Backlist Revival

Last week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) asked us to list the authors we'd only read once and would like to revisit. I'm a week late, but this is one list I really need to make!

1. Liane Moriarty (What Alice Forgot)
I think enough time has passed since I read this highly entertaining novel. Now to decide which of her new releases or backlist titles to read next. Any suggestions?

2. John Irving (A Prayer for Owen Meany)
I know, I know! I've read this book twice and loved it just as much the second time around. I've always wanted to try The Cider House Rules and think enough time has passed since I saw the movie.

3. Abraham Verghese (Cutting for Stone)
I seem to recall someone speaking highly of Verghese's memoir, The Tennis Partner, and have often thought about giving it a try. Cutting for Stone was one of my Top Ten reads in 2011.

4. William Landy (Defending Jacob)
I love a good mystery/thriller and am eager to see if Mission Flats is as entertaining as Defending Jacob.

5. Edward Rutherfurd (Sarum)
It's been almost 20 years since I read Sarum! Rutherfurd's novels are huge, so I really need to be in the mood for something that is going to take me well over a month to read. I have London on my shelf, so I'll probably give that a try.

6. Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)
Another favorite read. I have the ARC of Stein's new novel on my nightstand, but what I'm really interested in trying is Raven Stole the Moon.

7. Carol Cassella (Oxygen)
I have Gemini on my nightstand and look forward to reading it later this fall.

8. Rick Yancey (The 5th Wave)
Infinite Sea came out this month and I can't wait to return to Cassie's story!!

9. Susan Hill (The Shadow in the Streets)
The Various Haunts of Men is the first in the Simon Serrailler crime novels by Susan Hill. I accidentally read the 5th in the series. Now to go back and start from the very beginning!

10. Wiley Cash (This Dark Road to Mercy)
I tried to listen to A Land More Kind Than Home, but couldn't get interested. However, I fell in love with This Dark Road to Mercy, so I plan to give Cash a second chance. I have the ARC of A Land More Kind Than Home and will give it another try. 

and one more for good measure...

11. Ann-Marie McDonald (The Way the Crow Flies)
I loved this novel, so why has it taken me over seven years to even remember that I wanted to read Fall on Your Knees?! 

See? Lists are a good thing. I can't wait to dive into some of these books this fall.



Visit The Broke and the Bookish for more Top Ten Tuesday posts. 

2012 Tournament of Books

I love lists. Currently, I have seven separate lists on my desk. They're all book-related and I keep hoping to make time to write some posts about each of them. But first things first. Andi blogged about The Morning News 2012 Tournament of Books (presented by Field Notes) and after quickly scanning the list of titles, I knew I'd have to add the widget and link to my sidebar. This isn't really a challenge, but I hope plan to read at least eight of the selected books. I already own three and am actively listening to one and have started another on my iPad (with plans to resume reading in another month or so).

Here's the list, followed by the information posted on The Morning News. I've highlighted the books I own (in red) and the books I plan to read (in green). Any comments or other recommendations? Are any better on audio than the printed format?

The 16 Books That Will Compete in Our Eighth Annual Battle Royale

• Nathacha Appanah, The Last Brother
• Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending
• Teju Cole, Open City
• Helen DeWitt, Lightning Rods
• Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers
• Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot
• Chad Harbach, The Art of Fielding
• Alan Hollinghurst, Stranger’s Child
• Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones
• Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
• Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife
• Michael Ondaatje, The Cat’s Table
• Ann Patchett, State of Wonder
• Donald Ray Pollock, Devil All the Time
• Karen Russell, Swamplandia!
• Kate Zambreno, Green Girl
  

Details for the tournament can be found here. The official tournament begins on March 7th.

On My Bose 2012

Just a personal list of the albums I've noted on my blog in 2012.

Epistolary Endcap

Main Entry: epis•tle
Pronunciation: \i-‘pi-səl\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, letter, Epistle, from Anglo-French, from Latin epistula, epistola letter, from Greek epistolē message, letter, from epistellein to send to, from epi- + stellein to send
Date: 13th century

1 capitalized a: one of the letters adopted as books of the New Testament b: a liturgical lection usually from one of the New Testament Epistles
2 a: LETTER; especially : a formal or elegant letter b: a composition in the form of a letter



Here's my new endcap, which is doing quite well! I set it on October 30th and so far the sales have been very good. The Guernsey book is an easy sell, as is 84, Charing Cross Road and These Is My Words. Here's the entire list (click on the titles for reviews or purchase information):

'Tis The Season by Lorna Landvik

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith

Between Friends by Debbie Macomber

These is my Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 by Nancy Turner

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg

The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg

The Boy Next Door by Meggin Cabot

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

I've read all but Address Unknown and Fair and Tender Ladies. (They're in my stacks!) Please don't ask which of these are my favorites. They're all very, very good!

Favorite Stephen King Novels

Here's a list of my favorite Stephen King novels, as promised several weeks ago:

Bag of Bones

Cujo

Dreamcatcher (recently reviewed - click on title)

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Hearts in Atlantis

Insomnia

It

Pet Sematary

Rose Madder

The Shining

The Stand

Thinner

Tommyknockers

When I started putting this list together, I was going to write a brief comment next to each title. However, after a few blurbs, I realized that in most cases I was repeating myself. These are all great, creepy reads with memorable characters and scenes. King is a masterful storyteller, pulling his readers in from the opening lines and making the unbelievable seem quite real and possible.

I was quite surprised when I saw how many of his books of I've read. I knew it had been a lot, but until I typed up the list, I had no idea there were so many. There aren't too many authors I've read with such dedication. Other than a few mystery/thriller writers (John Sandford, Harlan Coben, and Dennis Lehane), there is only one other author I've read in such quantity and that's Elizabeth Berg, coming in at a grand total of 16 (with a new book coming out on May 1st!). The good news is that there are still many more books by Stephen King that I want to read.

Oh, and if you were wondering, The Stand is my #1 favorite of all.