. Its cynical, “cubicle culture” themes strike a chord with me. And to continue the theme, it has a post-apocalyptic title.
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill – I don’t usually like story collections, but I enjoyed his debut novel Heart-Shaped Box immensely.

How about you — are there any books you’re particularly looking forward to? Anyone have any recommendations for (relatively) new books to add to my wishlist?

6 Comments »

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I can vouch for the pure, undiluted awesome contained in the pages of Wastelands, even though none of the stories are new. It’s a very even collection, and for my experience the really fantastic stories outweighed the ones that didn’t ping for me.

Comment by Renay — June 26, 2008 #
Great recommendation, Renay! I am definitely buying it soon!

Comment by Shannon — June 27, 2008 #
I have the “ever-growing unread book pile” problem too. There are definitely some more bookshelves in my near future!

There are plenty of books I’m looking forward to reading (and buying), both old and new. And I’m constantly hearing of more. It’s almost a curse, because I know I’ll never be able to read all the great books out there in my lifetime.

Wastelands sounds interesting. I’m generally not much into short stories, but if it’s a whole book on a particular theme that I like, then it might get my interest. Sounds cool.

Comment by Bill the sci-fi guy — June 27, 2008 #
I’ve heard good things about Then We Came to the End. Anxious to hear your review. http://www.bentpage.wordpress.com.

Comment by Daniel — June 29, 2008 #
Daniel: I bought it this weekend!

Comment by Shannon — June 30, 2008 #
[...] night, I started Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris, which I recently mentioned was a book on my wishlist that I was looking forward to reading. In the middle of Chapter 2 and [...]

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