I still read a lot but, frankly, more and more of it is on a screen than on a printed page. I have a mountain of unfinished books beside my bed. I’ve always had a half dozen or more books on the go at any given time but I used to actually finish them. I don’t know if I have finished any printed book in 2010. Seriously. On the other hand, I haven’t started as many as I usually do, either.
Let’s see what’s in my bedside book mountain now (top to bottom)…
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert is a very entertaining read that mixes psychology, sociology, neurology, and humor. Started reading it recently.. August I think. Page 60/238
Magic Street by Orson Scott Card. Fiction/Fantasy. I just grabbed this one the other day before I realized just how many books I had on the go. Page 0/391
Your Movie Sucks by Roger Ebert. I think I started this last Christmas but it might have been earlier. This tends to be the book I grab when I want to read a couple of pages before I turn out the light. Page 134/333
The Story of Stone by N. M. Browne. I picked this up at the Childrens’ Library Discard Sale over the summer and started reading it in September. I may not finish it as the plot is not doing much to draw me in. Page 31/335
The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft. Pulled this one off the shelf to read before the Lovecraft Birthday Celebration. Read a few pages but didn’t even bother to bookmark it. Returning it to the bookshelf.
Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle. Was really enjoying this and reading it pretty quickly but somehow it shuffled down the pile and got forgotten. Will be moving this one back up the stack. Page 152/340
Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper. (Not visible in the photo because it’s a tiny little paperback under Talk Talk.) When I was younger, my Dad tried many times to get me to read this book (and others in the series); I picked it up when we were in Portland in April and fully intend to start reading it… eventually. Page 0/174.
Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr. This book has been on my in-progress stack for the longest of all, well over 4 years. At this point I probably need to start over in order to pick up the plot but I’m soooo close to the end…. Page 592/752
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Thought I should actually read the original, having enjoyed the movie for many years. Another book I haven’t started yet and will return to the shelf until I’m ready to start it. Page 0/147
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I started re-reading this in the spring — for a while it was in my purse for reading on the ferry or when I was waiting somewhere but eventually it found its way to my bedside stack. Page 66/159
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008 edited by Dave Eggers. Another book I picked up in Portland — very amusing — but quickly fell to the bottom of the pile. Not reading this one in order so I can’t give an accurate page count but I’m guessing I’m about a third of the way through.
Sadly, there are other books on our shelves and elsewhere in the house bookmarked because I have stubbornly not given up reading them. Even worse than Angel of Darkness is one of the Riverworld books by Philip Jose Farmer (Gods of Riverworld) that I’ve been “reading” for more than 10 years but that bookmark hasn’t moved in a long time…
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I really enjoyed both “Angel of Darkness” & “The Alienist”. I too have a pile of books on the headboard. Luckily, Glenn has one on his side too, so they balance out and the bed doesn’t tip to one side !