April Bibliolust

March was a big month for satiating lust. I read six books from this year’s lists and another three from past years. There’s also a transition underway for the list.

After relying on the local library to feed my lust for a while, my reserve list items there have dwindled to two, one of which was added yesterday. At the same time, more new releases I’m slated to review are coming out so they are supplanting the library. In fact, they make up 60 percent of this month’s list — and would have accounted for more were it not for the fact I’ve already read two being released this month for which reviews are forthcoming. In fact, the TBR stack by my reading chair is gaining a bit of urgency.

1861: The Civil War Awakening, Adam Goodheart — As we will be inundated with Civil War books over the next several years, I thought the best place to start was at the beginning. Goodheart’s work has received early praise so I am hoping it will be a good start.

Forgotten Fatherland: The True Story of Nietzsche’s Sister and Her Lost Aryan Colony, Ben Macintyre — Nearly 70 years before Hitler arrived on the scene, the sister of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, started a “racially pure” colony in South America. Macintyre investigates this forgotten precursor to some of Hitler’s theories.

The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time, David Ulin — I just heard an interview with Ulin, the former book review editor of the LA Times, on The Marketplace of Ideas podcast. Something Ulin said in that interview — which may in itself become the topic of a separate post — led to this being one of the two books on the list on hold at the library.

The Secret of Wilhelm Storitz: The First English Translation of Verne’s Original Manuscript, Jules Verne — How can a longtime SF reader resist a Verne novel appearing in English in its original form for the first time?

Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, Piers Bizony and Jamie Doran — How can a child of the space age resist a look at the first man in space on the 50th anniversary of his flight?

Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell — I am a Sarah Vowell fan and love Hawaii so her take on the annexation of those islands as part of what she calls an “orgy of imperialism” borders on almost irresistible (especially since I’m returning to the Big Island later this year). Even though I thought I acted quick, I am still a couple places down on the library reserve list.

Report Card:

Year to Date (January-March 2011)

Total Bibliolust books: 15

Number read: 10 (66.6%)

Started but did not finish: 2 (13.3%)

Cumulative (September 2008-March 2011)

Total Bibliolust books: 165

Number read: 126 (76.4%)

Started but did not finish: 11 (6.67%)

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I can’t pass a bookstore without stopping inside, looking for the next book that will burn my hand when I touch its jacket, or hand me over a promissory note of such immense power that it contains the formula that will change everything about me.

Pat Conroy, My Reading Life