March Bibliolust

The fact my spots on the various library reserve lists seem to be moving slowly not only contributes to few Bibliolust reads the last month but also, I think, to a short list this month. Between the Bibliolust books I’m still waiting on and a glance at the release dates on my books to review spreadsheet, my cyber TBR list would be quickly expanding.

And, as often seems to be the case, no doubt it will pour. I’m currently first on the list for three books and second for three others. Undoubtedly, I will be getting plenty of notifications of reserved books being available about the same time I receive review copies of books not on the list, leaving me with insufficient time to read the Bibliolust listers. Of course, if I had time to read every book I wanted I would have to plan on living for a very, very, very, very long time.

Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories, John Joseph Adams (ed.) — Given my seemingly lifelong interest in dystopian lit, it only took a mention on another blog for this collection of short stories to end up prominently on my radar.

Henry’s Demons: Living with Schizophrenia, A Father and Son’s Story, Patrick Cockburn and Henry Cockburn — Showing the apparent randomness of library reserve lists, this book was available just a couple days after it made this list, meaning that even though I recently completed it, it still appears on the list.

The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear, Seth Mnookin — The anti-vaccination movement has always baffled me, particularly given the bogus science on which it was based to begin with. Thus, this exploration of how it happened and some favorable reviews led to me adding it to my library reserve list.

A Widow’s Story: A Memoirbib, Joyce Carol Oates — Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking was one of my favorite books of 2005. Thus, I, like undoubtedly many others, raised a skeptical eyebrow on hearing that Joyce Carol Oates was releasing a memoir about her life after the death of her husband. Reviews more favorable than anticipated led me to reserve the book at the library, although I probably still will be approaching it somewhat warily.

Report Card:

Year to Date (January-February 2011)

Total Bibliolust books: 11

Number read: 4 (36.4%)

Started but did not finish: 1 (9%)

Cumulative (September 2008-February 2011)

Total Bibliolust books: 161

Number read: 117 (72.7%)

Started but did not finish: 10 (6%)

Mason Cooley, City Aphorisms, Eleventh Selection