merely talk

Alright kids, as many of you know I spend many a hour a week tolling away at a bookstore for mere scraps. It's fun work though, mostly because I'm surrounded by a large quantity of one of my favourite inventions. The printed word really is an amazing device. It's amazing what words can evoke and even the most crappily written book (ie The Da Vinci Code) can inspire people's imagination. I've always felt that books make us better people, just by expanding our world view for a few hours. It's nice, the whole walking in another's shoes, can easily be accomplished through the work of a good book.

Since I've started working at the bookstore I've noticed the amount I've been reading has also increased. Perhaps it's because I have less of a social life here in Edmonton than I did last year in Vancouver, or perhaps it's because of the easy access provided by my store and library. Or it could just be that the timing is right. The last few months I've read some great books: Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas (of Veronica Mars fame, not Matchbox 20), In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex (oops....how did that one make it in there....) and Unless by Carol Shields (which may be one of my favourite books of all time) to name just a few. It's been a lot of fun, and even though I've read some clunkers (Love Creeps by Amanda Filipacchi, and I must be the only person who doesn't really like the Lemony Snicket books) it's been worth it. My mind has been blown.

So as a third, most likely achievable, New Years resolution, I have picked out 12 books I wish to read by the end of the year. This is not to mean that I'll only be reading 12 books in the year, hardly, I have three books on the go right now (Good Omens, The Roaring Girl, and The Professor and the Madman...all AWESOME!), but that by the end of the year I will have read all 12 of them. Some are books I've just been meaning to read for years, but just haven't gotten too yet, some are books I think I should read for my continued education and some are on there just for the hell of it. I don't think any of them are going to be particularily easy to read. There's no Nick Hornby on her or Coupland, both of who I can read in a day, but I think they are all acheivable for me at this time of my life. Overall I think it's a pretty complete list, with a good showing of classics, non-fictions and those pesky Canadians. My progress will be reported on the blog.

So the list in absolutely no order whats-so-ever:

1.) Lucky by Alice Sebold (I absolutely loved her book The Lovely Bones as mentioned above, and this one is a true story about some nasty stuff she went through in Uni.)

2.) Vanity Fair by William Thackary (Been meaning to read this for years...and afterwards I can watch the movie and complain about how it wasn't true to the book.)

3.) The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (Okay I know I HATED Ethan Frome by her, but that was less to do with her writing style and more to do with the plot. I feel I should giver her another chance, you dig?)

4.) Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote (He had my heart with Lola a great short story I read in school. I may have to read the Complete Short Stories instead though, mostly because the public library doesn't have this book.)

5.) Anything by Dorothy Parker, most likely a collection of Short Stories. (I really wanted to read the Portable Dorothy Parker but neither the Public or University Library has it. Sigh.)

6.) Pale Fire by Nabakov (It was recommended and it sounds cool, and all the hipster boys are always coming into the store requesting him...and I can no longer impress them with my Heller or Vonnegut recommendations.)

7.) Penelopied by Margie Atwood (I'm a sucky for historical retellings from women's points of view.)

8.) Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen (You love his music, now read his book!)

9.) The Wars by Timothy Findley (I've taken this out of the library twice and yet to get to it before it's due, I swear by Dec 31st 2006 I will have read it!)

10.) The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (We had a really beautiful copy of this book before Christmas, but it was sold before I got a chance to read it. So on to the list it goes.)

11.) The Second Sex by Simone De Bouvoir (One of the originals, I feel I must read her.)

12.) Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (I am a great lover of The Great Gatsby and I've been meaning to move on to his other books for 7 years now, don't you think it's about time I did that?)

I wanted to put Freakonomics and A Million Little Pieces on this list but since I am numbers 109 and 576 respectively in the holds line for these books, I doubt I'll get them this year. (Well maybe Freakonomics, but definitely not A Million Little Pieces.)


So there she is . Wish me luck, or alternatively if anyone has read any of these let me know what you think of 'em.

Toodles!